Worst part about Mesa Boogie being owned by Gibson is that Gibson is owned by KKR. Downhill slide in quality and customer support is inevitable. None of us knows what Paul's succession plan is. Hope he has one and hope it entails selling to a person who cares about quality and innovation rather than a financial corporation who's focus is on profit only. However, when one sees hundreds of millions dangled in front of one's eyes, you never know what can happen.
Jim Jannard started Oakley in 1975, then took it public in 1995. It was then sold in 2007 for $2.1 billion (that's billion with a B) to Luxottica, a multinational corporation. Those frames are nowhere near as stout as they used to be.
Great observation, Tom. And just go to the Mesa website, and you'll see you're 100% right. Smaller excellent products, like their switchers, gone. Recently introduced things like the reactive load cab clones, gone. I'm not seeing custom options there, either, though my dealer told me that's still a thing. Maybe so.
This kinda reminds me of one of my many 'Les in the Land of Giant Corporations' stories'.
I do a lot of car ad work in Detroit, and I used to be forced to attend meetings with corporate marketing execs who want a variety of unmusical concepts to be brought out in the music in ads (not just with car people, by the way).
One of the car companies had just hired a team of marketing people from a company that makes toothpaste. Marketing geniuses, right? They were going to solve the Giant Corporation's slipping market share with Marketing Magic!
Anyway, one day I found myself in a creative meeting with my ad agency clients and the toothpaste/car brand marketing director/genius/magician.
Well, fine, no one knows WTF's in toothpaste anyway, you can position that any way you like. But not cars. At the start of the meeting he said - I'm not making this up:
"We're going to position Car X (a mid-level compact that you used to find at a typical rent-a-car place) as the car doctors want instead of their Mercedes, the car people will aspire to own. Car X is now an aspirational brand."
Really, he said this.
About a moderately priced compact car. To add mirth to my day, the dude said he wanted "Aspirational music."
The ad agency folks at the table kind of nodded their heads and pretended to smile, because let's face it, they'd have blown the guy to keep their jobs.
But you guys know me. I am no diplomat. I wasn't having it. This dude was delusional. My brain somehow could not prevent my tongue from blurting out:
"Are you kidding? Car X is not in the same league as a Mercedes, and people who buy expensive imports know the difference, so that's not gonna happen. But what kind of music do you want?"
OK, I'll admit I was like a one of those people with Tourette's syndrome who yell obnoxious things on the street because they can't help themselves. I kind of knew I f@cked up, but it was too late. It was out there.
If looks could kill, I'd be a dead man. Eyeball lightning bolts from the dude. Looks of shock and hate from my agency clients.
The agency creative director kicked me under the table.
I still wound up doing the music. Since then I've
never been 'invited' to attend a marketing meeting, which is a beautiful thing.
Big Corporation America is a different kinda place. The local language is Buzzword. One of many stories.