Jim Marshall's stacked amplifiers changed the sound of rock music.
A drummer and engineer, Mr. Marshall in the early 1960s invented what became known as the Marshall JTM45 amplifier, seen by many guitarists as an improvement over the then-state-the-art Fender Bassman. (click below to read more)
In subsequent years, Mr. Marshall, who died Thursday at age 88, increased the effectiveness of the amps, which continue to be fitted with his name in white script against a black background.
Marshall amplifiers caught on with rock guitarists to the point that they seemed ubiquitous: A so-called wall of Marshalls stood behind almost every rock guitarist of note in the '60s and '70s, including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page. Some bands used a tower of empty Marshall amp cabinets as a prop to suggest power and success.
The "Marshall crunch," as the company's predominant amp sound is known among players, marries volume with a gruffness in the low tones without sacrificing piercing tones on top. Because of the importance of the electric guitar in rock in the '60s and beyond, that sound defined many of the genre's most popular and influential bands.
Though Mr. Marshall was dubbed the "Father of Loud," guitarists David Gilmour, Mark Knopfler and Andy Summers, among others, used his amps to achieve a clean sound that rang in the upper register at less than maximum volume.
Jim Marshall was born in 1923 in Southall, a suburb of west London. As a child he suffered from a bone defect and for much of his youth wore plaster casts that ran the length of his legs and torso, though he grew out of the ailment to enjoy relatively good health later in life.
Exempted from the draft during World War II, he took up the drums and sang in nightclubs. His daytime gig was working as an electrical engineer, and he built his own amplifiers so that his voice could be heard over his band.
Later, he opened a music store, specializing in drum kits, and began tutoring young percussionists, including Mitch Mitchell, who became the drummer in the Jimi Hendrix Experience. At the urging of customers, including Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple and Pete Townshend of The Who, he began stocking guitars and amplifiers, which led to his interest in creating the prototype of what today is the best-known line of amps.
Mr. Marshall's name may have become famous, but he wasn't one for the limelight. He was a "humble and generous man who, over the past several decades, has quietly donated many millions of pounds to worthy causes," the Marshall company said on its website.
In the early '90s, Mr. Marshall told his biographer Michael Doyle, "I would say that all we will endeavor to do is to try and improve on what we have done in the past, and I don't mean purely on the money angle. You can't take it with you, you can only live in one house and drive one car at a time. It's the name that means something to me—because it is my name."
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