Product Description
Vintage 1964 Marshall JTM45 Bluesbreaker 4×10 Combo Amplifier
Vintage 1964 Marshall JTM45 Bluesbreaker 4×10 Combo Amplifier
A few days ago I got an email through my website from a guy called Terry. He had an ‘old Marshall amp to sell’ that he’d had since the early 1970s. I asked for some pictures of the amplifier and a day later I got some sent to me. My jaw dropped… Here in front of me was one of the first Marshall combo amplifiers made from 1964.
It had the Clapton knobs (although my wife much prefers using the term Peter Green knobs – see video here), a plexiglass front, the incredible RS grill cloth with a few tears to the front, and that classic block logo that made Marshall famous. I phoned Terry up instantly and I told him how excited I was about it, could we agree a price, and could I come down to pick it up. We agreed a price for the amplifier and I went to sleep a happy man!
The next day, I woke up to an email from Terry saying he’d sent the pictures to another person locally to him. Thankfully just myself and this man. This man had offered him a little bit more than we had agreed and could I come up to the price. I agreed. I’m not normally keen on changing a deal once we’ve ‘shaken hands’, but in this instance I could make an exception – especially as Terry was genuinely just trying to get as much for an amplifier he’d had for decades.
Back Story
I asked Terry later on that day on the phone what the back story was to this amplifier. This is when he let on where he got it from. Back in the early 1970s, he’d lived in London and had a few bands. One band he had very early on had a singer in it who had a ‘famous’ uncle. This famous uncle had an amplifier he’d used back in the mid-60s, but had not used it for a while because it had the speakers taken out of it. Terry was either gifted or purchased this amplifier for very little off of this uncle.
It turns out this uncle was actually Phil May of The Pretty Things! I love to read about the early years with Keith Richards & Mick Jagger! Being around London in 1964, Jim Marshall was early in his career at making the best amplifiers in England, and clearly Phil May would have popped into his early store on the outskirts of London to buy this amplifier. I just LOVE this kind of history!
Unfortunately I’ve struggled to find any pictures of this amplifier being used early on by The Pretty Things. If anyone comes across any, let me know!
So anyway, I tried to find someone to go and pick the amplifier up for me as it was late Saturday evening. It was proving impossible so I jumped in the van. It took me the 3.5 hour trip down to Bournemouth where I found this incredible thing waiting. Terry had used it with a 2×12 extension cabinet for decades up until a few years ago when he put in a quad of Celestion speakers. He said it had been like that since Phil May had it in The Pretty Things!
So, not only is it one of the first Marshall combo amps (pre-BluesBreaker), it is also completely uncirculated, and was originally purchased from Jim Marshall by The Pretty Things. For sure one of the best finds I’ve ever had!
