Why doesn't Marshall make hi-tech lines for bass amps/cabs?

[lbbc]

I had a Marshall 100 Bass Amp (into a Peavey 610 cabinet) in the late 70's...it was an awesome amp. The gear snobs in my band, at the time, said I needed a SVT or a Fender Bassman and a Fender Pbass. I soon left that band and played my Aria 1420 Beatle Bass through it for the next 4 years! Simply a very nice amp from what I remember.

 

[S-Bigbottom]

Well I guess since I'm the one who didn't know about Marshall's bass history, I guess I am the dumb one. I thought this was a forum to talk about bass but I'm obviously not qualified to ask questions. I'll refrain from asking anymore dumb questions to avoid negativity.

Keep asking. That is the only way to learn.
Also this place would only be a few pages if others did not ask similar, the same or "dumb" questions.

It's all good.

 

[burgerdj]

The Eden sale and transition breaks my heart. David’s gear in then 90s was just so good. I’m glad he’s back doing his own this again. But what a legacy to lose.

 

[MattZilla]

Well I guess since I'm the one who didn't know about Marshall's bass history, I guess I am the dumb one. I thought this was a forum to talk about bass but I'm obviously not qualified to ask questions. I'll refrain from asking anymore dumb questions to avoid negativity.

There was no negativity. An uninformed question is different from a dumb question and both make up about 30% of the best thread beginnings.

I’ve been wondering for a decade why Warwick doesn’t do a Thumb geetar 27” scale, 6/7 string, same/similar J shaped MEC pickups with bladed poles and the MEC preamp, same bell bronze frets, wenge fingerboard, bubinga body... It would be more fun than a telecaster.

 

[Yellow Bang66]

I play 6 the stringer too. Back in the 80's I had a Marshall Mosfet 100w 2-4x10 cabs. It definitely didn't sound nearly as well as a JCM but it was light and portable (compared to my regular Marshall stack) for what was out at the time. Out of all of the legendary brands that have come out with their own state of the art bass amp/cab lineups(Ampeg, Fender, Mesa, Peavey, etc), why hasn't Marshall gotten more involved in the bass gear market?

Probably Knows Were soo pendantic, & the market is already dominated by another! similar to Gibson!

 

[Spirit of Ox]

The 3530 Jubilee head was used by the singer/bassist Rob Wright from Nomeansno. They are a Canadian progressive punk power trio. He plays a P bass through it with a good amount of overdrive from the head into a Marshall 4X12 guitar cab. It's a pretty cool sound reminiscent of the old John Wetton tone from King Crimson.

 

[shadven]

For some reason I have always wanted Marshall to make a real go of bass amplification, but not in my lifetime have they ever really gone for it. I turned 40 last fall.

This is a 400 watt tube amp. Very good.

 

[Riff Ranger]

This is a 400 watt tube amp. Very good.View attachment 4247782

I knew you had some old (I thought) Marshalls you liked. How old is this one?

 

[shadven]

My 400 watts of tube power! Marshall VBA400 with VBC810. As much as I love my Ampeg SVT, the Marshall is a better rig.

 

[Riff Ranger]

My 400 watts of tube power! Marshall VBA400 with VBC810. As much as I love my Ampeg SVT, the Marshall is a better rig.View attachment 4247783

Looks like these came along in the ‘00s, so I stand corrected. That’s clearly a rig meant to compete with the Ampeg SVT and Mesa 400.

 

[micguy]

Marshall is a guitar amp company. They fight Fender, Vox, and a few others for big pieces of a big pie. If they make a serious move into bass amplification, they open a few more fronts in their wars - with well entrenched competitors like GK, Mesa, and Ampeg. Those are wars that they don't want to fight - the resources that it will take to do that are not worth the relatively small increment in revenue that they might get from the fight.

 

[Nephilymbass]

I play 6 the stringer too. Back in the 80's I had a Marshall Mosfet 100w 2-4x10 cabs. It definitely didn't sound nearly as well as a JCM but it was light and portable (compared to my regular Marshall stack) for what was out at the time. Out of all of the legendary brands that have come out with their own state of the art bass amp/cab lineups(Ampeg, Fender, Mesa, Peavey, etc), why hasn't Marshall gotten more involved in the bass gear market?

Only people I’ve ever really seen gig with Marshall bass amps anytime recently is Chris from Muse and of course the late Lemmy from Motörhead. I don’t know. I guess it’s because EDEN is under the same umbrella company. Lot of the time when these brands get bought up they either have a dedicated brand for bass amps or they kill off the brand. Some other examples. Line 6 and ampeg are both owned by Yamaha now. And line 6 doesn’t make much bass oriented gear anymore aside from some models on their modelers. An example of a company killing a brand would be Fender killing SWR. Although Im guessing fender used some of the design ideas from SWR which allowed their bass amps to come back a little stronger. I remember when no one wanted anything to do with fender bass amps. There was a period there for a few years where every bass amp they made was more so considered a “practice amp” not something we’d actually gig with.

 

[walterw]

They had one model that escapes me. Not a traditional looking Marshall amp, tubes viewed through smoked acrylic in a gold anodized frame and chassis. Liked those, but they were pricey and did not sell well, believe they discontinued them.

the big tube power amps maybe?

 

[walterw]

why hasn't Marshall gotten more involved in the bass gear market?

i think it's kind of a curse, they've tried over and over for decades and it just never caught on

 

[agedhorse]

Fender isn't owned by fender. Ampeg isn't owned by ampeg. Etc, isn't owned by etc.

Fender, Ampeg, Mesa etc. are all independently operated companies. No different than the companies Ford and GM being independently operated companies.

Most larger companies in the world like this are owned by a group of people (called investors) that fund operations and share in the profits and losses. When a company is 75-100 years old, it would be impossible for the original owner to continue operating the company from the grave, that’s the basis for the corporation. A corporation is its own legal entity that does not have to die like the human counterpoint.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Fender, Ampeg, Mesa etc. are all independently operated companies. No different than the companies Ford and GM being independently operated companies.

Most larger companies in the world like this are owned by a group of people (called investors) that fund operations and share in the profits and losses. When a company is 75-100 years old, it would be impossible for the original owner to continue operating the company from the grave, that’s the basis for the corporation. A corporation is its own legal entity that does not have to die like the human counterpoint.

What I meant by that was, they bought and over see Eden. Eden makes bass gear under Marshall. Marshall makes bass gear.

 

[agedhorse]

What I meant by that was, they bought and over see Eden. Eden makes bass gear under Marshall. Marshall makes bass gear.

Eden is a Marshall brand. In their case, I don’t know if they operate as an independent company or if they are simply a brand. This is a good question.

 

[JohnnyChatter]

I like Marshall bass amps and some little kid inside me loves the idea of having a Marshall logo behind me in a big stage... I feel like most bass players just don’t look to Marshall for products. Marshall has cornered a very particular tone in the guitar world. You want that tone you go Marshall. It seems from what I remember every time they have given it a try there has been push back from players who have brand loyalty. Mesa, Fender, and orange to a rad job crushing both sides but Marshall just hasn’t been able to make that leap. Plus Marshall has kinda been riding off the name for a minute.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Eden is a Marshall brand. In their case, I don’t know if they operate as an independent company or if they are simply a brand. This is a good question.

Hmmm

 

[dbsfgyd1]

View attachment 4247034

Well, they bought Eden they make some top end gear. They don’t seem to be pushing it much in the USA