Jim Marshall, founder of the legendary Marshall Amplification company, passed away today, April 5, 2012, at aged 88.

Name any band rock or metal band over the last 50 years and you can almost guarantee they plug their guitars into the same amplifiers. These same bands will all have a similar live set-up: walls of black squares adorned with the famous white signature of their creator: Marshall.

Jim Marshall was born in London, England on July 29, 1923. Due to poor health as a child he was excused military service and found his way into music first as a singer then a drummer. Later, he ran a music shop in West London and through conversations with his guitar playing customers – which included such esteemed talents as Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple) and Pete Townshend (The Who) – founded his namesake company in 1962.