Park Amplifiers
Park Amplification was initially created in 1965 as an offshoot brand of Marshall Amplification,[1] designed for the purpose of expanding operations following the execution of a distribution contract that Marshall creator Jim Marshall[2] had recently signed with Rose-Morris. Early Park amplifiers are highly sought after by players and collectors alike.[3][4] After being discontinued by Marshall in 1982, Park Amplification was resurrected by Mitch Colby[5] in 2014, who bought the trademark and began recreating classic amps as well as producing some new designs.
History
Jim Marshall, creator of Marshall Amplification,[6] initially built and sold his eponymous amps through his music shop in London and other dealers in the south of England. In the north of England, Marshall sold his amps through Crossland and Jones, a music store in Birmingham owned by his friend Johnny Jones.
In 1965, Marshall entered into a 15-year worldwide distribution contract with the British music company Rose-Morris, which gave him the capital to expand his manufacturing operations. Rose-Morris became the worldwide distributor of Marshall amps, and this included distribution in the UK. One result of that agreement was that Marshall prices in the UK increased because of the extra profit added through the extra layer of distribution. It also meant that Johnny Jones lost his distribution arrangement with Marshall for the north of England.
Johnny Jones asked Jim Marshall whether the distribution agreement prevented Jim from making amps under a different brand name, which it didn’t. Together, the two came up with the name “Park”, which was Johnny Jones’ wife’s maiden name, and Park Amplification was born. As Park was a new brand name, and Johnny Jones agreed to keep the connection to Marshall “under wraps”, he sold them in his store and throughout the UK. So, very few Park amps found their way outside of the UK.
Models
The very early Park amps from 1959 through 1967 had the exact same circuits as their Marshall siblings but incorporated cosmetic changes in order to comply with contract stipulations. For instance, the original Park version of the JTM45[7], which was introduced in 1965, had a top mounted chassis and white pinstripe grill cloth on the front of the amp. When Marshall changed their amps to have front mounted controls, the comparable Park amps featured a head cabinet of a different size. The head cabinets of these amps were taller, plus the controls were laid out and labeled differently. Initially, the amp chassis had black plexi panels and silver piping instead of Marshall's gold plexi panels with white piping. When Marshall switched to gold metal panels at the end of 1969, Park changed to silver metal panels. Park speaker cabinets were also constructed differently.
Other Park amps similar to the Marshalls include the Park 50, Park Super Lead 100 and Park Master Volume. Many of the Park amps incorporated preamps that were equivalent to the Marshall Bass or PA versions, rather than the more common Lead version found in most Marshall amps of the era. Eventually Park amps integrated more circuit modifications to further differentiate them from Marshall amps. For example, the Park 75, introduced around 1967, was essentially a Marshall 50 with KT88 tubes which gave it a fuller sound. The Park version of what is now known as the Marshall “Bluesbreaker” combo, also 2x12 combo with a 45 watt, KT66 powered head with tremolo was assembled in a smaller cabinet.
Eventually Park amps incorporated their own unique designs. These included the Rock Head, which was a more advanced version of the Marshall Master Volume amp allowing the player to foot switch between the clean and overdrive sounds, and the Park 150, which was a more advanced version of the Marshall Major plus various combos.
The mid-1960s to around 1974 are considered the "golden years", and during this time Parks were made with point-to-point wiring just like the Marshall amps of the same period. These vintage Parks can command similar prices to the Marshall amps from the same period. Park amps built from 1974 through 1982 are also considered vintage and collectible and prices are comparable to the Marshall amps of the same period.
The End of Park, Mk I
Around 1979, at the conclusion of the Rose-Morris contract, Marshall exported a few containers of Park amps to the US using a distributor other than Unicord, the official Marshall US distributor. Because Marshall was so strong in the US market at that time, these Park amps ended up in a warehouse where they were sold piecemeal.
Marshall decided to discontinue Park in 1982. Then in 1990, he revived Park with the help of Mitch Colby and Ritchie Fliegler of Korg USA (the successor to Unicord) who were in charge of Marshall for the US. The brand Park was used for a low-priced line of Korean-made amps that were designed to compete with low priced amps from Peavey, Crate and Fender. These low-cost Park amps were moderately successful, but in two years’ time, they were rebranded as Marshall, and Park once more slipped into the shadows.
Resurrection
In 2014, Park was resurrected again by Mitch Colby[8], the person responsible for Marshall US distribution at Korg USA from 1985 through 2010, and through an unlikely series of events, Mitch bought the trademark. He started recreating the amps from the “golden years” including the Park 45 head and combo (used by Jimmy Vivino, Keith Nelson, and Walter Becker), Park 50, and Park 75 (used by Mike Landau). Soon he added other amps including newly designed models like the Little Head (used by Brian Ray and Tracii Guns), Little Rock, and Rock Head (used by Misha Mansoor).
Modern Park amps are considered by both players and artists to be some of the best built and finest sounding vintage style tube amps.[citation needed]
References
- ↑ "Marshall Amps - The Complete History". Guitar.com. 2013-11-13. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
- ↑ "Jim Marshall dies at 88; creator of famed rock 'n' roll amplifiers". Los Angeles Times. 2012-04-06. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
- ↑ Hunter, Dave (July 2013). "The Park 75". Vintage Guitar. pp. 52–54.
- ↑ Hunter, Dave. "Park 45". Vintage Guitar. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
- ↑ "Park Amplifiers Introduces the Park 75". Premier Guitar. 2014-10-29. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
- ↑ "Marshall Amps - The Complete History". Guitar.com. 2013-11-13. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
- ↑ Hunter, Dave. "Park 45 | Vintage Guitar® magazine". Retrieved 2022-03-28.
- ↑ "NAD: Park75 LTD". The Gear Page. Retrieved 2022-03-28.
- Pittman, Aspen (2003). The Tube Amp Book. Hal Leonard. pp. 76–77. ISBN 978-0-87930-767-7. Search this book on
- Maloof, Rich (2004). Jim Marshall, father of loud: the story of the man behind the world's most famous guitar amplifiers. Hal Leonard. pp. 211–14. ISBN 978-0-87930-803-2. Search this book on
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