Lot Essay
These two late 1970s Marshall combo amps were Jeff Beck's main performance and recording amps from 2018 to 2022. Both were acquired in 2018 - the 'stripped' combo, lacking its tolex covering, was purchased for Jeff in April by Shon Hartman, his longtime production manager and friend. Reportedly, Jeff loved the amp and used it for recording some unreleased tracks with Ben Findlay at his home studio in Sussex, as well as a rockabilly collaboration 'Welcome to Bushwackers', with the Hollywood Vampires, which was released on their second album Rise in 2019. This combo amp was also used to record some of Jeff Beck's final studio album with Johnny Depp, 18.
The amp was serviced by Simon Law, Pete Townshend's tech, who, on request from Beck's crew, acquired another combo amp - covered in black tolex and bearing a modified logo spelling 'arshole' instead of Marshall - which he delivered to Beck's Live at Chelsea show at the Royal Hospital on 15 June. The crew presented the amp as a gift to Beck for his 74th birthday, with Law receiving payment shortly thereafter.
The 'arshole' amp started out as a backup amp for Jeff in 2018 and 2019, with Johnny Depp playing through it as his main amp for the six shows he joined Jeff for in 2019 - including Crossroads in September, where video footage of their version of 'Isolation' shows Jeff playing through the stripped combo amp and Johnny playing through the black one. After this tour, the 'arshole' became part of Jeff’s main guitar rig, along with the stripped combo, two Marshall 100-watt heads facing backwards (or 50s depending on room size), and two Marshall 1960B cabinets, which were loaners. Jeff occasionally plugged one of the Magnatone 'Becktone' heads into one of the 1960B cabinets when he felt he needed a different tone.
The amp was serviced by Simon Law, Pete Townshend's tech, who, on request from Beck's crew, acquired another combo amp - covered in black tolex and bearing a modified logo spelling 'arshole' instead of Marshall - which he delivered to Beck's Live at Chelsea show at the Royal Hospital on 15 June. The crew presented the amp as a gift to Beck for his 74th birthday, with Law receiving payment shortly thereafter.
The 'arshole' amp started out as a backup amp for Jeff in 2018 and 2019, with Johnny Depp playing through it as his main amp for the six shows he joined Jeff for in 2019 - including Crossroads in September, where video footage of their version of 'Isolation' shows Jeff playing through the stripped combo amp and Johnny playing through the black one. After this tour, the 'arshole' became part of Jeff’s main guitar rig, along with the stripped combo, two Marshall 100-watt heads facing backwards (or 50s depending on room size), and two Marshall 1960B cabinets, which were loaners. Jeff occasionally plugged one of the Magnatone 'Becktone' heads into one of the 1960B cabinets when he felt he needed a different tone.