Zound acquires Marshall

[V-man]

The original San Dimas guitars are probably their best work ever (not to be confused with the later Charvel "San Dimas" models).

The Japanese imports of the 90's are also excellent.

I wasn't saying that Akai is "shit" in general, but the India-made guitars of the early 2000's were sub-par to say the least. I'm strictly talking about the imports, because I still say that Fender left the USA series and the Custom Shop alone. Everyone on the Jackson/Charvel forum at the time tended to agree. After Fender bought them out, the imports saw a vast increase in quality.

I guess your experience is different than mine, because the USA models I checked out after the Fender purchase were no different than the ones from the Akai era or before.

Not to go too deeply off track from the bigger discussion, but AFAIC:
If it isn’t USA or JPN (to ‘90s) manufacture, it’s not a Jackson. It’s a fucking Jepiphone.

Bolt-on neck? Fuck you, not a Jackson. Dot inlays or non-Ebony fretboard (on a guitar that was not a San Dimas “Student” model)? Fuck you, not a Jackson. That whole era where they began ANY Asian exports outside of Japan marks the period in which they were and are no longer Jackson.

 

[PowerTube44]

Not to go too deeply off track from the bigger discussion, but AFAIC:
If it isn’t USA or JPN (to ‘90s) manufacture, it’s not a Jackson. It’s a fucking Jepiphone.

Bolt-on neck? Fuck you, not a Jackson. Dot inlays or non-Ebony fretboard (on a guitar that was not a San Dimas “Student” model)? Fuck you, not a Jackson. That whole era where they began ANY Asian exports outside of Japan marks the period in which they were and are no longer Jackson.

One exception to the bolt-on neck rule is the Fusion model. I have a 1992 Fusion EX, Japanese-made, and it's nice. But generally speaking, yeah, a Jackson is a neck-through with sharkfin inlays.

Another thing the purists seem to love is the top-mount Floyd, as opposed to the flush-mount. I don't personally have a preference.

I still think the current imports, wherever they're made, are much better than the late 90's/early 2000's India-made junk.

 

[LPMarshall hack]

I just got 20k for my JMD!

 

[Old Punker]

My main problem with large corporations is that they are all run by suit-wearing, self-serving, gonad-driven money grubbers.

 

[craigtodd]

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.

Nah!

Your reply would have to carry much more weight to convince me.
If you were to inherit a mansion off your dad how long is it before paddocks, stables, subsidiary buildings start getting sold?A quick £250,000 a go?
Pull the other one.

 

[goldtop0]

geez I've got my cache of pre Zound Marshalls.......yippee

 

[V-man]

Nah!

Your reply would have to carry much more weight to convince me.
If you were to inherit a mansion off your dad how long is it before paddocks, stables, subsidiary buildings start getting sold?A quick £250,000 a go?
Pull the other one.

You need “much more weight” than a solid decade of (mis-)management by the children to conclude this was not a simple Gen-X cash grab before the ink on the death certificate dried. Yeah, good luck with that, 10 years for the medium to dry is a freaking oil painting, not a will. But whether you are convinced or not is really of no importance or consequence to the big picture anyway.

 

[Clifdawg]

What I’d like to see:

The biggest market right now is the Katana, no doubt, and the MG is long in the tooth at this point and needs to be retired. Would love to see a Katana competitor from Marshall - a 2 channel 50-watt SS amp using a MOSFET or JFET analog preamp, a 12” Celestion speaker, and a simple effects section (the MG’s effects section would be fine). Add a four-button footswitch with built in tuner and modern connectivity options (cab-simulated XLR, USB), sell it for $300-350 bucks.

Also, pedal amps are getting serious buzz right now. I’m really curious about that new Laney Loudpedal. I could see Marshall making a dual-channel JTM/JVM-style floor module putting out 50-100 watts of power. That could be really cool.

Also, plug-ins and IRs really aren’t a bad idea. Call me crazy, but making legendary cranked Marshall tones easily accessible to laptop musicians around the world is a fantastic idea and I think Marshall is leaving money on the table here. I don’t think there’s a lot of overlap between people who just want good plugins and IRS and people that are willing to pay for the entire amp experience of a Marshall.

 

[Mastershon]

Zound's board members are part of the Marshall board of trustees since 2015.

The Marshall family will get 24% of the shares making them the largest shareholders which means they will have a strong say in everything from production to end product.

So basically the family has decided Zound offers the best management strategy going forward. New CEO.

What is interesting is that there is a focus on the US

BTW, the most likely cause of all this, IMO, is BREXIT. Sweden is in the EU. Britain is not.

Their new”’68 Spec” looks cool. I’m on the list.

 

[Mastershon]

?

Their new”’68 Spec” looks cool. I’m on the list.

 

[Mastershon]

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.

 

[pat_rocks]

If i was Marshall i would visit every major rockstar legend which used their marshalls Profile their amps and their custom cabs with different speakers and release their own version of an axe fx. Of course this would mean giving a little comission to the guitarists in question.

 

[Point 2 Point]

?

Don’t listen to me

 

[Dogs of Doom]

you could have left it...

my point though is, I have money in hand & actually the pre-order purchase was done twice. 2- 8 months wait, just for my order to get cancelled & refunded.

I saw a Kemper rack for a good price & snagged it.

I no longer needed a CODE. The CODE would have been a toy, but... a fun one, but, oh well, Marshall did not want my money...

 

[ITburst]

That's a good point. I believe that the Jackson and Charvel imports improved for that very reason, with Fender being an actual guitar company as opposed to Akai, which was more about electronics.

As for Zounds, I have no idea what to expect. I figure it'll be one of three things:

1. They'll get on the ball and make Marshall better than it's been in decades (optimist choice).
2. They'll view Marshall as just another wing of their corporation and live off Marshall's good name and inertia for as long as they can, while letting quality go in the toilet (pessimist choice).
3. They just leave the same people in charge and let things chug along as they've been for years (realist choice).

Sadly, it will probably be #2

 

[ITburst]

Marshall has had its issues the last decade, no doubt. I know, I’ve been through 4 warranty DSL20HR’s in less than 18 months. But I do hope it doesn’t sink as low as Gibson Light Fixtures did (Robo tuners? Really??)
I am saddened by the news and can only hope things work out for us fans of the brand.

 

[Shae201]

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).

Marshall hasn't been relevant since the mid 2000s. The Boomers are the only ones keeping them alive. And they are dying off everyday. If Marshall closed doors tomorrow, the musicians industry wouldn't even care.

 

[scozz]

Quote from Terry Marshall regarding the sale to Zounds.

“Since my father and I created the original Marshall amp back in 1962, we have always looked for ways to deliver the pioneering Marshall sound to music lovers of all backgrounds and music tastes across the world - and I’m confident that the Marshall Group will elevate this mission and spur the love for the Marshall brand,”

Terry Marshall said in a statement.

 

[vtrain]

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!

I just got a Ceriatone Lead and Bass 20 and it rips. I think it’s an excellent, inexpensive alternative to the SV20 (and maybe the Studio JTM if that materializes).

 

[V-man]

Marshall hasn't been relevant since the mid 2000s. The Boomers are the only ones keeping them alive. And they are dying off everyday. If Marshall closed doors tomorrow, the musicians industry wouldn't even care.

Cool story and all, only you can say the exact same thing about guitar-driven music or any actual instrument-driven music. And then you can say the exact same thing about ANY and EVERY music trend/genre since Marshall’s cited period of irrelevance.

Music is OBJECTIVELY more shitty, forgettable and disposable. But for all this you sure have a lot of young ass lining up for Stevie Nicks and Dolly. RHCP is a festival headliner despite a similar arguable irrelevance since the 1990s.
… and if my aunt had balls, that and a dollar would get you a cup of coffee.

So, why are you quoting me and interjecting that “water is wet“ nonsense? I mean the only thing worth discussing is your ridiculous point that Boomers are the only ones keeping them alive when every Zoomer asshole with 3 youtube videos on his channel has a utility shelf full of heads in the background that include at least 2 Marshalls.

Old farts already have their toys. It ain’t the pensioners getting all the DSL 40s and Studio amps. Not that that Marshall’s actual closing or mumble rap dying or Gaga’s pussy imploding means anything to the (ha-ha) ”scene” or (even better!) the “industry” now in this musical nihilism we wade through these days.