In 2008 I met Jim Marshall at the Musikmesse Frankfurt in Germany. His amps changed the musical world and I guess all of you know and love the Marshall amps. But these days, people wonder who is the face behind the legendary amplifiers.
Thus, I would like to present the “7-questions-to-interview” with Luke Green. Working as product director, he is one of the guys behind the absolute magnificent Marshall Amps.
First, this is what he told us about himself besides the 7 questions below:
I am the product director for Marshall so my role is looking at what products we make and what players are looking for and hopefully interpreting that into exciting amps that players will enjoy using and allow them to be able to have access to features that are relevant to their playing style. The company has an extensive team of designers and engineers who all work to make that happen, it’s a long process with lots of testing to get to an end product. Ultimately our objective is to continue on with our founders legacy of listening to what players want and then giving amps that allow them to express themselves.
1. So many famous musicians are using Marshall amps – is there someone whom you wish he/she would play one of your amps? Or a user, you are especially proud of?
Luke Green: We are extremely proud of all of the people who choose to use Marshall amplifiers, from the players just starting out their journey with their guitar through to the people who entertain massive crowds around the world. Every player is different and it would be very difficult to single out one person because music is an art form so playing styles and personal tastes are so different.
2. Which one was your very first amp?
Luke Green: My first amp was a Valvestate 10, when I got it I thought it was the absolute best thing ever. I guess I am a little spoilt for choice now days but I still have the Valvestate 10 in my home studio as a reminder of that feeling of getting my first amp, and my first Marshall.
3. What does your recent rig look like?
Luke Green: Personally I don’t play out and so I have a CODE 50 as my main home rig. It’s so versatile and great for practicing and creating new sounds. I am also a massive fan of the DSL so on the occasions I play with friends I like to use a DSL 40 Combo for that warm valve sound.
4. If you would have to choose one single amp, one pedal and one specific guitar, you will have to use for the rest of your life, which one would you choose?
Luke Green: Again a difficult question, as it depends on what I am playing and where, but if I really had to choose one from each of those categories now it would probably be the DSL 40 Combo, the Guvnor Pedal and a Tele style guitar with both a humbucker on the bridge and a single coil neck pickup.
5. Is there a question regarding your work, you would really love to answer to but that nobody asks?
Luke Green: Not that springs to mind, guitar players have creative and inquisitive minds so we get asked a lot of questions from how to get certain sounds down to technical level things about valves and signal paths. One of the questions we get a lot is what is it like to work at Marshall, it’s an easy question to answer because it’s so much fun to be able to work and create amps for people, we are all very passionate about music so everyday is great fun.
6. Is there a question you are really sick and tired of?
Luke Green: YES! “does it go to 11?” I think for most people Spinal Tap is a bit of a rite of passage, especially if they are into rock music but the goes to 11 thing is something that comes up a lot. And no, our amps go to whatever number the dial goes to, not “one more in’nit” but it is amazing just how much the phrase “goes to 11” is now used in society. For something that was applied to a Marshall amp in the iconic film now advertisers use the phrase to proclaim that what they are offering something that is 1 part better than the competition.
7. Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently?
Luke Green: I suppose with every company there are things that could be done differently but music and technology changes all the time so we are designing for what people are asking for. Sometimes while you are designing the amp, the built-in effect might change or the amount of gain people are looking for increases or decreases depending on what is popular at that time. However, we have a very broad range of amps so there really is something for everyone in what we do, so I don’t think that we would change, but we have learnt a lot along the way and we continue to implement those learnings, evolving as we go.
Many thanks at this point again to Luke Green who was so kind to answer 7 questions of the DelayDude.
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