Master blaster Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 me and my mate met the legend Jim Marshall at the mansons guitar show today. After speaking to him for about 10 mins he invited us to come visit the factory in milton keynes. He gave us his business card and said to ring the number whenever we were in the area if we wanted to visit. After chin waging he signed a couple of posters for us then we were on our way to the next stand. I just thought it was really nice to meet someone who has had such a huge impact on the music industry. And the fact that he was a nice guy that looked truly grateful for people thanking him for his contribution to the industry was really cool. I really hope that everyone i meet in the industry is as nice as Jim. Somehow i get the feeling that might not be the case. Anyway i say hats of to Dr Jim Marshall OBE. He is a natural born legend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickThomas Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 I've met him 2 or 3 times and yep.. he's a top fella Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldmanrock Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 [quote name='NickThomas' post='635741' date='Oct 24 2009, 11:35 PM']I've met him 2 or 3 times and yep.. he's a top fella [/quote] Yep, he's one of the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamthewalrus Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Reading this reminded me of the time I had a Marshall Bass Combo back in the late 80's. I'd gigged it a few times, but it developed a problem in the amplifier section - I phoned Marshall's HQ to see where I could get it repaired. They asked me if there was any way I could bring it up to Milton Keynes - luckily enough for me, my brother offered to drive me up there & back to Surrey where we were living at the time. To cut a long story short, we were given a tour of the factory whilst the main guy there worked on my bass combo & they couldn't have been a nicer bunch of people to meet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Burrito Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Fair play! I'm not a Marshall user but it's always good to hear such stories. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Jim Marshall certainly made a massive difference to all forms of live music over the last 50 years. I grew up in West London, where Marshall had their shops. For years every bass player I knew had a Marshall 100 amp and one or two 4x12 cabs. I wish I still had mine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Never had a Marshall amp myself, but the man's a true legend. Met him a couple of times and he's the most humble, unassuming guy you could meet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 (edited) [quote name='Rayman' post='635923' date='Oct 25 2009, 09:59 AM']Never had a Marshall amp myself, but the man's a true legend. Met him a couple of times and he's the most humble, unassuming guy you could meet.[/quote] +1 Met him when he came to open my pal's guitar shop, Antones's on Beverley Road in Hull. I brought down my little 18 watt valve Marshall combo from the 60's to show him, and he told me a lot of history about making it etc. Then he gave me his secretary's number and said if I ever wanted the amp serviced to give her a call and they would love to do it at their Milton Keynes HQ. He signed a couple of things for me too, a lovely man. Great to have such access to legendary figures in the music biz. Edited October 25, 2009 by casapete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowdown Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Great bloke. I have played at a few of his birthday bash parties over the last 10 years or so, his enthusiasm for the music business is outstanding. Garry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 [quote name='iamthewalrus' post='635890' date='Oct 25 2009, 08:50 AM']To cut a long story short, we were given a tour of the factory whilst the main guy there worked on my bass combo & they couldn't have been a nicer bunch of people to meet.[/quote] Same here. When I went there about 15 years ago, they only charged cost for the full set of pre- and power valves - about £20. No labour or other component costs. And put a full new set of pot knobs on FOC. Dunno if they still do all this, but it was cheaper than going to an amp tech if all you needed was factory spec maintenance. Although they've had a few wobbles over the years with outsourced QC, they're still a family business at heart, and enormously proud of what they do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 I love Marshall! ;o) - As a teen ma mom took me to Marshall products demos etc in the region - and then surprised me one year by arranging a factory tour for me and a mate. Being an electronics geek and fanatical bass player.. this was a pretty much an unforgetable experience! I stayed in touch with one of the guys at Marshall for a while as I started customising some Marshall gear for my Bass rig at the time. ( I think I still have some of the preamp bits I messed with somewhere!!). I met Jim at one of the very first demos I attended. He was such a kind chap and was generally interested in my inane electronics babbling and ideas I wanted to share! - That's quite an achievement for anyone!! ha!! I, like no doubt countless others, felt a bit spesh, when I got to hold 'Marshall No.1' in the demo room... Yeah, i didnt care what it would have sounded like - but it was a piece of history in the making! I still own a Marshall Bass 12 and my main 'head' for a number of years was an Integrated Bass System 200W rack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-soar Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 I had a Jubilee 300 head and matching 4x10 cab, it sucked but I would love to try a VBA 400. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deep Thought Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 [quote name='steve-soar' post='636545' date='Oct 25 2009, 10:07 PM']I had a Jubilee 300 head and matching 4x10 cab, it sucked but I would love to try a VBA 400. [/quote] I played through one at Sawmills a few weeks ago-whilst the drummer was setting up, the engineer left me alone for an hour with the VBA, through what I think was an Ampeg 8X10. I had a grin a mile wide! Lovely thing, but wouldn't want the weight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 A colleague and I were talking about Marshall amps in work once (several years ago) and one of the admin. ladies, a quiet, sweet 50+ woman, dropped in the conversation that Jim 'used to hit on me all of the time'. We looked at her wide eyed as she explained that, as a teenager, she had hung around with The Who and used to see Jim quite often and he was always trying to ask her out but she refused his advances. Respect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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