Marshall 1959

[2] It was designed by Ken Bran and Dudley Craven after The Who's guitarist Pete Townshend asked Marshall for a 100 watt amplifier.

[7] The panels were actually made from much tougher polycarbonate plastic, but to the average American observer, it looked like the more familiar Plexiglas, and the name stuck.

In 1969, Marshall replaced the Plexiglas panel with one of brushed black metal with gold aluminum piping.

"[9] Guitar Player magazine called the 1959 "monumentally huge, frightfully loud, and painfully expensive", and its review of the 1959HW said it was "quick, percussive, articulate," and required a "total commitment to volume.

[11] Besides Pete Townshend of The Who, early users include Eric Clapton, who in 1966, when he founded Cream, traded in his famous Bluesbreaker combo for a 1959 Plexi,[12][13] and Jimi Hendrix, who used a 1959 with four 4×12″ cabinets (his "couple of great refrigerators") at the 1969 Woodstock Festival[9] and established the Marshall as the "definitive rock amp".