Marshall amp chief Jim Marshall dies at 88

LONDON -- Ears still ringing from the 1960s? Jim Marshall might be to blame.

Marshall was the man behind "The" amplifier -- the Marshall -- which was the weapon of choice for guitarists such as Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townshend of The Who, and Eric Clapton. The '60s superstars' ear-shattering sounds, blasting first in small clubs and halls and later in stadiums and arenas, relied on the basic Marshall amp for their frenzied, thunderous roar.

That was no accident. Marshall, who died Thursday at the age of 88, was not looking for precision when he and his sound engineers came up with the early Marshall amps in 1960, he said. What he wanted was raw, fuzzy power.

He said the rival Fender amp, tremendously popular at the time, produced an extremely clean sound that worked well with jazz and country and western but did not satisfy younger players searching for something different. He was looking for a rougher sound.

Marshall was a larger than life figure. Even in his 70s, when he was already suffering from some serious health problems, he thought nothing of hopping a plane to catch an Iron Maiden concert.

He had suffered several strokes in recent years, and developed cancer at the end of 2011, his son Terry Marshall said Friday, hours after his father's death. He said his dad liked being known as "the father of loud."

The first Marshall amps didn't look like much -- just a simple black box with a speaker inside and basic controls on top -- but they packed a formidable punch. Aficionados credit him with developing the "amp stack" that allowed garage bands to make a powerful noise in small dance halls and gymnasiums.

Jim Marshall turned his amplifiers into a successful business, keeping much of his production in England. The company is based in a small factory near Milton Keynes, north of London.