Guitarist – June 2023
English | 170 pages | pdf | 163.26 MB
Welcome at Guitarist Magazine June 2023 Issue
It’s been a bit of a shocking month or two for guitar. Not only have we lost some wonderful players, but there have been some seismic changes in the guitar industry itself, which some at least will perceive as the death of an era. Marshall has, for many players, long been the brand equivalent of an indomitable castle over which the British flag always flies. Last week, however, we learned that the Marshall family has sold the company to Zound Industries, a Swedish audio-electronics company that made its fortune with its Urbanears headphones. We’ll be chasing down the full story in coming issues but, in the meanwhile, the news certainly makes you reflect on the nature of change in our world of guitar.
It’s ironic that Marshall made its fame as a small, disruptive company that not only became a go-to maker for the stars of 60s guitar but changed the sonic footprint of rock music through the bold way its amps were designed – their power, their towering stage presence, their visceral howl at concert volumes were all shockingly new once. None of that is any less compelling today – but the number of stages that will permit Marshall Plexis to be dimed all night is, sadly, dwindling. The somewhat dispiriting truth is that the 100-watt stacks the company built its worldwide empire upon are a tough sell these days, being too loud and too big for most jobbing musicians’ needs. Everyone should experience playing like that at least once, though, because it’s truly magical. But the tides of change wait for no one. And, in the big picture, that’s as it must be – for if nothing ever changed there’d have been no Marshall to begin with. The fervent hope is, of course, that Zound and the Marshall family, who will remain the largest shareholder in the newly formed Marshall Group, take this chance to recalibrate and revitalise
what Marshall can offer today’s guitarists, while staying rooted in all that glorious heritage. We’ll certainly watch with great interest. Enjoy the free pdf magazine issue and see you next time.
Jamie Dickson Editor-in-chief
Download from: