Marshall has been celebrated by some of the world’s greatest bands and musicians including Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Slash, Oasis and Muse. Their reputation and renown are down to founder and revolutionary, Jim Marshall OBE and his son Terry.
Jim was born in London on 29 July 1923 and as a child, he suffered from tubercular bones which meant that he spent much of his early years hospitalised to the age of 13. At his father’s suggestion, he took up tap dancing to strengthen the bones in his legs and he soon discovered that he had a flair for music. Subsequently, Jim took up the drums and by the late 1930’s he was playing semi-professionally, before going on to teach.
On 7 July 1960, Jim opened a family-run music store with his wife Violet and son Terry called ‘Jim Marshall and Son’, at 76 Uxbridge Road, Hanwell, London. The store sold a variety of musical instruments and attracted many young emerging talents, such as Pete Townshend, Ritchie Blackmore, John Entwistle and Big Jim Sullivan, who were friends of Terry and knew the music store through Jim’s drum students, such as Keith Moon.
The store quickly got a reputation as the place to be for young rock musicians. Jim saw an opportunity to supply the alternative crowd and soon built up one of the leading amplifier stores in the region.
However, these young guitarists were complaining of not getting the tone they wanted from the amplifiers available. So, Jim and Terry decided to build their own. Jim focused mainly on the cabinets of the product, while Terry and Ken Bran, then Service Engineer, looked at an RCA circuit and started experimenting with different components. Like Jim, neither were guitarists, with Terry a prominent Saxophonist, and it was these different ears that enabled the Marshall Sound to be born.
The first amplifier now known as ‘Number One’ was born and due to great interest went into production under the aptly named JTM45, standing for Jim & Terry Marshall. It attracted 23 orders on its first day in store in September 1962 and would become the first of many JTM45 amps. The ’45’ stands for the RMS (root mean square) value, which differed from the other manufacturers who rated their amps at peak power.
Marshall went to another level in 1965 when Pete Townshend demanded the sound to be louder with a bigger stage presence. The solution was, to the horror of roadies everywhere, the Marshall 8×12” speaker cabinet. But Jim quickly replaced these with two stacked 4×12” cabs giving rise to the iconic Marshall Stack. The rest, as they say, is history.
Marshall portable amps
Marshall manufactures two portable microamps that are ideal for use on the move or for practice any time anywhere. Because they run on a 9-volt battery there is no end to the possibilities for portable usage.
The MS-2 is a one-watt micro amp. It is available in a variety of colours and styles. Despite its diminutive size, (It weighs a mere 1lb) it manages to retain that true Marshall tone and has an overdrive channel for even more of a punch. It fits to a belt clip for ease of use anywhere making it truly portable.
The MS-4 is a one-watt micro stack with both gain and volume controls enabling the use of extra distortion. It also weighs 1lb and delivers that true Marshall tone. AS with the MS-2, it fits on a belt clip for that complete portable experience.
Marshall amps are endorsed by some very famous names:-
“MARSHALL IS THE ONLY AMPLIFIER THAT DELIVERS THE SOUND THAT I LOVE. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO OTHER AMP THAT COMES CLOSE – Slash – Guns and Roses
“MARSHALL AMPS ARE THE PERFECT AMPS TO GIVE YOU CONFIDENCE – James Dean Bradfield – Manic Street Preachers
WHEN MY TONE SOUNDS AND FEELS RIGHT, SOMETHING HAPPENS THAT MAKES ME FEEL ALIVE. THAT’S WHY I USE MARSHALL.” – Dave Mustaine – Megadeath
“MARSHALLS ARE THE BEST. NO DISCUSSION…” – Lemmy – Motorhead
You can find replacement batteries for your Marshall micro amp here at UK Battery. It is one of our best selling products with many satisfied customers.
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