Marshall

Jim Marshall opened a drum shop in Hanwell, west London, in 1960 and started building amplifiers two years later after his customers kept asking for something louder than what Fender's US imports offered. The JTM45 came first in 1963, closely modelled on a Bassman; the Plexi-panelled Super Lead followed in 1965, and the JCM800 defined the sound of 1980s hard rock and metal. Marshall spent decades as a family firm before HongShan Capital Group bought it in 2025, and the company builds amps, cabs and pedals from Milton Keynes alongside a headphone and audio line. New amp launches, JCM reissues and the odd Marshall-loaded pedalboard all pass through GuitarBomb regularly. Here's everything we've covered.