Jim Marshall - The Father of Loud: The Story of the Man Behind the World's Most Famous Guitar Amplifiers

by Rich Maloof

(Book). In the early 1960s, a handful of brash British kids needed a new sound for a new kind of music. They marched into a music store in their blue-collar town and asked the gentleman behind the desk to build them an amplifier with leg-shaking power and jaw-dropping tone. So he did. This first-ever biography tells the story of Jim Marshall founder of Marshall Amplification and creator of guitar amplifiers that have defined the sound of rock and are prized by rock guitarists of every age and style from his childhood when he was diagnosed with a rare bone disease that confined him to a body cast for nine years, to his stage success as a crooner and big-band drummer, through his development of the "Marshall Stack" and ultimate rise to the forefront of the music instrument industry. Forty years after Jim Marshall sold his first JTM45, three generations of guitarists and fans revere the name. Highlights in Marshall history, images of amp anatomy, details about famous players' preferred models, and testimonials from guitar stars round out this engrossing success story. Full-color photos throughout. "What Jim marshall did ... was provide English heavy metal and blues players of the mid '60s and early '70s with these weapons." Pete Townshend

Genres: Biography

256 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2003

Reviews

[sid · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was published in 2004, so it is a bit out of date. The first third of the book provides an interesting biography of Jim Marshall and the events that led to the development of Marshall amplifiers. I really enjoyed this section.

The second third of the book provides a lot of amplifier and product details, but is limited to those released between the early 1990s and the 2004 publication date. There is a disclaimer that "Since Marshall gear from its inception in 1962 through the 1980s has been covered in great detail elsewhere...", which was somewhat disappointing.

Part three of this book provides some additional information about signature artists, amplifier construction, and Jim's favorite models.

All of the photos and diagrams are printed in black and white. Unfortunately the image quality is very poor, ranging from somewhat indistinct to nearly illegible.

[Billy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The life and story of the creator of the best amps in the world!

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent read.There's also some cool diagrams at the end of the book that show you exactly how Slash, Hendrix and some others actually hook up all their gear.GREAT BOOK.