Marshall, Marshall, Marshall! - Page 2

Its sound of course, would be heard on the landmark 1966 John Mayall album, Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton, as Clapton created the definitive electric blues guitar sound, mating a 1960 Les Paul with a Marshall model number 1962 combo amp. Eventually, the album would make the guitar (at the time, out of production of course), the guitarist, and his amplifier legends. Indeed, the Marshall 1962 would come to be known simply as "The Bluesbreaker" amp. While the distorted sound of the Les Paul with humbucking pickups played through a Marshall disturbed some purists in the mid-1960s, ironically enough, the man the guitar is named for was firmly nonplussed. "That fuzzy sound didn't surprise me at all", Les Paul told Guitar World in March of 1983. "I've always been one to spread out and go where angels fear to tread...so if Eric Clapton came along, used one of my instruments to get a big fat sound, I've got nothing but admiration for him. In some cases it didn't sound too pleasing, but in most cases it was very interesting."

For the definitive history of Marshall amps, and how Jim Marshall transformed himself from a regularly gigging drummer, to a music store owner, to one of the most influential amplifer builders in the world, check out Michael Doyle's The History of Marshall. For some of the music made on Marshall amps, check out the CDs below.

Article Author: Ed Driscoll

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