Zound acquires Marshall

[johan.b]

.. Perhaps this could be a good thing...
Marshall has always held on to their sound and never really ventured outside their box.. yes, more gain, more features, midi, digital. But the core has always been based on the plexi sound, even if updated. This has slowly turned them into a heritage brand... dad's amp... and young players pick something else.
With the new owners, perhaps they may stray outside of what they've been...a new stans... maby a cleanish reverb amp a'la 60s-70s fender for all the blues and Country players?.. or a swampy 50s gibson style amp for the Vintage lover ..or a quality pedal platform like jc120, for all the kids with yard-long pedalboards...just geting out of the corner and out on the dance floor... still having the core being the classics still in the lineup... all of us here at the forum, we already have our plexis and 800s.. we're not the future...
J

 

[taylodl]

Great point, but look what happened to Gibson, Fender, etc. when the corporate apparatchiks and bean counters took over. Unclear if Zound is another CBS-type corporation that will focus more on the bottom line or are true fan boys that want the company to continue its glorious tradition. Time will tell…

Maybe we need to introduce Zound to the Marshall Forum!

 

[Ken Underwood]

If thats happens then maybe they will see that they have been strung a tale about the origins of Marshall

Been reading all the press releases here in the UK today and all say that Jim and Terry made the very first amps in 62

We all know how wrong that is don't we, for those reading this who are not aware then here it is again

www.dudleycraven.com

 

[Cal Nevari]

Maybe we need to introduce Zound to the Marshall Forum!

We laugh but my guess is that some Marshall employees belong to the forum or at least read the posts from time to time. We’re probably their best test audience.

 

[V-man]

.. Perhaps this could be a good thing...
Marshall has always held on to their sound and never really ventured outside their box.. yes, more gain, more features, midi, digital. But the core has always been based on the plexi sound, even if updated. This has slowly turned them into a heritage brand... dad's amp... and young players pick something else.
With the new owners, perhaps they may stray outside of what they've been...a new stans... maby a cleanish reverb amp a'la 60s-70s fender for all the blues and Country players?.. or a swampy 50s gibson style amp for the Vintage lover ..or a quality pedal platform like jc120, for all the kids with yard-long pedalboards...just geting out of the corner and out on the dance floor... still having the core being the classics still in the lineup... all of us here at the forum, we already have our plexis and 800s.. we're not the future...
J

Marshall 2205/2210 amps don’t really register with me as a “core always based on the Plexi sound.“ Marshall’s famous 1986/1992 models were sold in the JCM era sharing the same model names as JMP bass series, bearing little to no resemblance to the JMP circuits or how they worked. Marshall JCM 25/50s (Jubs) may have a classic and well-liked tone but their dark character with no dymanics is the antithesis of what a Plexi is. Then you get to the 900s and Valvestates.

The major issue is that (perhaps other than the Jubilee), the market repeatedly punished Marshall for deviating from the “core tone” (or leaving the option out), and Marshall seemed to take notice from the JCM 2000 era, forward.The tone is their DNA and they are inextricably tied to it.

Incidentally can you name 3 or more Vox or Fender amps built ground up for high-gain Metal? As I think about it, it seems that out of the blue Marshall gets a LOT of shit because Mesa turned into Burger King and attempted some offering of every sort of circuit they could copy/create. I never saw Fender ever compete successfully outside of their bubble. I have never seen Vox compete at all. I am no historian or learned source outside of Marshalls, but I am willing to wager Orange hasn’t done much of a quantum leap in circuit innovation since the ‘60s until 15 years ago, and even then, how diverse is that? Hiwatt, anybody?

The other side of the coin is that in order do do a successful revolution, you need the right revolutionary thinkers. What do headphone “lifestyle brand” dudes bring to the table? Do they even have an interest, much less the aptitude to create some ground-up unique-voiced amp series capable of delivering signature tone? Clearly those in charge (still holding controlling interest) haven’t done so for whatever reasons. In order for this to become the “good thing” you envision, Zounds will have require independent interest in revolutionizing the amp line convince the nervous majority stakeholders this is a good idea to bring them on board and invest in the talent to attempt this. That is A LOT of moving parts based on a major supposition.

 

[Jimi-C]

I have no doubt this may all come to fruition, but personally I have no use for any of that stuff. Probably because I’m old and set in my ways.

I know if I had a gazillion cab choices and a bazillion head choices, etc., I’d always be fiddling around with everything, and not playing.

I know myself, I have no use for anything like that.

They will never replace or duplicate 8000 watts of pure high fidelity , Sims are cool , but " ain't nothing like the real thing "

Got a McIntosh MA6600 to back it up when I feel like switching the Sansui pre amp to something Better.
The middle panel is a mixer for instrument or mic input . I built this in 1979 and nothing to date has produced better sound .
I don't think the younger generation know what they are truly missing with some forms of analog audio they simply have not heard or been exposed to them . with the right filters in your
signal chain , you can achieve a near cd quality audio signal when playing vinyl . This system produces no distortion at full power ....NONE.
I play it through six Bose 901s series 4 with cloth surrounds instead of foam .

 

[pleximaster]

I have been a very loyal Marshall fan but now Marshall totally lost its mojo for me, even vintage Marshalls are not as appealing as before. The brand have sort of evaporated... Too bad...

plexi

 

[Maxbrothman]

I have been a very loyal Marshall fan but now Marshall totally lost its mojo for me, even vintage Marshalls are not as appealing as before. The brand have sort of evaporated... Too bad...

plexi

How?

There have been loads of shootouts comparing Vintage Marshall amps and the line of little brother Studio amps.

 

[Seanxk]

As if the last three mentioned play a Marshall…..
Glad i bought a Friedman

“championed by some of the world’s greatest bands and musicians from legends including Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, The Who and Oasis to modern greats Justin Timberlake, Kendrick Lamar, and Lana Del Rey. “

The worrying thing about this quote is not the last three, but how a band so massively insignificant compared to the first three ever got in there.......Blur of time oh dear me

 

[pleximaster]

How?

There have been loads of shootouts comparing Vintage Marshall amps and the line of little brother Studio amps.

I think we miss understand each other. I am talking about Marshall selling out their brand name to be a life style company to make money for their owners (I can get that in a certain way) but having being true and loyal to the Marshall company and brand as an amplifier business (today very small and nisched business segment compared to life style companies) it is for me not as appealing anymore.

Its like if Harley Davidsson would be bought up by a company that would explode the brand and use it to promote losion to treat hemorrhoids. It would not be as much mojo buying a Harley motorcycle then...

plexi

 

[Maxbrothman]

I think we miss understand each other. I am talking about Marshall selling out their brand name to be a life style company to make money for their owners (I can get that in a certain way) but having being true and loyal to the Marshall company and brand as an amplifier business (today very small and nisched business segment compared to life style companies) it is for me not as appealing anymore.

Its like if Harley Davidsson would be bought up by a company that would explode the brand and use it to promote losion to treat hemorrhoids. It would not be as much mojo buying a Harley motorcycle then...

plexi

I would have a problem with that selling out if it meant that their amp lines would suffer. Like an underground band selling out to do mainstream music, their art suffers as a consequence but not their bank balance. The thing is that Marshall has been making headphones since 2010 and in 2018 some regular wifi speakers for home music systems. So if it would have had an impact on the gear, wouldn't we have seen it by now? Also I am pretty sure they even made revisions to the DSL to make it better. Anyway yes, I understand you now to mean it in a way that you would prefer if they didn't go all Apple. BTW, Orange amps do exactly the same thing.

 

[10kDA]

Its like if Harley Davidsson would be bought up by a company that would explode the brand and use it to promote losion to treat hemorrhoids. It would not be as much mojo buying a Harley motorcycle then...

plexi

Harley Davidson was owned by AMF, the bowling alley/equipment/industry kingpin (could not resist) for a time in the 70s IIRC, maybe into the 80s. They managed to survive, and they got out from under the bad taste caused by some of the AMF-era products, and have managed to thrive by becoming a lifestyle/image product as much as anything else. Their bikes are arguably better now than they have ever been, but the lifestyle thing kills it for me.

 

[circusinthesky]

I definitely see a risk that they will use the cool image of stage, studio, and performing gear, to sell lifestyle consumer goods.

What do you mean by "a risk"? What's the risk/problem with Zound selling BT Speakers, headphones, etc using the Marshall image/lifestyle as a sales motivator? It's not as if Marshall, the brand, is a precious purveyor of the highest quality amplifiers. They sell plenty of lower-grade products, non-British made amps, etc too.

Even if they completely ditched the classic amp line up, someone else will just come along and make suitable clones. As has been said, they've already made their best amps decades ago. (Maybe with the exception of the popular Studio line.)

 

[circusinthesky]

We laugh but my guess is that some Marshall employees belong to the forum or at least read the posts from time to time. We’re probably their best test audience.

I've seen some Engineers here for sure.

 

[circusinthesky]

I think their future market is A) people who buy lifestyle electronics, and B) people who don't currently buy Marshall amps.

LIFESTYLE: Sounds like they want Marshall because they have found the name has a certain cache amongst purchasers of lifestyle electronic (headphones/BT speakers). (No idea why.). Perhaps the logo has imbedded itself in the minds of younger people. (A standard of quality, even if it's nothing to do with Marshall's historical product line.)

AMPLIFIERS: They're probably going to leave the amp line as is, but aggressively re-market the brand for a younger audience. Sort of like Doc Martens did a decade back. Sketchers took their market from them in the early 2k's, then someone in Dr Marten marketing was tasked with taking it back, which meant re-establishing the brand as a product for people under 30. Could Marshall have done this on their own? Probably not. You really need to gut the existing management layer.

 

[nix_gibby]

Maybe they should try with Roadworn series of amps, to make a relicing department like Gibson's Murphy Lab and beat new amps with knives and alchohol liquids. Maybe people will pay alot of money for the heavy relic look...

 

[Cal Nevari]

I think their future market is A) people who buy lifestyle electronics, and B) people who don't currently buy Marshall amps.

LIFESTYLE: Sounds like they want Marshall because they have found the name has a certain cache amongst purchasers of lifestyle electronic (headphones/BT speakers). (No idea why.). Perhaps the logo has imbedded itself in the minds of younger people. (A standard of quality, even if it's nothing to do with Marshall's historical product line.)

AMPLIFIERS: They're probably going to leave the amp line as is, but aggressively re-market the brand for a younger audience. Sort of like Doc Martens did a decade back. Sketchers took their market from them in the early 2k's, then someone in Dr Marten marketing was tasked with taking it back, which meant re-establishing the brand as a product for people under 30. Could Marshall have done this on their own? Probably not. You really need to gut the existing management layer.

Great point about lifestyle electronics. Porsche makes bicycles, watches, golf bags, and wireless mice, even a sound bar, wine stopper, luggage, and gaming chair, along with the more customary mugs, cups, and umbrellas. Although there is no reason to think that they make these items better than other companies, people will buy them because of the logo. Same thing with BMW, Fender (get your Telecaster cutting board today!), Gibson, etc.

 

[Cal Nevari]

The worrying thing about this quote is not the last three, but how a band so massively insignificant compared to the first three ever got in there.......Blur of time oh dear me

Actually Blur was better than Oasis…

 

[Cal Nevari]

Maybe they should try with Roadworn series of amps, to make a relicing department like Gibson's Murphy Lab and beat new amps with knives and alchohol liquids. Maybe people will pay alot of money for the heavy relic look...

Or people could just do the same thing to the amps they already have…

 

[Crikey]

W

I would have a problem with that selling out if it meant that their amp lines would suffer. Like an underground band selling out to do mainstream music, their art suffers as a consequence but not their bank balance. The thing is that Marshall has been making headphones since 2010 and in 2018 some regular wifi speakers for home music systems. So if it would have had an impact on the gear, wouldn't we have seen it by now? Also I am pretty sure they even made revisions to the DSL to make it better. Anyway yes, I understand you now to mean it in a way that you would prefer if they didn't go all Apple. BTW, Orange amps do exactly the same thing.

ha? When did marshall make headphones? Was this marketed like Astoria? Lol