Zound acquires Marshall

[V-man]

Hopefully, Marshall becomes a whole owned subsidiary of Zounds. Stays in the UK, but receives better management. IMHO, I think they've fallen behind in innovation and competitiveness.

I'm a fan! 1/2 of my amps are Marshall, and it's the only brand I have multiple of.

I am not saying a cash-labor infusion to assist the brand that adds cache can’t bear fruit for us, but (I think) common sense would work the opposite trend. As long as Marshall can tread water (Ala “Gibson”) the parent company is free to use their name for the real bread and butter: home/personal audio.

They are unlikely to divert focus from or compromise overall profitability to the minority “figurehead” asset at the expense of maximizing growth and profitability for the asset that brings in the lion’s share.

This is the problem when the Pedal, Firearm, Sports car company is acquired by a firm that isn’t headed by/motivated for the guitar/gun/car guy. In those cases the minority company (i.e. S&W firearms owned by the Brits 20 years ago) takes a shit from poor/minimalistic management for the minority company’s best interests, and it gets sold off.

There are a lot of parts that are similar to this acquisition… but the wildcard is the brand actually enhances the parent company’s main product line, not acquired as a mere portfolio asset… so how does one capitalize on the brand without losing money on those stupid amplifiers, yet not run it (and the cache they bought) to the ground?

I am not a business man, but my instincts suggest: use the Marshall name to prop up Zounds (taking care of Marshall, esp in the short term), develop Zounds as its own brand, then neglect/bleed/sell-off Marshall once the Zounds name minus Marshall liabilities = the Zounds name propped up by Marshall’s branding (complete with the liability of managing and producing a small-player company’s products).

 

[johan.b]

Order your flat pack 1960 here.... do you want some surströmming with that?

I have no clue what to think... just wanted in on the thread...
J

 

[FleshOnGear]

Excuse the repeat post.
Proud owner of pre-Zarshall DSL20
Thanks moderators for getting the thread sorted.

Marshall being acquired by Zound

https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/30/...cquisition-bluetooth-headphones-speakers-amps

Haha, Zarshall. That rolls off the tongue a lot better than Gesa/Boogie. Or does it?

 

[PowerTube44]

I am posting to announce that I have absolutely no opinion whatsoever on this acquisition.

I have two pair of Marshall headphones (Major III and Major IV) and find them excellent, FWIW.

The early Plexi headphones were better.

 

[lespaul339]

Doesn't bother me. I will continue to just build my own Marshall clones. I like all the classics anyways. Better quality than mass produced, and cheaper!

 

[WesChilton]

Honestly, this is sad. I don't see this ending well for Marshall... hope I am wrong.

In any case, I am glad that I have the Marshall amps I wanted.

 

[10kDA]

Maybe I can unload my Pre-Z DSL40C ("C" is for CLASSIC) for serious money and buy a Ceriatone JTM45 - with ca$h to spare!

 

[TonalEuphoria]

Removed for lack of concern.

 

[V-man]

Back in the early 2000's, Fender bought Charvel/Jackson from Akai Musical Instruments. Ever since, I've seen people advertise used Jackson guitars as "pre-Fender." Total bullshit, because Fender left the USA Jackson factory alone and those guitars are as good as anything they've ever made.

I am going with “complete horseshit” on that one.

What you are erroneously comparing is Fender v Akai eras. Weigh in on that how you will. If you say Akai is shit and because Akai (technically “pre-Fenders”) is no better or way worse than Fender, you have a point that goes only that far. I owned Jackson Ontario Guitars (started on a flawless ‘90 MIJ Professional and still have the ‘92 Ltd and ’93 PCS, the latter being the best guitar I have ever owned/played). I also had a Fender-era KV2. Sharp fret ends, weird resonance. Not in the same league as the Jacksons I owned or played, MIA or MIJ. Usually the term applies to San Dimas-Ontarios. Perhaps it’s erroneous as it adds Akais collaterally, but the thrust of the misnomer (like calling the 2203/4 circuits the “800s.”) largely stands amongst its fans.

 

[purpleplexi]

Can't say I'm surprised. How many other companies that started in the 60s are are still owned by the same people? It's the era of the Megabucks sell out. I'd probably do exactly the same..... We've said on here loads of time that M isn't exactly at the cutting edge of development. What do you do when you have (arguably) your best idea first?

 

[craigtodd]

I have not looked into this yet. But it smells like a classic example of genX cashing in on the hardwork and efforts of a wartimer.
Cant wait to get the hands on the will and butcher it. Rather than keep the business fresh and raw. It has been sold to a board of directors/accountants that probably dont know a guitar from a tamborine.

 

[Trelwheen]

Marshall, the iconic amp manufacturer, is being acquired by Marshall speaker maker Zound

The licensee becomes the acquirer.

www.theverge.com

 

[Dogs of Doom]

yep, there's a discussion about this...

Zound acquires Marshall

https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/30/23660187/marshall-zound-merger-acquisition-bluetooth-headphones-speakers-amps Everyone start freaking about the lesser tonality of "Zound Era Marshall amps" :mrburns:

www.marshallforum.com

 

[V-man]

I have not looked into this yet. But it smells like a classic example of genX cashing in on the hardwork and efforts of a wartimer.
Cant wait to get the hands on the will and butcher it. Rather than keep the business fresh and raw. It has been sold to a board of directors/accountants that probably dont know a guitar from a tamborine.

In fairness, Jim passed a decade ago. Other than a renaissance of awesome sigs (with the AFD/YJM’s technology) nothing new and successful came out during his last years.

The Studios took the 50th anni concept and converted it from studio toy to the first successful bedroom/small gig amp Marshall made since the 2061 (not sure you’d call that a bedroom amp).

The company ran with new success under the kids’s ownership and it’s not like lightning is about to be bottled over the next 5 years within in the entire industry… to say nothing of the looming shit economy for the world.

 

[Marcomel79]

Order your flat pack 1960 here.... do you want some surströmming with that?

I have no clue what to think... just wanted in on the thread...
J

Surströmming infused speaker cones being pushed by a superlead. Smell the power!

 

[D-Max]

This looks like a logical business continuity decision.
Most likely Marshall (and thus Vox and Natal) would in the end not survive on its own without external capital investments.
There is a limit to what regular banks are willing to invest in a company.

 

[10kDA]

Order your flat pack 1960 here.... do you want some surströmming with that?

I have no clue what to think... just wanted in on the thread...
J

The last flat pack anything I bought was a dune buggy frame LOL

 

[FutureProf88]

Hopefully they get into the business of making amplifiers again instead of the occasional specialty product and hosting concerts. These things are fun but I would love to see Marshall do something along the lines of Fender's Tone Masters or do a try-hard quality solid state amp like the Super Crush. Those products are money makers for their respective companies.

 

[10kDA]

I wonder how much of the decision was based on trying to get out from under the strain caused by an inefficient distribution system. Trying to ship to as much of the world as possible can suck up a lot of cash and time and time is also money. Worldwide (or nearly) logistics can suck.

 

[Dogs of Doom]

In fairness, Jim passed a decade ago. Other than a renaissance of awesome sigs (with the AFD/YJM’s technology) nothing new and successful came out during his last years.

The Studios took the 50th anni concept and converted it from studio toy to the first successful bedroom/small gig amp Marshall made since the 2061 (not sure you’d call that a bedroom amp).

The company ran with new success under the kids’s ownership and it’s not like lightning is about to be bottled over the next 5 years within in the entire industry… to say nothing of the looming shit economy for the world.

their management died w/ him, although, you could argue that his management days were behind him for some time...

The kids were a disaster for the company, management-wise...

The JMD should have gotten a lot better reception, but they didn't do their job promoting it. The Astoria line should have gotten accolades, but, they pretty much sabotaged their own release, as they fired the creator just before release, then played it down during release...

But... for, many of their new releases, they release them, have a few dozen built, then play catchup on backorders for 2+ years, pissing everybody off in the meantime... I ordered a CODE100H when it was released. Plopped the money down & got refunded 6 months later - twice...

After the 2nd cancellation, I bought a Kemper & never looked back. Why would I want a CODE now? They lost out on many like that I'm sure.

That's no way to run a company...