October 2001 Issue - Vintage Marshall Heads and Cabinets, the Power of Rock and Roll
By Larry Meiners
Jimi Hendrix loved his old tube Marshall amps. So do Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton and Billy F Gibbons. Marshall gear powered many of the classic guitar-riff rock songs from the 1960s and continues that tradition today. Hendrix's Stratocaster, Clapton's Les Paul and any guitar Pete Townshend plugged into a Marshall sounded huge. Certainly, their great talent helped create the crunchy sound emanating from stacks of amplifiers and cabinets. Both single coil and humbucking pickup equipped guitars find a comfortable groove in the circuits and speakers assembled by Jim Marshall's UK based company.
Jim Marshall the Drummer
Jim Marshall was a drummer who opened his own music shop in England. The decision to manufacture his own line of amplifiers was based on his ideas, thoughts from his store employees and prodding from many musicians, including Pete Townshend. The Marshall franchise enjoyed greatly increased business in 1966 and 1967 with The Who, Cream, and The Jimi Hendrix Experience using and destroying their amplifiers in front of thousands of fans and many photographers.
Of course, musicians and collectors always seem to want what is considered vintage and rare. Marshall instituted many changes to their heads and cabinets that mark different periods of construction.
Marshall heads evolved from their initial early 1960s design into the famous "plexi" model. These models have the plexi nickname due to the plastic Plexiglas covering the front control panel. Before 1970 began, the Plexiglas was replaced with aluminum. Today the vintage plexi models are in great demand and command high prices. Other changes occurred during the first ten-year period of production, including the size of the box of some models. The obvious panel change looms large in the minds of collectors although it contributes nothing to the sound of the amplifier.
Marshall's amplifier marketing was given a boost when the surprise 1984 hit movie titled, This Is Spinal Tap, was released. Nigel Tufnel's character explained, "Most blokes will be playing at ten. You're on ten, all the way up. Where can you go from there? Nowhere. What we do is if we need that extra push over the cliff. Eleven! One louder. These go to 11!" Nigel also revealed that his Gibson guitar pickups were modified to go to eleven. Now with both Nigel's amp and guitar turned up to eleven, he could reach twenty-two! The spinaltap.com website also reports that in 1990, Marshall released a special JCM900 amp with the knobs going to twenty. Later, Nigel says that Marshall gave him a special model that goes to infinity with a dial that keeps spinning around. Now, Nigel and Buzz Lightyear can go to infinity and beyond!
Metal Handles and Checkerboard Name any famous rock guitarist and they have probably used Marshall amplification. Marshall's famous stacks of cabinets cover the backline of a rock concert stage like icons in a cathedral. As with Marshall heads, the cabinet's construction changes mark different vintage periods. The most obvious changes were made to the cabinets grill cloth, handle material and corners. The less obvious involved the Celestion speaker ratings and cabinet construction features and materials.
From the early 1960s, the grill coverings changed from lined cloth to a basket weave, and by 1971 to a checkerboard pattern. The side handles changed from metal to plastic by 1972.
Another obvious addition to the amp heads and bottoms are the plastic corner covers added by 1976. Before this change the corners had no covers.
I have only covered a small portion of the facts and history of the wonderful Marshall products in this essay. There is much more information about Marshall amplification available. For an in-depth look at Marshall gear, check out The History Of Marshall book by Michael Doyle with foreword by the great Billy F Gibbons. Also, surf the spinaltap.com site for interesting bits of information about the Marshall gear used in the movie. Thanks much to Jim Marshall whom I had the pleasure of meeting this past spring.
Copyright © 2001 Larry Meiners All Rights Reserved