Mr. T’s Collection
<About the collection>
Mr. T, who lives in the Chugoku region of Japan, has collected Marshall products and various other types of musical equipment over a long period of time. He owns not only Marshalls but also other amps, as well as countless guitars, catalogs, CDs, LPs, cartoon hero goods, etc.
He came across a vintage Marshall on his honeymoon and fell in love with vintage amps. He went on to deepen his love for the amps – as well as his wife. Now he is the proud owner of a massive collection that would even surprise Marshall in England with its variety. When Marshall reissued the JTM45/100 in 2006, one of the items in his collection was chosen as a reference.
His dream is to establish a museum for his Marshall collection and other rock items. No doubt the dream will come true soon.
As a precursor to this museum, we at Yamaha Music Trading Corporation, the Marshall distributor in Japan, have decided to display the collection on the Japanese Marshall website with the blessing of Mr. T. We wanted to let the world know about the existence of such a great collector and collection as soon as possible.
Mr. T is not involved in the music industry at all. Therefore the collection did not form naturally or unconsciously “through the business” or “as a result of various items that people gave.” Mr. T. has economic constraints, and so time and time again he regretted not being able to add important items to the collection. In other words, each and every item was examined and selected carefully and the collection is the product of Mr. T's passion. He collects the items not in the business basis and did not restore almost all of them by force so that he can treat the items as merchandize. This makes every item tells a story.
We sincerely hope that you will enjoy Mr. T's collection through these pages.
Although we closely studied the items one by one, we could not even determine the name of the model for some of them. Please understand that the aim of this site is to exhibit Mr. T’s collection, not to compile an encyclopedia of Marshall.
Mr. T’s collection has not ended. There are some items we cannot carry at this time due to time restrictions and the collection is expanding steadily even as we edit these pages. Please look forward to future developments.
* Mr. T’s collection is not a commercial enterprise. Therefore we will not accept any offers to sell, buy, or refer items with regard to the collection nor will we disclose any personal information concerning Mr. T.
* Basically the texts explain the photos below.
Part I
<In Part I, Vintage items that built the history of Marshall are exhibited, featuring the JTM45 collection>
Item #1
MODEL ： JTM45
SERIAL NUMBER ： NONE
'Made in 1962. Original model of the so-called “Offset.” This is the actual JTM45 shown on page 98 of Mike Doyle’s “The History of Marshall.” Mr. T got it in the early 90’s. It appears to be the oldest JTM45 in Japan. This was a prototype made before the characters “JTM45” were added and was produced in the era when Marshall used a slightly taller cabinet. The names of the controls are printed directly on the aluminum chassis.
The original “Copper ring knob” of the oldest specification. This design is rare.
The rear panel. The gold mesh is lost. There is one loudspeaker output and this model appears to have been designed for guitar. The space on the right side is for storing the mains lead.
The inside of the amp. 6L6 power valves are installed, but they seem to have been exchanged.
This is clear evidence that this was the JTM45 that appeared in "The History of Marshall” – the worn out leather handle strap. (Marshall uses rubber straps now, but the structure with steel plates on the inside remains the same.)
To Be Continued...
