From Guitar World:
Legendary Amp Maker Jim Marshall Dead at 88So the Heavenly Choir now goes to eleven...
Jim Marshall, the founder of Marshall Amplification and the true "Father of Loud," has died at age 88.
An official statement on Marshall's website reads:"It is with profound sorrow that we announce the passing of our beloved founder and leader for the past 50 years, Jim Marshall. While mourning the Guv�nor though, we also salute a legendary man who led a full and truly remarkable life.
"Jim�s ascent into the history books as �the Father of Loud� and the man responsible for �the Sound of Rock� is a true rags-to-riches tale. Cruelly robbed of his youth by tubercular bones, Jim rose to become one of the four forefathers responsible for creating the tools that allowed rock guitar as we know and love it today to be born. The ground breaking quartet also includes the late, great trio of Leo Fender, Les Paul and Seth Lover � together with Jim, they truly are the cornerstones of all things rock.
"In addition to the creation of the amps chosen by countless guitar heroes and game changing bands, Jim was also an incredibly humble and generous man who, over the past several decades, has quietly donated many millions of pounds to worthy causes.
"While the entire Marshall Amplification family mourns Jim�s passing and will miss him tremendously, we all feel richer for having known him and are happy in the knowledge that he is now in a much better place which has just got a whole lot louder!
"Rest in Peace & thank you Jim.
As a musician I think Marshall amps are The Sound.
OTH, as an engineer, what a miserably designed piece of crap. 10% distortion at 1 watt, and it just gets worse until it saturates at about 43W (Marshall 50). No clear clipping point. And just what is that phase inverter supposed to be? Looks like someone who barely understood electronics soldered together a bunch of components until they got sound out of it. And the tone controls. Ugghh. Just crap design. Pure luck these things sound as good as they do.
Meanwhile, how about a tip o' the hat to the 6L6, the tube that made rock and roll possible.