The big-name manufacturers are now lifestyle brands.

Serious players know that if you want a Strat or Tele, you get a better instrument from G&L or Suhr than from Fender. Gibson's reputation is in tatters after years of poor quality control and dubious design decisions. A group of Marshall's technical staff left the company to form Blackstar Amps after Marshall went public.

Most of the big musical instrument brands are going the way of Chrysler and Chevrolet - they trade on an old brand image, but there's little of the original DNA left. It's clearly working in the short-term, but I suspect that these brands will fade away with the Baby Boomers that have a nostalgic attachment to them.

Even more hilarious is the sound quality. I tested some Marshall in-ears at a local hifi store a few years back, and compared to less flashy names like Denon or Audio Technica at the same or lower price, they absolutely sucked. I can but surmise that anyone who buys them has not done any A/B testing before purchase.