Is the new black Marshall Astoria kinda like malibu stacey with a new hat ?

Telejester

I saw Lee and that Chapman berk pushing a black astoria on a yt clip. I know marshall got its arse reamed with dismal sales of the original astorias, what does the black bring to the table now ?

DrBob

Reminds me of when Apple brought out the first IMac and the big USP was that they were available in all these 'cool' colours and not just boring white like other computers.
And then they brought out a limited edition White one.....

bingefeller

I think Friedmans are the new Marshalls.  

not_the_dj

Well the colours/styling was the big talking point when these were announced. 

Bridgehouse

Malibu Stacey has more bottom.

Telejester

I wonder do you switch an astoria on and once the tubes heat up, a voice saying grrrrreeeeeeeeeetttttings emanates from the speaker  followed by tasteless playing on an out of tune guitar ?

ICBM

not_the_dj said:

Well the colours/styling was the big talking point when these were announced. 

Talking point as in "these look really crap, what on earth are Marshall playing at?"...

They still don't look great in black. It reminds me a bit of the Fender Machete, an absolute runaway success of an amp - and that was even given that those sound good and don't break down.

stickyfiddle

Chicago Music Ex have had a better stab at it.

Still not sure I see the point in its existence when the market would surely lap up a lower wattage JCM800, a channel-switchable Bluesbreaker/Plexi thing at 20 and 40 watts, or even a DSL that doesn't blow itself up.

https://www.chicagomusicexchange.com/products/marshall-astoria-custom-cme-limited-edition-30w-hand-wired-single-channel-1x12-combo-w-footswitch

ICBM

That would actually look quite good if the piping round the grille was white not gold and it didn't have that stupid kinked section in the bottom edge.

clarkefan

I'd have put the gold pinstripes over on the edges like the old heads and 4x12s, but, I like it

TTBZ

I think they look good in most of the colours, there are plenty of boring square black boxes for amps in the world if thats what you want. The dual channel one sounds awesome as well, really thick marshall tone. 

ICBM

It's not actually the colours I didn't like - it's the combination of them with the cheap-looking black grilles, and the stupid grille frame styling. The same colours with basketweave cloth and a straight edge to the grille (especially at the bottom) would have looked fine.

Or better still, the same colours on a standard Marshall 18W or Bluesbreaker cabinet.

polotska

What Marshall was thinking with the Astoria is one of the world’s great mysteries, along with the Bermuda Triangle, the Abominable Snowman, and who really killed JFK.

Then again, this is the same company that still hasn’t made a proper two-channel model 1959/2203, or a model 1974 TMB, or other seemingly obvious designs almost guaranteed to sell well. The inescapable conclusion is that their management is absolutely clueless.

TTBZ

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Telejester

TTBZ said:

There's lots of cool new stuff in the works for marshall, don't worry  

Code mk 2 ?

Sassafras

TTBZ said:

There's lots of cool new stuff in the works for marshall, don't worry  

New fridge?

Cirrus

Jack plug keyring?

TTBZ

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stickyfiddle

TTBZ said:

None of the above. Don't think I'm allowed to give anything away but have a little faith  

Crucifixes? 

George Michael signature sunglasses?

Funkfingers

30w, point-to-point, hand-wired Marshall-alike? Sounds like a job for Dennis Cornell.

jeztone2

TTBZ said:

There's lots of cool new stuff in the works for marshall, don't worry  

But it's too little too late. I can't think of any other major musical gear manufacturer who has so recalcitrantly and consistently ignored both the will of the market and it's customer base. I mean imagine if Ibanez had refused to reissue the tubescreamer? 

There just arrogant.