Fact #118064
When:
Short story:
The Jimi Hendrix Experience visit the Marshall Amplification factory in Hanwell, London, UK.Full article:
Jim Marshall (owner, Marshall Amplification) : I met Jimi through having taught Mitch Mitchell to play drums, and Mitch brought this guy along to the factory one day. This character said to me 'I'm going to be the greatest' and I thought 'Oh no, not another American wanting something for nothing.' But his next words were 'I don't want you to give them to me. I will pay the full price. I just want to know that, wherever I am in the world, I won't be let down.' And Jimi, without doubt, became our greatest ambassador.
They said to me, 'The amplifier's not built for the sound we want.' They were all too clean. They kept on about this sound they wanted. I did some electronics during the war … so I knew a little of what they were talking about.
(Source : not known)
Jim Marshall (Founder Marshall Amplification) : During the mid 1960s, a lot of well-known and also up-and-coming rock guitarists used to come and visit me at my music shop in Hanwell, West London. But there’s one chap in particular that I’ll definitely never forget. On a Saturday afternoon in the autumn of ‘66, a tall, lanky American walked in with Johnny Mitchell - or “Mitch,” as most people knew him. Mitch used to work in my shop as a “Saturday boy,” and he was also one of my top drum students. The fellow who came in with him that day was James Marshall Hendrix, and he quickly became the greatest ambassador Marshall Amplifiers ever had.
When Jimi first came over to England in the summer of 1966 with his manager, Chas Chandler, he quickly put together a three-piece band with Mitchell on drums and Noel Redding on bass guitar. James “Tappy” Wright, who was a part of Hendrix’s management team, recalls that when the group started rehearsing, Jimi tried various amplifier setups but wasn’t happy with any of them. Apparently, Chandler asked Pete Townsend of The Who for some advice, so Pete sent over his roadie, Neville Chester - who later went on to roadie for Hendrix - with a Marshall Super 100 head.
I’m delighted to say that Jimi fell in love with the Marshall sound straight away. Knowing that Mitch knew me, Jimi said to him, “I’ve just got to have this Marshall stuff because it sounds so good. I also wouldn’t mind meeting up with this character who has got my name - James Marshall.”
I must admit, when Mitch introduced me to Jimi, I immediately thought, “Christ, here we go again - another American wanting something for nothing.” Thankfully, I was dead wrong. The very first thing Jimi said to me was, “I’ve got to use your stuff, but I don’t want anything given to me. I want to pay the full asking price.” That impressed me greatly, but then he added, “I am going to need service wherever I am in the world, though.” My initial reaction was, “Blimey, he’s going to expect me to put an engineer on a plane every time a valve needs replacing. It’s going to cost me a bloody fortune!”
Instead, I suggested our staff teach Hendrix’s tech, Gerry Stickells, basic amp servicing skills, such as changing and biaising the valves. He must have been a very good learner, because we were never called on to sort out any problems.
Despite his appearance - which was pretty wild for that time - and his fantastic onstage showmanship, Jimi was a surprisingly soft-spoken and polite young man with a marvelous sense of humor. We remained friends right up to his tragic and untimely death. Sadly, because we both had such hectic schedules, I only got to see him perform a few times. Jimi was a fantastic character, and I always had a great time on those rare occasions we managed to get together. In my book, Jimi’s playing is still the best ever, and goodness knows what he’d be doing if he was still with us today. I can still remember him scaring the living daylights out of all the big English guitarists when he first came over here, because they’d never heard or seen anything like Jimi. No one had. His talent was extraordinary.
(Source : Guitar Player, May 2012)
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They said to me, 'The amplifier's not built for the sound we want.' They were all too clean. They kept on about this sound they wanted. I did some electronics during the war … so I knew a little of what they were talking about.
(Source : not known)
Jim Marshall (Founder Marshall Amplification) : During the mid 1960s, a lot of well-known and also up-and-coming rock guitarists used to come and visit me at my music shop in Hanwell, West London. But there’s one chap in particular that I’ll definitely never forget. On a Saturday afternoon in the autumn of ‘66, a tall, lanky American walked in with Johnny Mitchell - or “Mitch,” as most people knew him. Mitch used to work in my shop as a “Saturday boy,” and he was also one of my top drum students. The fellow who came in with him that day was James Marshall Hendrix, and he quickly became the greatest ambassador Marshall Amplifiers ever had.
When Jimi first came over to England in the summer of 1966 with his manager, Chas Chandler, he quickly put together a three-piece band with Mitchell on drums and Noel Redding on bass guitar. James “Tappy” Wright, who was a part of Hendrix’s management team, recalls that when the group started rehearsing, Jimi tried various amplifier setups but wasn’t happy with any of them. Apparently, Chandler asked Pete Townsend of The Who for some advice, so Pete sent over his roadie, Neville Chester - who later went on to roadie for Hendrix - with a Marshall Super 100 head.
I’m delighted to say that Jimi fell in love with the Marshall sound straight away. Knowing that Mitch knew me, Jimi said to him, “I’ve just got to have this Marshall stuff because it sounds so good. I also wouldn’t mind meeting up with this character who has got my name - James Marshall.”
I must admit, when Mitch introduced me to Jimi, I immediately thought, “Christ, here we go again - another American wanting something for nothing.” Thankfully, I was dead wrong. The very first thing Jimi said to me was, “I’ve got to use your stuff, but I don’t want anything given to me. I want to pay the full asking price.” That impressed me greatly, but then he added, “I am going to need service wherever I am in the world, though.” My initial reaction was, “Blimey, he’s going to expect me to put an engineer on a plane every time a valve needs replacing. It’s going to cost me a bloody fortune!”
Instead, I suggested our staff teach Hendrix’s tech, Gerry Stickells, basic amp servicing skills, such as changing and biaising the valves. He must have been a very good learner, because we were never called on to sort out any problems.
Despite his appearance - which was pretty wild for that time - and his fantastic onstage showmanship, Jimi was a surprisingly soft-spoken and polite young man with a marvelous sense of humor. We remained friends right up to his tragic and untimely death. Sadly, because we both had such hectic schedules, I only got to see him perform a few times. Jimi was a fantastic character, and I always had a great time on those rare occasions we managed to get together. In my book, Jimi’s playing is still the best ever, and goodness knows what he’d be doing if he was still with us today. I can still remember him scaring the living daylights out of all the big English guitarists when he first came over here, because they’d never heard or seen anything like Jimi. No one had. His talent was extraordinary.
(Source : Guitar Player, May 2012)