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Brief word on the Genz - Benz "Shuttle"

#41
The words Eden, SWR, Trace Elliot ring in my mind. Mississippi hmmm!!! Home of Peavey. Peavey was asking questions about what folk on TB thought of Trace Elliot Products. I am really ignorant when it come to the business side of gear manufacturing but in my small mind if one party sold their company in the first place why would they want to resurrect it? Doesn't Behringer now have Bugera, TC Electronics and another gear company? Someone please educate the Old Man on this stuff.
 
#42
phillybass101 said:
The words Eden, SWR, Trace Elliot ring in my mind. Mississippi hmmm!!! Home of Peavey. Peavey was asking questions about what folk on TB thought of Trace Elliot Products. I am really ignorant when it come to the business side of gear manufacturing but in my small mind if one party sold their company in the first place why would they want to resurrect it? Doesn't Behringer now have Bugera, TC Electronics and another gear company? Someone please educate the Old Man on this stuff.
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no way, TC Electronics is now part of Beringer?
 
#43
I thought I read that somewhere. There is some moving and shaking going on in the Industry. TC Electronics are blowing the 550 and 800's out the door at Music Stores.
SamJ said:
no way, TC Electronics is now part of Beringer?
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#44
MUSIC Group (the parent company of Midas, Klark Teknik, Turbosound, Behringer and Bugera) has announced that it has acquired TC Group (parent company of Tannoy, Lab Gruppen, Lake, TC Electronics, TC Helicon and TC Applied Technologies).

"Since the acquisition of Midas, Klark Teknik and Turbosound, we have been continuously pursuing brands that complement the mixing console, processing and loudspeaker excellence offered by these historic brands," said MUSIC Group founder and CEO Uli Behringer. "Throughout our search, TC Group has clearly stood out as the ideal match because of their world-class brands, impressive intellectual property, sterling reputation and first-class team of people. I am very proud to welcome the TC Group team into our family."

According to MUSIC Group, the addition of Tannoy, Lab Gruppen and Lake allows it to round out their professional install and touring sound offerings alongside Midas, Klark Teknik and Turbosound, while TC Electronics and TC Helicon represent the industry's leading brands in the guitar effects and voice processing sector, and complement MUSIC Group's Bugera guitar tube amplifier brand and Behringer prosumer division.

Tannoy, Lab Gruppen and Lake will now join MUSIC Group's Midas, Klark Teknik and Turbosound brands to strengthen MUSIC Group's continued expansion into the professional A/V market. With the acquisition, Music Group is positioned to deliver complete system solutions to Install and Touring customers, the combination of these brands represents an unprecedented range of choice for the most demanding of applications.

uli-behringer.jpg
Behringer (right) continues, "We will invest heavily in positioning TC Group's brands at the very pinnacle of the industry, as we have done with Midas, Klark Teknik and Turbosound, where we have invested over $100 million in highly automated and integrated manufacturing facilities, quality control systems and engineering resources, including a new Center of Engineering Excellence in Manchester, UK."

"TC Group will now equally have full access to MUSIC Group's extensive resources and advanced automated system platforms in such areas as product development and lifecycle management, engineering, manufacturing, supply chain and finance."

Amazing acquisition of Midas, Klark Teknik, Turbosound, and Lab Gruppen which have made some really great pro audio products for a very long time.
 
#45
phillybass101 said:
The words Eden, SWR, Trace Elliot ring in my mind. Mississippi hmmm!!! Home of Peavey. Peavey was asking questions about what folk on TB thought of Trace Elliot Products. I am really ignorant when it come to the business side of gear manufacturing but in my small mind if one party sold their company in the first place why would they want to resurrect it? Doesn't Behringer now have Bugera, TC Electronics and another gear company? Someone please educate the Old Man on this stuff.
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The difference between these companies and Genz Benz is that the original owners were no longer involved, or in the case of Nordschow and Eden, marginalized and ignored till he was fired.

But there are also companies where marginalizing the original owner was a good thing...I'm speaking of course about Ampeg. Everett Hull hated rock and roll and distortion and loud music and absolutely refused to cater to the changing market demands. So when Unimusic bought them, he stayed on as a condition to the sale but generally ignored his wishes until he resigned.

In the case of Genz Benz, yes, Jeff Genzler sold to KMC, but he stayed on and was very important to the company, and I seriously doubt that Roger would resurrect the company without Jeff being in charge. Not saying that it can't happen, but Roger and Jeff are pretty close friends and that's how Roger got involved at KMC in the first place.
 
#47
klokker said:
Most people say that, but I have both the 6.2 and 6.0 and I like the 6.0 better, it just seems clearer and cleaner to me. The "beefed up" 6.2 is fine of course, (and more) but IMO I wouldn't shy away from a 6.0 if you like it clean.
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It's been awhile since I played the 6.0, as I got one when they first came out. " Beefed up " is a good description of the 6.2, as I found the 6.0 too be a little loose in the low end. Tightening it up a tad seemed to give it a more low mid punch, which is what I like about it. Still seems kind of clean to me, though, as compared to my MB F500.
 
#48
I don't know anything about a comeback, if it would be great or not, but I know my little Shuttle 3.0-10T combo is a killer little amp. I pair it with a 110 extension cab to get the full 300 watts into those little 10's and it sounds way better than it "should" give the size, power, etc. I have thought about "upgrading" but then I play it and think, you know, this sounds pretty damn good.

I am curious about a TH500 and an Aguilar or maybe even better a Bergie 112.
 
#49
JimmyM said:
The difference between these companies and Genz Benz is that the original owners were no longer involved, or in the case of Nordschow and Eden, marginalized and ignored till he was fired.

But there are also companies where marginalizing the original owner was a good thing...I'm speaking of course about Ampeg. Everett Hull hated rock and roll and distortion and loud music and absolutely refused to cater to the changing market demands. So when Unimusic bought them, he stayed on as a condition to the sale but generally ignored his wishes until he resigned.

In the case of Genz Benz, yes, Jeff Genzler sold to KMC, but he stayed on and was very important to the company, and I seriously doubt that Roger would resurrect the company without Jeff being in charge. Not saying that it can't happen, but Roger and Jeff are pretty close friends and that's how Roger got involved at KMC in the first place.
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Thanks. Hope things work out for the better for players and owners both.
 
#52
MOSCOWBASS said:
I'm sure I read post from Andy Aged Horse, that is what the variable low filter control on the Shuttlemax does.
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Had a Shuttlemax. Have a GBE 1200.

EDIT: Checked the GBE 1200 manual. Says that the LF EXTEND rolls the HPF down from 45 Hz to 30 Hz - variable. I imagine that the Shuttlemax is similar. Thought I read that the LF EXTEND also introduced a small boost down there, but I don't see it in the manual, at least for the GBE.
 
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#53
The GBE works the same, there is a small boost that occurs as a side effect of the type of filter used. The shift is not as great on the shuttle's and shuttle-max's as on the GBE because they are not adjustable (smaller package).
 
#54
phillybass101 said:
The words Eden, SWR, Trace Elliot ring in my mind. Mississippi hmmm!!! Home of Peavey. Peavey was asking questions about what folk on TB thought of Trace Elliot Products. I am really ignorant when it come to the business side of gear manufacturing but in my small mind if one party sold their company in the first place why would they want to resurrect it? Doesn't Behringer now have Bugera, TC Electronics and another gear company? Someone please educate the Old Man on this stuff.
Click to expand...

2 years ago I called the listed contact number and was connected to a rep from FMIC, I asked him what the status of the Genz Benz brand was and was told more or less,
"They were sitting on 1.5 million USD of merchandise in an economy were disposable incomes are shrinking rather than growing. "
We agreed to absorb their inventory and sell off the remanding stock and their staff would assist in honoring warranty claims."
I take from this at the time what this rep described was the best business scenario for the GB guys but I can't say what occurred would eliminate the possibility the brand could be resurrected when the market conditions approved. Unlike other companies that folded GB was very good at providing us with what we needed and evolved their designs based on what as a consensus the bass playing community was looking for. Hope to buy a new GB product soon!
 
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#55
MOSCOWBASS said:
I'm sure I read post from Andy Aged Horse, that is what the variable low filter control on the Shuttlemax does.
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Ok I'm confused. You are saying the LF Boost sweeps frequency, not just boosting level.?I have a ShuttleMAX, and I always thought that was strictly a level control. The mids have the parametric control; but, I don't see that for the low end. Maybe I'm missing something.

Oh, sorry, just saw Andy's post. That's what I thought. I still want the variable HPF. 8^)
 
#56
Not quite a variable HPF, and not quite a boost either. It's a combination of the two with a slope/Q change as well.
 
#57
"KMC owns Genz Benz now. Roger is a muckety muck at KMC after years of being a muckety muck at GB. He and Jeff are good friends. I can't speak for Andy since he's at Mesa now but I believe it's a given that Jeff and Roger would be involved."

I hope so but friends is friends and business is business especially in this cut throat world.

$1.5M in inventory sounds like a lot even with quantity discounts. The cost of money would be huge on a deal like that with an assumed slow inventory turnover rate.
What was the gross sales of GB in their best year?

Understood that excess inventory could have been the problem but why would Fender invest unless they bought at pennies on the dollar?
 
#58
All I can say is I just hope if they are revived, that they are as good as they used to be (or better)... Which if the original founders are involved, I'd bet is going to be the case.
 
#59
Jim C said:
"KMC owns Genz Benz now. Roger is a muckety muck at KMC after years of being a muckety muck at GB. He and Jeff are good friends. I can't speak for Andy since he's at Mesa now but I believe it's a given that Jeff and Roger would be involved."

I hope so but friends is friends and business is business especially in this cut throat world.

$1.5M in inventory sounds like a lot even with quantity discounts. The cost of money would be huge on a deal like that with an assumed slow inventory turnover rate.
What was the gross sales of GB in their best year?

Understood that excess inventory could have been the problem but why would Fender invest unless they bought at pennies on the dollar?
Click to expand...
All that hinges on believing the post above. But Fender didn't buy Genz Benz...KMC bought Genz Benz, and the whole of KMC was sold to Fender as a package deal. I believe the rep that JMic talked to probably said that, but gear reps are not usually privy to boardroom decisions in huge companies. Also, if it was all about selling excess inventory, then there would have been no new products from Genz Benz while Fender owned them, and there were plenty. So while I'm not saying it's untrue (I would have no way of knowing), seems like a lot of holes in that story.
 
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#60
In a thread that's a mix of speculation and fancy, I'll add to the fancy......now having spent some quality time with an Uber 1288, and already loving my other GB gear, I remain skeptical, but hope that if GB is revived, that it retains the cutting edge aspect of it's engineering, with or without the Focus/Contour type offerings.
This Uber cab is jaw-droppingly good!
 

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