Marshall Amplification
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| Public limited company | |
| Industry |
Amplification Musical instrument manufacturing |
| Founded | London, England (1962) |
| Founder | Jim Marshall |
| Headquarters | Bletchley, Milton Keynes, England |
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Area served
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United Kingdom, United States, Australia |
| Owner | Marshall Amplification plc |
| Website | Marshallamps.com |
Marshall Amplification is an English company that designs and manufactures music amplifiers, speaker cabinets, brands personal headphones/earphones, and, having acquired Natal Drums, drums and bongos. It was founded by drum shop owner and drummer Jim Marshall, and is now based in Bletchley, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.
Marshall's guitar amplifiers are among the most recognised in the world. They are known for their Marshall "crunch". This signature sound was conceived by Marshall after guitarists, such as Pete Townshend, visiting Marshall's drum shop complained that the guitar amplifiers then on the market didn't have the right sound or enough volume. After gaining a lot of publicity, Marshall guitar amplifiers and loudspeaker cabinets were sought by guitarists for this new sound and increased volume. Many of the current and reissue Marshall guitar amplifiers continue to use vacuum tubes, as is common in this market sector. Marshall also manufactures less expensive solid-state, hybrid (valve and solid state) and modelling amplifiers.
After a successful career as a drummer and teacher of drum technique, Jim Marshall first went into business in 1962 with a small shop in Hanwell, London, selling drums, cymbals and drum-related accessories; Marshall himself also gave drum lessons. According to Jim, Ritchie Blackmore, Big Jim Sullivan and Pete Townshend were the three main guitarists who often came into the shop and pushed Marshall to make guitar amplifiers and told him the sound and design they wanted. Marshall Ltd. then expanded, hired designers and started making guitar amplifiers to compete with existing amplifiers, the most notable of which at the time were the Fender amplifiers imported from America. These were very popular with guitarists and bass players, but were very expensive. The three guitarists were among the first customers of the first 23 Marshall Amplifiers made.
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Wikipedia