In 1960, Jim Marshall opened a small music shop in Hanwell, London, selling drums, cymbals and accessories, whilst giving drum lessons to the likes of Mitch Mitchell, Micky Burt of Chas and Dave, Micky Waller of Little Richard's group and others. Pretty soon drummers started to bring their band members to the shop with them, who would ask for guitars and amplifiers to be stocked as well. Marshall, despite having no expertise in the area, began stocking Fender and Gibson equipment, which sold well, but were expensive to import, and therefore prohibitive in cost. In 1962, together with engineers Ken Bran and Dudley Craven, Marshall decided to try and build a more cost effective amplifier. The first prototypes were essentially copies of the Fender Bassman, with the first major difference being the use of 12” speakers instead of 10” in the cabinets; the head was kept separate to allow modifications to be made easily.

The JTM45, so named because of Jim and his son Terry Marshall and its theoretical 45 watts of power, began to sell well and Jim expanded the shop to include a small manufacturing area. Bran and Craven began producing amplifiers at a rate of one a week. Demand quickly increased, and cabinet manufacture was moved to a shop across the street, then a workshop in Southall, Middlesex. In '64 the whole operation was moved to the first proper Marshall factory in Hayes with 16 personnel making 20 amplifiers a week. Marshall began to offer his amplifiers to other retailers in South England , whilst his friend Johnny Jones distributed them in the North. This continued until 1965, when Marshall signed an exclusive worldwide distribution contract with Rose-Morris. In deference to his friend, Jim created the Park line of amplifiers for Johnny to distribute.

A young Eric Clapton, who would come and practice his guitar in Marshall's shop, asked Jim to produce a combo amp with tremolo that would fit in the boot of his car. This amp became known as the Bluesbreaker, as it was used on the John Mayall's Bluesbreakers' album that rocketed Eric to fame. Also at this time Pete Townshend of The Who, in constant competition with bassist John Entwhistle for louder amplification, asked Jim to build him a 100 watt amplifier (which would become the SLP100), and an 8x12 cabinet, following his experimentation with “stacking” 4x12's on top of each other. For aesthetic value, Jim angled the top portion of the cab and, after the 8x12's proved too unwieldy and were cut in half, the Marshall Stack was born.

In the same year the shop was visited by one James Marshall Hendrix, known to his friends as Jimi. Whilst initially sceptical of the American, Marshall warmed to him after Jimi offered to pay for everything he wanted, as long as he could have technical support around the world. Jim agreed to train Hendrix's roadies to service Marshall amps.

Following these pioneering days, the Marshall brand grew and grew, quickly becoming the most recognisable name in guitar amplification. In the mid 70's, due to the growing trend of “bridging” the two channels in series rather than parallel, Marshall created the “Master Volume” series, providing a simple control to make levels of volume more manageable. Eventually this gave way to the JCM800 series of amps, considered by many to be Marshall 's crowning achievement.

In it's 45 years of production. Marshall has created a wide range of amp model's and series', which in general terms can be put in the following categories:

The Sixties Era ('62- '67): The infancy stage of Marshall , including the production of the JTM models.

The Seventies Era ('67 – '81): Notable for the prominence of the JMP series.

The Eighties Era ('81 – '89): The arrival of the JCM800 and the first anniversary amps.

The Nineties Era ('90 – '99): JCM900 and the reissued models.

21 st Century (2000 – Present): JCM2000's, Vintage Modern series, 40th Anniversary and more.

Due to the wide variety of amps created by Marshall, it is often difficult to date an amp by the name alone, and in most cases the model or stock number allows for more accurate dating and pricing. A description such as ‘JMP Mark II Super Lead 100 watt' can often be a lot less helpful than the specific model number, which typically can be found on the rear of the amp. Also useful is the number of inputs and channels, the wattage and the presence of an original Master Volume controls.

If you would like information/ valuation on a specific model of amp, please email us and we'll see what we can do!