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A very interesting documentary on BBC Four last night about the evolution of the Marshall amplifier. I'll admit that I had no idea that Jim Marshall was a drummer who seemed to have taught just about everyone except Tony Meehan and Brian Bennett!!!

Anyway, nice to see a clip or two of the Shadows and to hear one or two people stating that they all wanted the same amps as used by them. There was also some inference, unless my ears deceived me, that Jet Harris used an early JTM 45 after leaving the Shads.

Obviously the Shads were synonymous with the Vox AC30, but, as with so many others, when they wanted a bit more 'ooomph', in the 1970s, they must have used Marshalls (?).

Anyway, here's a pic of John Farrar playing through a Marshall cab in 1972 whilst backing Cliff. I wonder if it went up to 11. I'm sure everyone here can also name the amp that Hank's using. Naturally, I can't.

Hank's amp looks like a Fender twin-speaker combo of some sort.

The obvious answer would be the (85 watt) Twin Reverb, but it doesn't look as though it has enough controls for a Twin; the classic 65' or '68 pattern has eleven control knobs as well as two "Bright" switches. There isn't much empty space at the RH end of a Twin's panel.

Perhaps it's the (40 watt) Pro Reverb, which looks so similar to a Twin - and is hardly any different in weight - but only has nine front panel control knobs and more empty space at the right hand end.

It is more than possible that the amps were hired-in locally for that tour.

Perhaps Hank had the Fender amp removed from his AC30 cabinet!

This is from the Cliff Live in Japan 72 concert. The equipment will have been hired for the tour. It could be Alan Tarney's Bass Cabinet

Regards

Stuart

If you look closely John Farrer is in front of a Fender Amp of some sort, possibly a Princeton, Vibroverb or Pro Reverb, as Jim spotted not a Twin Reverb, not enough controls for that.

This may explain why the Marshall cab is at a bit of an angle... so that both Alan and Brian can hear it clearly. Alan is sitting right beside the kit to the right of the picture (out of shot).