He probably never picked up a guitar in anger in his life, yet without the signature Marshall Amp, music wouldn’t be as loud or as refined as it is today.

It was with great sadness that drew the Rock fraternity together this week as the iconic and legendary amplifier maker Jim Marshall, “the father of loud” passed away at the age of 88.

Born James Charles Marshall in 1923 in Acton, Marshall was more than just a businessman, he was a pioneer of the guitar amplification and his product, a labour of love, was used by such musicians as Jimi Hendrix, Slash, Lemmy, Joe Bonamassa and Nikki Sixx.

Jim Marshall was born into a family of boxers and music hall artists but as a child he was diagnosed with tubercular bones and as a result spent many years in hospital. As a consequence of this, his formal education suffered. During World War II he was exempt from military service due to the poor health and instead he became a singer, doubling as a drummer due to shortages of available civilian musicians. During the day in his capacity as an electrical engineer he built a portable amplification system so his distinctive crooning style could be heard over the drums.

“I was making 10 shillings a night and because it was wartime, we didn’t have any petrol for cars.” he explained later, “I would ride my bicycle with a trailer behind it to carry my drum kit and the P.A. cabinets which I had made.”

After the war Marshall owned a successful music store in West London, at first selling drums and then branching out into guitars. His many guitar playing customers included Ritchie Blackmore and Pete Townsend spoke of the need for a particular kind of amplifier and in true fashion he saw an opportunity. Working alongside18 year old electronics apprentice Dudley Craven. who had previously worked for E.M.I, began producing prototype amplifiers. It took Jim Marshall six attempts to create an amp he was satisfied with, creating what later became known as the “Marshall Sound”.

In 1984, Marshall was awarded the “Queens Award for Export”. The following year he was invited to Hollywood to add his hand prints to the “Rock and Roll Walk of Fame”. In 2003, he received an OBE in the Queen’s honours list for “services to the music industry and to charity.” Possibly the finest accolade was having an amp placed in the Rock spoof documentary classic Spinal Tap. In a scene during the film, guitarist Nigel Tufnel showed off his Marshall stack with much pride and declared that his went up to 11 as it was “one louder” than usual amplifiers.

Motley Crue bass player Nikki Sixx paid tribute on twitter, saying Marshall was “responsible for some of the greatest audio moments in  music’s history- and 50% of all our hearing loss.”

For many musicians and Rock fans alike, he was the man that defined the “loud”. Without Jim Marshall there would be still music but arguably it wouldn’t sound as good, it wouldn’t sound as refined and it wouldn’t be as loud.

James Charles Marshall; born 29th July 1923. Died 5th April 2012.

Ian D. Hall