[h=3]Distribution deal[/h] Marshall entered into a 15-year distribution deal with British company Rose-Morris during 1965, which gave him the capital to expand his manufacturing operations, though it would prove to be costly. In retrospect, Marshall admitted the Rose-Morris deal was "the biggest mistake I ever made. Rose-Morris hadn't a clue, really. For export, they added 55% onto my price, which pretty much priced us out of the world market for a long time."[SUP]
[7][/SUP]
[h=3]Park amplification[/h] The new contract had disenfranchised several of Marshall's former distributors, among them his old friend Johnny Jones. Marshall's contract did not prevent him from building amplifiers outside the company, and so Marshall launched the
Park brand name, inspired by the maiden name of Jones's wife.[SUP]
[8][/SUP] To comply with his contract stipulations, these amplifiers had minor circuit changes compared to the regular Marshalls, and minor changes to the appearance. For instance, often the Parks had silver or black front panels instead of the Marshall's gold ones, some of the enclosures were taller or shaped differently, and controls were laid out and labeled differently.[SUP]
[9][/SUP]
Starting in early 1965, Park produced a number of amplifiers including a 45-watt head. Most of these had Marshall layout and components, though some unusual amplifiers were made, such as a 75 watt keyboard amplifier with
KT88 tubes. A 2×12-inch combo had the option of sending the first channel into the second, probably inspired by Marshall users doing the same trick with a jumper cable.[SUP]
[8][/SUP] The 1972 Park 75 put out about 100 watts by way of two KT88s, whereas the comparable 50-watt
Model 1987 of that time used 2
EL34 tubes.[SUP]
[9][/SUP]
In 1982, Park came to an end, though Marshall later revived the brand for some transistor amplifiers made in Asia.[SUP]
[8][/SUP] The Parks made from the mid-1960s to around 1974 (the "golden years"), with point-to-point wiring – rumoured to be "a little hotter" than regular Marshalls – fetch higher prices than comparable "real" Marshalls from the same period.[SUP]
[9][/SUP]
[h=3]Other Marshall brand names[/h]Other brand names Marshall Amplification had used for various business reasons included
Big M (for the then-West German market),
Kitchen/Marshall (for the Kitchen Music retail chain in North London),
Narb (Ken Bran's surname spelled backwards) and
CMI (Cleartone Musical Instruments). Amplifiers sold under these brand names are quite rare, and sell to collectors at high prices.[SUP]
[11][/SUP]
