He rummaged around in his bundle and pulled out a small, battery-operated Craig amplifier, then plugged a lead into an acoustic guitar that was broken in front and had pieces of wood rattling around inside it.

NEWYORKER: Romance

The interesting distorted guitar on the track, an innovation in itself, was another piece of happenstance: somebody dropped the amplifier, or the rain leaked in on it, as the band drove from Clarksdale to Memphis.

ECONOMIST: Ike Turner

"In 1962 Jim Marshall developed the first Marshall amplifier in his shop in Hanwell, London, England after taking time to listen to what guitar players wanted and needed, " says Managing Director of Marshall Amplification, Jonathan Ellery.

ENGADGET: Marshall's Hanwell HiFi speaker is bred from guitar amps, at-home with your PMP (update)