Genz Benz discontinued!!

[Glynn]

What a shame that Genz Benz have finished after the Fender takeover.  I have a Streamliner 900 - brilliant amp.  Just goes to show what happens when the 'big boys' take over. I do believe they shut down SWR as well.  Great move Fender - NOT!  Glynn

[bigredbass]

Murray, where are you reading this?
 
If true, don't tell me they're adopting Gibson's model of buying other companies and closing them.
 
The only rationale I could see is they paid JG a ton of money to walk away, with the proviso of bringing him into Fender to design their next round of bass amps.  SWRabe walked away completely.  Most products like this are designed by 'independent' designers anyway, then produced under a major brand name.
 
J o e y

[ajdover]

This is true.  Both Jeff and Andy are no longer there, and they haven't produced new Genz stuff for some time now.  They've shut it down.
 
As a Genz Benz user (Shuttle 6.2/210T, NX212, Shuttlemax 12.2 and Uber 1288 and 115), this is disturbing.  Yet another example of Fender taking a great product and shutting it down (remember Guild? SWR?).  Andy actually chimed in about this at Talk Bass, so if anyone wants to find out about it they can there.  For myself, I sent Fender a note telling them I'll never buy their products again.  If they can do this to Genz, SWR, et. al. they can do it to anyone.
 
I hope Jeff Genzler lands somewhere else.  Can't wait to see what he comes up with.
 
Alan

[lidon2001]

I'm pretty sure the blame lies with Mr. Genzler.  He sold out, for whatever reason, to Kaman.  Kaman then was bought by Fender.  Not good, not bad, just the way it is.
 
Don't blame Fender for not needing a bass amp company.  They've been making some of the best bass amps for over 50 years.  What was the inspiration for the Alembic F2B?  Fender, of course.
 
The question is, why do owners sell out?  We must assume that companies like Alembic and say Ken Smith for example have been approached and declined the offers.  It's a numbers (dollars, really)game, so I guess we have to assume Mr. Genzler looked at the numbers and said Sold!   Unless of course, you take pride in your company and choose to see it to the end.   Mr. Genzler made the sale, and here we are.  I'm not saying Mr. Genzler didn't have pride in his product; the numbers game overcame his pride.  The next company did ok with it despite the quality products, but they sold out too.  It's the numbers I tell ya, its' the numbers...
 
To add, I am a ShuttleMax 9.2 owner.  Nice amp, but it doesn't give me the tubey warm feeling that my 1963 Fender Bassman does.
 
(Message edited by lidon2001 on March 26, 2014)

[tubeperson]

Lidon, he sold to Kaman.  They kept it alive. When Kaman sold to Fender, the  big dog closed it.  We should assign the responsibility to whom it belongs.
 
Michael Tobias, David Nordschaw, Stuart Spector, and Ned Steinberger among others sold, but came back with new businesses in the musical instrument field. Since I own my business, i am aware that other factors may have come into play.  They may have realized the best price for the original business when they sold.  Why would you expect the music business to be any different form other businesses?  Even Leo Fender sold 2 companies.  He sadly passed away at his third.

[lidon2001]

Right, Mr. Genzler gave up control.  There you have it.

[tubeperson]

He was paid for his company, he did not just give up control. For his sake, I hope he was paid handsomely. Notwithstanding any non-compete agreements, he may start anew. This is the world of business.  It is not necessarily a bad thing.  What's so bad about maximizing your equity (aka profit) from your own creation?  How many times has Fender or Gibson been sold?

[5a_quilt_top]

Ironically, I seem to remember a guy named Leo Fender who sold a certain company to CBS and then later resurfaced with Music Man and then G&L. Then, Leo's first company was sold by CBS back to its employees.
 
Seems to be the blueprint for what's going on here.
 
Only difference is all three are still in business (for the time being).

[tubeperson]

Some survive some don't.  What will happen with Gretsch?  Ovation is a shell of its former self.  but new companies come around.  Who would have imagined Phil Jones Bass, TC Electronics Amps. Ritter, Sadowsky, and so many others etc.  The market clamors for the old Fenders and Gibsons.  Being a tube guy, I love my Marantz Model 9 mono blocks for home stereo.  Most of the youth of today think their stereo is their cell phone and crappy Beats headphones.

[cozmik_cowboy]

Not taking any sides here, just making a correction; while the quality did drop off some when Fender took over, Guild is still in business, Alan, and have rebounded in recent years. Current US models are perhaps a tad shy of the originals, but both they & the import models are quite decent (I was playing both - US F-512 & PRC M-120 -in a store just a week ago).
 
Peter

[lidon2001]

Steve, I don't know what your point is.  In my first paragraph, I clearly say he sold to Kaman.  God bless the man.  I too hope he doesn't have to work another day in his life with the transaction.
 
I'm just saying when the person with the passion gives up control for the money, this is a likely outcome - the company disappears or becomes a shell of itself.  Fender was terrible after Leo left, and Music-Man was dead until Ball picked them up.  They needed people with passion to revive themselves.  I see the passion leaving GB with the sale to Kaman.  Feel free to see it otherwise.
 
FMIC obviously has their passions, and they have decided that their Fender lifestyle doesn't include GB.  I can see many reasons why not to have a small competing company in the fold, and now they have the schematics and such for a nice line of digital powered amps with the Fender logo.  Blame FMIC for making a business decision?  Not me...
 
So be it; plenty of amps left to choose from, and if you need a GB, plenty on the used market, and Fender will service them for the time being.

[Glynn]

Thanks for adding to my post.  I would say that in the past my two emails to Jeff Genzler direct about the amp (nothing to do with takeovers - I didn't know then)have been replied to and were very pleasant and helpful.  It was just about settings and stuff.  He sounded OK to me.  Glynn Murray

[tubeperson]

My point was that it seemed you were blaming Jeff Genz for killing off Genz Benz.  All he did was sell a company.  As is often the tale, most acquisitions of companies do not fare well for the acquired. Fender did the killing.  Jeff hopefully made some money, which he has the right and had the opportunity to do.  That what all I was trying to say.  I sensed you were angry at Jeff and blaming him.  As a business owner, I just wanted to give a clearer picture of what actually happened.  It is getting increasing difficult to own and operate a business nowadays.  Still, many of us toil on.  Keep playing those low notes!

[5a_quilt_top]

IMO, Guild & Gretsch have been producing some fine instruments over the last several years under Fender's guidance and Fender itself has also produced some exceptionally fine instruments. Although it took a few decades to rebuild its reputation after the CBS years, I would argue that Fender attained a new golden era through this time.
 
Over the last 5 years, the management philosophy at Fender has been evolving and the new leadership has been deviating from the approach taken during the Schultz years. Whether or not this will allow both the quality AND quantity of the Fender product portfolio to remain intact remains to be seen.
 
If the Genz Benz, SWR, etc. developments are any indication, they may be thinning the herd in order to focus more intensely on their core brands.

[JuancarlinBass]

...and in turn Genz Benz had acquired TubeWorks (MosValve) before...