Jim Marshall of Marshall Amplifiers. Photo / Supplied
The rock world has promised to "crank it up to 11" to mark the death of Jim Marshall, the "Father of Loud", whose groundbreaking amplifiers gave extreme volume to generations of guitar heroes.
Marshall, who died aged 88, devised the stage equipment which first allowed Pete Townshend and Jimi Hendrix
to pummel audiences into submission.
The Marshall, arrayed in huge cabinet stacks of loudspeakers, formed the floor-to-ceiling stage backdrop to almost every headbanging, heavy metal act.
Launched in 1965 as a cheap British alternative to American amplifiers, Marshall's breakthrough amp offered guitarists depth and a thunderous, raw power without diluting the sound.
Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page seized upon the simple black box, housing a speaker and volume knob, which Marshall, a drummer with an electrical engineering background, approved for sale after rejecting six prototypes.
