Jim Marshall OBE, founder of Marshall Amplification, has died aged 88.
Since founding the company, 50 years ago this year, Marshall, known as the Father Of Loud, has become one of the most recognisable and iconic names in guitar playing, rock and metal music.
In an obituary posted on the company's website, Marshall Amps wrote:
"In addition to the creation of the amps chosen by countless guitar heroes and game changing bands, Jim was also an incredibly humble and generous man who, over the past several decades, has quietly donated many millions of pounds to worthy causes."
Jim started his career as a drum kit retailer, moving onto the building of amplifiers in the early 1960s. Originally setting out to create a new valve guitar amplifier using the Fender Bassman amp as a model, it took Jim six prototypes to hit the classic 'Marshall Sound', we all know and love today. These were the JTM45 amps and were built as heads, with separate speaker cabinets loaded with four 12-inch Celestions. In 1965, the first combos and 100-watt models were created.
By the late '60s, Marshall were making a name for themselves, with world-famous rock artists such as Jimi Hendrix playing against a backdrop of Marshall 'stacks'. The mid-'70s saw the launch of the Master Volume Marshall amps and in 1982, the company introduced its now-classic JCM800 split channel amps. Marshall was later awarded The Queen's Award For Export in 1984.
Jim Marshall will be remembered alongside the likes of Leo Fender and Les Paul as one of the founding fathers of the modern electric guitar. Our thoughts are with his family and friends. His legacy will live on.
Anyone who would like more information on Jim Marshall can visit his personal website at www.jimmarshall.co.uk, an online condolence book will be open there soon for those wanting to leave notes for his family.