On 7/8/2013 4:31 PM, Chris Mitchell wrote:
Well. What a lucky chap I am. Marshall Amps is based here in Milton Keynes. Jim Marshall (the legendary founder) died last year. He was a great supporter of our local cancer hospice, and he left instructions that a replica 1962 Bluesbreaker amp be made in the custom shop and handed over to Willen Hospice to be raffled. It was and I was the lucky winner! It is big, heavy and loud. No frills and with its 30 watts and twin Celestion speakers, it sounds sublime. The chassis is even gold plated.All of Marshall's high end valve ("tube" to those who celebrate 4th July) amps are made here, including the cabinets and the hand wired electrics, and are shipped all over the world. Even the artwork for the famous "it goes up to 11; it's 1 louder" amp in Spinal Tap was produced here. I took a trio of muso mates and we had a tour of the factory and a play in the on-site theatre where famous names from the music world come and try out the latest toys. A fantastic couple of hours and then back to work. Here's a picture (K7, DA* 16-50) of it with my trusty (and also very heavy) 1973 Tele Deluxe: http://www.mitch.myzen.co.uk/MarshallAmp/slides/_IMG4720.html For those interested in factories and some museum pieces such as the first amp JM ever built, there are some dodgy smartphone pictures in the gallery behind it all. Chris
When I took my photo safari in January, one of the stops on my itinerary was Gibson Memphis. Unfortunately, they do not allow any photography on the tour, to the point they warn you that they WILL escort you out the nearest exit for even taking your cell-phone out of your pocket. I don't know why, because they have the factory tour up on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7OjJDZJLH4 Everybody was really nice, but they were really anal about photos. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
