Queuing up for father of loud

Jim Marshall

It wasn't the rock'n'roll that did Jim Marshall's right ear in, it was the brass section. Surprising really, considering he invented the loudest, and most famous, guitar amp back in 1962. Everyone - from the Who's Pete Townshend to Jimi Hendrix to Slash from Guns'n'Roses to Nirvana's Kurt Cobain to Billy Joe of Green Day - has used Marshall amps.

Even at 81, Marshall still tours the world doing signing sessions and he signed for a solid two hours at Auckland's Rock Shop to promote his book, Jim Marshall: The Father of Loud. Many fans brought their amps along for signing. "Even the top guitarists in the world I've known to queue up," he laughs.

Today he's relaxing in the outside bar of Auckland's Hilton Hotel, heaters on full, a thick cigar in his right hand, and a magnetic strap around his left hand to help ward off arthritis. The former drummer doesn't look, sound, or act like he's 81. Although he'll admit his legs are a little dicky, and when you're talking to him it's best if you're on his left.

"My right ear is not very good at all," he says, tugging on it, "and I'd always put it down to when I was playing the top cymbal, but it was probably the brass section in the orchestras I was playing [in the 50s]. So it happened before I was dealing with rock'n'roll."

In 1949 Marshall started teaching drums and eventually went on to teach all the first rock'n'roll drummers, including a young Keith Moon from the Who. To supplement his drum teaching he decided to open a drum shop in Hanwell, London.

Around that time two young, stroppy musicians - one was Townshend, and the other Ritchie Blackmore (soon to be guitarist in Deep Purple) - ear-bashed him about stocking guitars and amps too.

"I said, 'Well, I don't know a lot about guitars but if you really want them, I'll stock them.' They said, 'If you stock them we will buy them from you instead of going into the West End where they treat us rock'n'rollers as idiots.'

"In the West End they still thought their major turnover was going to be with the big bands and the jazz groups and all that sort of thing, but they were wrong, very wrong. And I was right, and they were the kinds of things [Townshend and Blackmore] wanted, so you always try to please the customer."

Hanwell was packed on Saturdays with rock'n'rollers who started ordering guitars en masse. This also had a dramatic affect on the surrounding shops, and the old-fashioned clothes shop next door got all trendy and the small cafe across the road got bigger. Marshall's business got so big he had to move across the road to a much bigger store.

"We were very successful," says Marshall, who in 1989 turned down an offer of 100 million ($394 million today) from Harmon Instruments to buy his company.

It was the persistent Townshend and Blackmore who also nagged Marshall about turning his hand to making amplifiers. They used Fender bass amps because they had a valve, but complained to him that they didn't project properly and didn't sound the way they wanted.

Marshall's musical experience meant he knew what sound they were after and during the war he had worked at an engineering company using "a valve", so he had some technical expertise also.

"I got to know about the harmonics, and that is what I realised they were talking about when they asked me to build their first amplifiers for them."

Marshall, his repairman Ken Bran and young hot shot Dudley Craven set about making the first Marshall amp. Marshall explained to Craven what he wanted and he did six prototypes - the first five, Marshall rejected. When Craven delivered the sixth amp, Townshend was in the shop. "I said to him, 'Play through that one'. He played through it and his eyes brightened up and so did mine. I said to Dudley, 'That's going to be the Marshall sound from now on'. And it has been."

Then came the "stack" of Marshalls. Again, it was Townshend who wanted even more from Marshall, and in this case he wanted more volume. He wanted to play louder. No wonder he's deaf now.

The 45-watt amp wasn't powerful enough, neither was the 50-watt amp so Marshall made a 100-watt.

He was finally happy, and even happier when he stacked the amp cabinets on top of each other.

And then there was Jimi Hendrix, Marshall's ultimate ambassador. "We were great friends," says Marshall, who believes Hendrix is the greatest guitar player ever.

"It was his style of playing, it was the sounds that actually came out and the power behind it. And he had everything from such a young age because he was only 27 when he died, which was such a tragedy."

Every rock guitarist wanted Marshall amps after hearing Hendrix playing with Marshall amplification. It's always the Hendrix posters that are the first to go at signings, says Marshall proudly. "Even youngsters coming through want a Hendrix poster. He's really hitting it with youngsters again today."

Ask Jim Marshall, ask Slash, ask almost any guitar player and they'll tell you that a Marshall amp is a living thing. It is alive.

"Oh yes," agrees Marshall, quite seriously, "that's why last night people were bringing in their amplifiers for me to sign. And some of them were reasonably old models and looking pretty good. But they still brought them in to be signed."