Zound acquires Marshall

[Mastershon]

Marshall's tube models are outdated in some features, but they do what their suppose to, and that's sound good. They could be updated though. I don't understand why Marshall has skimped on putting a good direct out in all their tube amps. The mini plug is pathetic. The higher end models have better di out's, but we're not talking something unbelievably expensive to do and is standard for the most part in amps these days. XLR the better, but atleast an actual 1/4 inch out.

And either put an actual spring reverb in them or simply leave it without. Putting a cheesy digital one in any but the smallest, lowest wattage tube or solid state models, is really lowering the professional appeal to their amps to me. Something companies do on low end budget amps. Many players who are more serious and play a Marshall tube amp for instance are going to want an actual spring reverb, even with it's own tube, or use pedals and processors to get better quality reverbs.

Who uses reverb? Lol

 

[pat_rocks]

People said records (vinyl) were dead. Yet the numbers are climbing yearly. Some things are destined to stay because we realize they are better.

More records doesn't mean better, but perhaps that there are more records because we agree to hear things with less quality... Autotune killed everything, Frontmans stole the show as band doesn't exist almost anymore and it's all about the singer, finally most of the guitarists became virtuoso recording alone at home instead of in a band... Yeah more stuff but with less quality... Moreover Djent was born the last decade this only should tell you about the quality of guitar music in modern times...

i'm telling you this and i'm 30 years old only...

 

[ITburst]

More records doesn't mean better, but perhaps that there are more records because we agree to hear things with less quality... Autotune killed everything, Frontmans stole the show as band doesn't exist almost anymore and it's all about the singer, finally most of the guitarists became virtuoso recording alone at home instead of in a band... Yeah more stuff but with less quality... Moreover Djent was born the last decade this only should tell you about the quality of guitar music in modern times...

i'm telling you this and i'm 30 years old only...

Yah, I’m not talking about quality of todays music. That sucks. Quality of the sound, vinyl vs digital.

 

[PelliX]

Zound’s Marshall branded blutooth audio accessories are quite good.
Oddly, alike a Marshall 4x12, they take ~1 week to ‘wear in’ & start sounding ‘right’.

...but unlike the 4x12 they have an expected lifespan of ~2 years, require updates, suffer from latency and fail to look bloody amazing stacked...

 

[Neville]

Let's calm down and trink a cup of tea. The best Marshall amps ever are already out there...mostly decades old. So everything we get from now on is a bonus. Swedish people do take great care of rock'n roll in general, just imagine people like Johan Segeborn becoming official ambassadors for the brand, wouldn't that be cool?
Sure, there will be more consumer electronics with the M logo on it, but as long as it is not garbage I'm fine with that.
Also I think brexit might be one of the reasons this is actually a good decision.

 

[Neville]

Let's calm down and trink a cup of tea. The best Marshall amps ever are already out there...mostly decades old. So everything we get from now on is a bonus. Swedish people do take great care of rock'n roll in general, just imagine people like Johan Segeborn becoming official ambassadors for the brand, wouldn't that be cool?
Sure, there will be more consumer electronics with the M logo on it, but as long as it is not garbage I'm fine with that.
Also I think brexit might be one of the reasons this is actually a good decision.

Come to think of it, some of the best shows I saw last year were swedish bands: Luzifer, Ghost, Hällas, ...and I'm looking forward to see Graveyard later this month.

 

[BlueX]

Thanks! Hope you're right.

However, I think it depends on the plan the new owners have, and their ability to carry out that plan. I definitely see a risk that they will use the cool image of stage, studio, and performing gear, to sell lifestyle consumer goods.

Best scenario is that the plan includes new digital solutions for musicians, as well as a revitalisation of valve/tube amplification. I want to see well made reissues/handwired versions of the old classics, together with 1W and 20W versions of the same, and maybe a range of Astoria "boutique" amps. These tube amps should come with modern features as well. Don't think that's very expensive nowadays. (maybe I should look for openings)

Let's calm down and trink a cup of tea. The best Marshall amps ever are already out there...mostly decades old. So everything we get from now on is a bonus. Swedish people do take great care of rock'n roll in general, just imagine people like Johan Segeborn becoming official ambassadors for the brand, wouldn't that be cool?
Sure, there will be more consumer electronics with the M logo on it, but as long as it is not garbage I'm fine with that.
Also I think brexit might be one of the reasons this is actually a good decision.

Come to think of it, some of the best shows I saw last year were swedish bands: Luzifer, Ghost, Hällas, ...and I'm looking forward to see Graveyard later this month.

 

[Mrmadd]

Problem easy to solve.
Guitar Center has more Marshall equipment for sale then they have had in a long tme.
Non-Zounds inventory.
GO BUY NOW. THEY ARE UP TO THIER EARS IN USED GEAR RIGHT NOW.

Over the last couple of years, I have stummbled upon some very surprising Marshall products to purchase.
Enjoy your visit!

 

[Cal Nevari]

I think tube amps are likely to evolve like tube hi-fi components, I doubt tube amps will disappear all together for quite some time.

Just my

Tube hi-if amps will likely always exist, but very few people have them now because they are expensive and temperamental. But this would not have happened if solid state amps had not reached an audiophile level of quality.

Same was true with vinyl and CDs and eventually streaming. People who enjoy high-quality recordings would not have switched from records to streaming their audio if they felt the sound was inferior.

The same thing has happened and continues to happen with guitar amps. The sims continue to evolve to the degree that many pro musicians now use Fractal, Kemper, and other high-end units instead of tube amp back lines. Eventually, their will be a trickle-down technology effect and us mere mortals will be able to afford excellent sim units.

I posted elsewhere in the forum that I recently got a Headrush MX5 and FRFR108 for about $600. You can get them used for as low as $400. No tubes or other circuits to deal with, and yet you have access to dozens of famous amps, cabs, and mic sims. As good as the originals? Of course not. Good enough for home use, rehearsals, and gigs?

Possibly. The jury is still out. But, as the sims continue to evolve and prices drop, we’ll get there eventually. My humble prediction is that within five years Marshall or Zarshall or Zoundall or whatever they call themselves will be offering us sim units with high quality ”vintage Marshall tones,” at different price points to compete directly with the current market leaders noted above.

They will like still offer limited edition, high-quality tube amps but you won’t see any more Code fiascos. Instead, they will offer sims that we will use as floor stomp-box style or rack-mount MXF units into FRFR powered speakers, home computers, or FOH systems. We will still have our tube amps, kept for sentimental reasons, but as they get older, cranky, and more fragile (like the rest of us!), we won’t take them out of the house much and certainly won’t gig with them anymore. Think of ebooks, mobile phones, music and video streaming, and digital cameras. Only enthusiasts still have print books, DVDs, landlines, records, and film cameras.

You heard it here first…

 

[scozz]

Tube hi-if amps will likely always exist, but very few people have them now because they are expensive and temperamental. But this would not have happened if solid state amps had not reached an audiophile level of quality.

Same was true with vinyl and CDs and eventually streaming. People who enjoy high-quality recordings would not have switched from records to streaming their audio if they felt the sound was inferior.

The same thing has happened and continues to happen with guitar amps. The sims continue to evolve to the degree that many pro musicians now use Fractal, Kemper, and other high-end units instead of tube amp back lines. Eventually, their will be a trickle-down technology effect and us mere mortals will be able to afford excellent sim units.

I posted elsewhere in the forum that I recently got a Headrush MX5 and FRFR108 for about $600. You can get them used for as low as $400. No tubes or other circuits to deal with, and yet you have access to dozens of famous amps, cabs, and mic sims. As good as the originals? Of course not. Good enough for home use, rehearsals, and gigs?

Possibly. The jury is still out. But, as the sims continue to evolve and prices drop, we’ll get there eventually. My humble prediction is that within five years Marshall or Zarshall or Zoundall or whatever they call themselves will be offering us sim units with high quality ”vintage Marshall tones,” at different price points to compete directly with the current market leaders noted above.

They will like still offer limited edition, high-quality tube amps but you won’t see any more Code fiascos. Instead, they will offer sims that we will use as floor stomp-box style or rack-mount MXF units into FRFR powered speakers, home computers, or FOH systems. We will still have our tube amps, kept for sentimental reasons, but as they get older, cranky, and more fragile (like the rest of us!), we won’t take them out of the house much and certainly won’t gig with them anymore. Think of ebooks, mobile phones, music and video streaming, and digital cameras. Only enthusiasts still have print books, DVDs, landlines, records, and film cameras.

You heard it here first…

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.

 

[TonalEuphoria]

Who uses reverb? Lol

Those of us who don't like dry, bland tone. That's who.

 

[TonalEuphoria]

Tube hi-if amps will likely always exist, but very few people have them now because they are expensive and temperamental. But this would not have happened if solid state amps had not reached an audiophile level of quality.

We listen with different ears and are happy with different tones, but they haven't for me. They don't have there own unique tone yet on the same level as a tube amp. All they do is digitally mimic tube amps. And digital tone still sounds digital. It's more distant. Not as present and reactive. Not as alive. It's similar to frozen pizza to fresh made. Instant coffee to fresh from the bean, someone singing karaoke of a Journey song, to Steve Perry singing it. Nothing but a manufactured copy. Thankfully there are lots of tube amps to be had out there now. Both new and used. And for every player who gets rid of the real thing for the copy, is one more tube amp on the market bringing the prices down. But I think just about everyone here has some great tube amps already that will probably serve them well for most of our lives if not the rest of. So now for those who still appreciate tube amps like Marshalls, and the dough to buy them, it's all gravy.

 

[10kDA]

We will still have our tube amps, kept for sentimental reasons, but as they get older, cranky, and more fragile (like the rest of us!), we won’t take them out of the house much and certainly won’t gig with them anymore. Think of ebooks, mobile phones, music and video streaming, and digital cameras. Only enthusiasts still have print books, DVDs, landlines, records, and film cameras.

You heard it here first…

"We" will likely include a good number of real recording studios as well, the kind that employ out-of-the-box recording engineers. I have that on pretty good authority from an owner-operator of a very successful studio. He has a selection of tube amps with all his setups dialed in, and he plays clips of the setups for recording artists to get them to choose a starting point for the recorded tone they are after. He's not nearly the only one who does it. The process could be modelled but my friend says "I can hear the unreality of it."

 

[10kDA]

Those of us who don't like dry, bland tone. That's who.

Always my biggest gripe about big box Marshall heads with all that room for a spring tank, but...

 

[TonalEuphoria]

Always my biggest gripe about big box Marshall heads with all that room for a spring tank, but...

It's Marshall being kind of greedy to me. Trying to squeeze every last penny out of the amps they make, and cutting corners to make more money than making a better amp. After all, reverb tanks aren't hundreds of dollars and they would buy them in larger quantities from the manufacturer.

https://www.amplifiedparts.com/products/reverb_tanks

 

[10kDA]

It's Marshall being kind of greedy to me. Trying to squeeze every last penny out of the amps they make, and cutting corners to make more money than making a better amp. After all, reverb tanks aren't hundreds of dollars and they would buy them in larger quantities from the manufacturer.

https://www.amplifiedparts.com/products/reverb_tanks

I think they may have been worried about Marshall fans criticizing them for adding a "non-Marshall-y" feature. They didn't want to buck their own trend and risk being accused of moving toward Fender or Peavey or somebody else's products viewed as being somehow inferior.

 

[MonstersOfTheMidway]

Wow. This news just hitting me now; it flew under my radar all week.
Not much I & most people here can do about it but watch and see what happens next.

 

[TonalEuphoria]

I think they may have been worried about Marshall fans criticizing them for adding a "non-Marshall-y" feature. They didn't want to buck their own trend and risk being accused of moving toward Fender or Peavey or somebody else's products viewed as being somehow inferior.

Maybe, but worrying about that compared to what players are used to and the competition offers seems less important. With the trend of modelers and those playing tube amps still, more connoisseurs, they need to step their game up or continue to lose sales to others I think.

 

[10kDA]

Absolutely. And I would be on the list for a JTM45 with KT66s and a real spring reverb if they decide to do it at a price that makes sense.

 

[Cal Nevari]

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.

Oh, no question. Would lead down innumerable rabbit holes! Yeah, I'm pretty set in my ways, too, but there's an old saying: never be the first or the last person to embrace a new technology. Guess I'm getting into it somewhat belatedly but better late than never. I still have an Origin 20C, so if we need the sounds of real tubes, we've got it.

I just got tired of lugging amps and pedal boards to rehearsals and gigs. Also, I don't want to worry about a tube going on me at a bad time. I'm not technically inclined, so just having extra tubes on hand to install if needed or repairing it myself are not options for me.

Incidentally, one of the reasons I chose the Headrush MX5 was that it didn't have a gazillion options! It has 52 amp, 15 cab, and 10 microphone sims, which if my math is correct represents 7800 options. Not a gazillion but still a lot! That said, of course, not all amps are going to pair with all cabs, etc. The device has default pairings that to my ear sound pretty good, so it's really more like maybe about 25 options, which is manageable. I don't use a lot of pedals, so I have no fear of getting lost down that rabbit hole.