Marshall splits from Korg.....

[jrfrond]

Just in case anyone hasn't heard this yet, as of October 2010, Marshall amps, and hence service, will be handled by U.S. Music Corp., a division of American Music & Sound. Doesn't really mean much unless you are a Marshall authorized service center.

This is somewhat of a blockbuster, ending a 46-year distribution alliance. Kind of like a 70 year-old couple getting divorced.

[Enzo]

One of my dealer guys was telling me that a few days ago, his rep came through with the story.

I better shape up and get any pending Marshall claims turned in.

[rf7]

Here's a link:Marshall & Korg

I had not heard about US Music taking over their distribution.

[Hella1hella]

I am pretty sure that is the same people who handles Randall.

[g1]

Randall & Eden & Washburn. If that's true all I can say is Yikes!!! Or perhaps some of you have had better experiences with their support than I have.
John, I was hoping you maybe misread US Marshall as US Music. However, US Music was acquired by JAM industries of Canada last year. Their Erikson division has been the Canadian distributor of Marshall for quite a while now, so this is starting to make sense. Oddly, Korg Canada is also a division of JAM.

[jrfrond]

No misread here. I've already been in touch with US Music and they are the "new guy". US Music is now owned by American Music & Sound.

[Hella1hella]

I am not sure, it seems like they are decent to me, I had a randall lynch box a while ago I got for 500 bucks, and it did not have a footswitch when i got it, I called US music and they sent me the footswitch, and did not charge me a cent.

[Enzo]

You are calling them as a retail customer, calling their retail sales organization. John is talking about the service and support aspect at the wholesale level. Both John and I run warranty repair shops. it will be interesting to see what kind of support they can provide.

[jrfrond]

You are calling them as a retail customer, calling their retail sales organization. John is talking about the service and support aspect at the wholesale level. Both John and I run warranty repair shops. it will be interesting to see what kind of support they can provide.

Doug, since the AM & S takeover, they seem to be doing OK, considering the upheaval and new lines thrown at them. Their service manager is a good guy, eager to help, and has a very full plate. Marshall is a big name to handle. Time will tell how it goes. As with other mergers, we'll all learn how to transition from the old to new regime. After all, just HOW many times have we all done this in the past 10 years or so.

[g1]

No misread here. I've already been in touch with US Music and they are the "new guy". US Music is now owned by American Music & Sound.

Upon further review, I see American Music & Sound is also a division of JAM so it still makes sense to me!
http://music-electronics-forum.com/i...lies/smile.gif

[g1]

A little more about AM&S:
"Today, AM&S has four centers of operation throughout North America: Customer and technical service, and IT are housed in the JAM's HQ in Montreal; in the Memphis area, there's a 155,000 square foot distribution center; in Farmingdale, N.Y. they have their sales management staff for all MI brands; and there's their office in Agora, Calif., where sales, marketing, and product and brand development is handled. A total of nearly 75 employees handle the load of the fast growing company."

This hopefully will be a good thing as JAM's Erikson division has been handling Marshall in Canada for somewhere around 10 to 15 years if memory serves. (We had Jim tour through a shop I worked for around the time of the switch. cute nurse/assistant lol). I would expect a fairly smooth transistion as much of the support type stuff should already be in place.

[Ronsonic]

This works for us. We're pretty comfortable with AM&S and it should work out well.

[kscience]

Looks like a learning curve ensues. Our shop is still a Korg rep, have been for years. Awaiting word from UK about parts. Even under Korg, Marshall has had issues that did not resolve quickly; that said I miss the Korg people.

[Enzo]

Korg sent out a letter, any unfilled Marshall orders thropugh them should be considered cancelled.

[kscience]

Oh, all rep shops were notified with sufficient time to get the paperwork done; The divorce was final 10/1/2010.