Are Marshall amps less relevant than WE think they are?

The mojo comes from what's inside the bell ends of the OT. Don't ever loosen those bolts and let the magic smoke out.
 
IMO Marshall remains very relevant. The Marshall sound defined rock n roll for quite awhile.
Admittedly not forever - today there are so many options to choose from, after all.
Still, Marshall ruled the roost during a critical period when the sound of rock was developing.
And remained central to it for decades, even as brands like Mesa Boogie took a different direction.

In terms of sales, sure, their market share has almost certainly declined.
But the Marshall sound remains a benchmark tone.
There's no question that many other amps selling today are designed to produce Marshall type tone.
Some are copying it, others trying improve on it one way or another, but all are undeniably derived from it.
 
In my humble opinion, Marshall has always been the standard for rock and metal.
I don't see it changing very much for some time to come.

You know if you go out and buy a yellow truck, then all the sudden you start seeing all the yellow trucks on the road.
but It doesn't mean that there are more yellow trucks, you just start noticing them.

Personally I don't like Mesa Boogie all that much.
Marshall has always been my favorite tone, and are still my favorite amps.
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You know if you go out and buy a yellow truck, then all the sudden you start seeing all the yellow trucks on the road.
but It doesn't mean that there are more yellow trucks, you just start noticing them.

Glad you brought this up. This is a very important Bias "Frequency Illusion" to understand about our world -otherwise people can go crazy thinking things are changing when they are not really as much as your brain is playing tricks on you and convincing yourself that you understand the complexities of the world -when our brains generally do not.
 
I think Marshall’s sound is extremely relevant to todays rock/metal; but, there’s a couple dozen other companies that are doing it better and (in some cases) cheaper than Marshall does. They dropped the ball decades ago and can’t seem to figure out how to pick it back up. Other companies are making a literal fortune off Marshall not understanding their market.

There’s a reason we call it the “Modded-Marshall” sound and not the “Marshall” sound.
 
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The Marshall sound is one among many flavors, but man it is so tasty. Everyone likes chocolate, right? Seriously IMHO if I was allowed to have only one sound it would be a hot-rod Marshall-like that cleans up nicely when you roll back your volume and you can always push them with pedals if you really need to.

Edit: Being that said, there are lots of legendary albums that used a Marshall amp being pushed by a pedal. I guess the Marshall sound is something radically different depending on who you ask.
 
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I will say that I am seeing a LOT of SC20 and SV20 amps around these days. Who would have thought that almost-lunchbox versions of two of the most coveted amps of all time would be such a success? ;)
 
I will say that I am seeing a LOT of SC20 and SV20 amps around these days. Who would have thought that almost-lunchbox versions of two of the most coveted amps of all time would be such a success? ;)

Their great BTW -Ive had that and 800 version -my only problem is the 20W -it's just a hair too quiet for gigging with rock drums -(a Marshall 20W is not near as loud as a Fender Deluxe 22W BTW -which can stadn with Rock drums all day)

I've dialed my Mesa MkV 35w (30-50 Watts is the sweet spot for amp power IMO) to Marshall tone goodness in order to prevent pushing my 100 watters out to gigs anymore
 
They dropped the ball decades ago .

The reason I ask when you think Marshall dropped the ball, is because not knowing how old you are, but myself -I can remember when people dissed JCM800s especially the 2210, and then absolutely HATED JCM900 (with Vitriol), then I remember everyone underwhelmed with the JCM2000. But guess what, all of the amps are loved and lauded now.

So whatever has transpired recently is probably more of the same phenomena -It's anchoring Bias to our classic rock heroes amps of some sort.

Every Marshall is a good amp, most Marshall's are great amps, and many many Marshall's are the best amp.

I don't think any balls are being dropped specifically any more than our inherit bias for frequency illusion of the other amp brands entering the market, and the success of Marshall spinning off good and great copies at cheaper prices.

But Im willing to listen. Where do you feel they dropped the ball?
 
Their great BTW -Ive had that and 800 version -my only problem is the 20W -it's just a hair too quiet for gigging with rock drums -(a Marshall 20W is not near as loud as a Fender Deluxe 22W BTW -which can stadn with Rock drums all day)

really? the combo or head versions? id assume the right speaker could help that? i gig with a '66 deluxe reverb all the time, and its plenty loud, though it does have a 30w celestion in there
 
In my humble opinion, Marshall has always been the standard for rock and metal.
I don't see it changing very much for some time to come.

You know if you go out and buy a yellow truck, then all the sudden you start seeing all the yellow trucks on the road.
but It doesn't mean that there are more yellow trucks, you just start noticing them.

Personally I don't like Mesa Boogie all that much.
Marshall has always been my favorite tone, and are still my favorite amps.
​​​​​
Cough, cough, Randall, cough cough...

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