Eden Amplification (previously known as Eden Electronics) began as an American bass amplification company in 1976. The company takes its name from Eden Prairie, Minnesota, where the idea for the company was conceived. Eden designs and manufactures high-end bass amplification systems. This includes bass amplifiers, pre-amplifiers, power amps, bass pedals, and bass cabinets. Its most famous series of products include World Tour Amplifiers and D-series Cabinets. Eden's reputation was founded on the fact that everything was designed and built "in-house", including the speakers (a very rare feat by any manufacturer).
Eden amplifiers are used by a variety of musicians but are primarily favored by those people who are defined as "player's players" including many session musicians and technical recording artists. Notable recording artists include bass players Mike Rutherford from the progressive rock band Genesis and the 1980s soft rock group Mike and the Mechanics, Phil Lesh formerly of the Grateful Dead, and Mike Gordon of Phish. Users of Eden equipment span a wide variety of musical style from jazz and country to heavy rock.
History
Eden was founded in 1976 in Montrose, Minnesota, 35 miles west of downtown Minneapolis. Originally, Eden designed and manufactured sound-reinforcement (public address) systems, in particular speaker cabinets and then drivers, whose popularity grew amongst sound engineers and with musicians.
After a short initial period building such specialist equipment, the company realized the popularity that their cabinet products were gaining with bass players. The company was also involved in a side project, designed a new type of cabinet for SWR, to be called the Goliath cabinet.
Eden and its amplifier design also developed in parallel to its expanding cabinet business and moved from sound reenforcement to specialize in the bass sector of the music market. Maintaining a position that good bass amplification should deliver clear and un-coloured tone with a lot of headroom, the Eden World Tour product line eventually emerged.
Eden has undergone many changes including moving its production from Minnesota to Chicago when Eden became part of U.S. Music Corporation in 2003. This change also allowed the brand to increase the resources available to develop more products and enter into production of amplifiers and combos for less experienced players. In 2010, Brand Director Joe Delaney designed and introduced Eden's first foot pedal, the WTDI. Based on the World Tour Series preamp circuit, it quickly became the number one selling product. In December 2011, Eden left U.S. Music Corporation and became part of the Marshall Amplification family. Following this move, Eden became much more widely available around the world, primarily due to its improved distributor network.
2012–present
Eden Amplification became part of Marshall Amplification PLC in December 2011, and subsequently their headquarters moved to the Marshall Amplification factory in Bletchley, UK. This acquisition allowed Eden products to be distributed through Marshall Amplification's global distribution network, increasing the availability and visibility of Eden products in Europe and Asia.
A new flagship line of amplifiers was released in 2015 to replace the World Tour series, called the World Tour Pro range. This was followed in 2016 by the lightweight Terra Nova range. The line of bass effects pedals has also expanded, all based on the chassis design of the WTDI pedal. The first-ever battery-powered combo specifically for bass launched in 2014, called the MicroTour. In 2016, Eden applied their high-fidelity philosophy to produce a ukulele combo, the E-Uke.
In Summer 2016, production of D-Series cabinets was moved to the Marshall Amplification facility in Bletchley. The speakers are still manufactured to Eden's specifications by Eminence Speaker in Kentucky.
On March 10, 2021, Marshall sold Eden and related assets to Gear4music (Holdings) plc for £140,000 (£100,000 of which was deferred).. As of May 2022, its website lists six distributors, located in the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, India, Oceania, and Argentina.