Marshall Amplification is a British company producing musical sound amplifiers and other acoustic systems. It was founded by an English musician, entrepreneur and constructor of sound equipment James Charles “Jim” Marshall in 1962. Initially, the company was manufacturing a replica of the products of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation of the USA, but later it introduced its own modifications to the equipment which was demanded by musicians seeking heavier sound instruments. After the death of Jim Marshall, in 2012, the company started manufacturing headphones and, three years later, it introduced to the mobile phones market its first smartphone “Marshall London”.
Marshall is a famous English company, which is considered a reference manufacturer of stage speakers, monitors, guitar amplifiers, and sound equipment. And for more than ten years, the legendary Marshall sound has been available not only to musicians but also to ordinary music lovers, because the brand produces high-quality headphones and speakers for home use.
The company was founded in the early 1960s by Jim Marshall, who, selling musical instruments, heard from his customers that they lacked the capabilities of amplification products. The fact is that at that time the closest to the demands of musicians were Fender amplifiers imported from the United States, but they were very expensive.
Marshall decided to set up his own production, and in September 1962 the first Marshall Number ONE amplifier appeared. It also became the prototype of the future legend, the JTM45.
Orders grew, the company expanded, and the range of products expanded. In late 1964, Marshall was approached by Eric Clapton, a regular visitor to the store. Especially for Clapton, the team developed the Marshall Bluesbreaker, a legendary series of amplifiers that would become one of Marshall’s trademarks.
In the years that followed, Marshall made a name for itself by producing some of the loudest and most sophisticated amplifiers on the market and working closely with some of the most legendary bands and musicians of the era. Up until 2011, Marshall remained a respected and influential player in the professional market for musicians of all levels. However, it was time for a change, and the company decided to refocus on consumer electronics. This is how a whole line of products for music lovers comes into being.
Today Marshall is not just a company name, it is a whole era, an indicator of the highest quality and style of performance, a symbol of real rock’n’roll and loud sound. And the brand’s signature design, based on Marshall retro models, high-quality workmanship, and outstanding features contribute to the demand and choice of the brand’s products among ordinary audio enthusiasts and industry professionals.
The Marshall logo is concise and very clear. It proudly carries the name of the company’s founder “Marshall” made in handwriting with a very thin line. The letters graphics are light and elegant and very close to commercial font Amplify. In certain versions of the logo, under the main line of the wordmark, there is a second one with the word “AMPLIFICATION” made in a much smaller font than the upper line and resembling the commercial Blooming Elegant Sans Bold. All the inscriptions are made in black colour against a white background, although there is a version with white letters on a black rectangle.
The logo of Marshall Amplification is associated with innovative technology and the highest quality of musical equipment. According to the company’s web site, its team of professionals does its best “to push the boundaries of possibility” in order to assist its clients to find the needed sound. It is also associated with the names of legendary rock musicians Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton and Ritchie Blackmore how used to admire the qualities of the company’s equipment.