Mesa/Boogie joins Gibson

[davesultra]

Mesa/Boogie= The new Lab Series

 

[goat-n-gitter]

First Gibson bought and killed off my long term DAW software - Cakewalk/Sonar, after I bought a lifetime mega license. Can't wait to see what they do to Mesa, who I've been playing for 30 years now. I'm betting my current MK V may well be my last Mesa. Unless Gibson really shows it has cleaned up its' act, I'm done with them.

 

[WeFixFlats]

Surprised, Not Surprised. Think about it. The writing was on the wall now for several years because the evolution and revolution of the modeling amps for professional recording, stage and home studios. I bet if you looked at Mesa Engineering's balance sheet, they could see where the industry was headed too...unsustainable for them as a stand alone...

 

[Going Modal]

Oof. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm not seeing this a good thing for Mesa fans over the longterm. I mean, great for Randall, he's obviously earned this and I wish him nothing but the best, but Gibson doesn't exactly have a stellar reputation when it comes to acquiring and running other companies. Time will tell I suppose.

So here is where my mind went after hearing this:
Did Agnesi get to announce this?
How long before there's a Les Paul signature Mark?
Let the reissues begin!
Robo EQ sliders?
Zoot suit amps?
Mesa X?
How long before they start suing other amp makers?
Yes, I'm being a bit cynical, but with reason I think.

You're forgetting the bootleg video that will surface, in which a bunch of un-sellable Gibson-made Mesa's are gleefully destroyed by a bulldozer...

 

[Dirty_Boogie]

Wow, a whole lotta hate and speculation going on here... I somewhat understand it from an emotional standpoint (Gibson being the arch-enemy to many of us dedicated PRS fans), but from a pure business standpoint, Randall Smith probably saw the writing on the wall. Aside from retiring and cashing out, the next 50 years of amp development and innovation is not going to be tube-based, and M/B are not positioned currently to deal with that. I think many of us see the close parallels of the MESA/Boogie and PRS companies - PRS just happened to have an astute business team that was able to keep producing the U.S.-made elite-level instruments, and come up with lower end lines made in Asia - but with great success. M/B apparently did not want to go that route. My guess is that for now, we will start to see an Asian-made line of M/B amps, along with the high-end U.S. amps. As much as I'm not a fan of the Gibson company, I do think they now have a dedicated executive team now whose hearts and minds are in the right place. Time will tell I guess.

 

[RickP]

Gibson has had good and bad stretches, though the Boogie vibe will certainly not benefit from the corporate attachment. I’ve been a Boogie fan since the 70s, and ordered my first Boogie when the only way you could get them was direct from Randall and Rayven. I still have three Boogies, and they’re all great amps.

As others have said here, I’m personally glad that Randall was able to benefit after 50 years in the biz. He is an innovator and contributed designs that were monumental to guitar music. It is, for better or worse, the end of an era. Wish I’d have bought one of the “dymo” 70s amps when they weren’t stupid-priced.

 

[TonyG]

What I don’t understand is how come one minute they’re going bankrupt, the next they buy out Mesa

 

[Dirty_Boogie]

What I don’t understand is how come one minute they’re going bankrupt, the next they buy out Mesa

They had a really good year

 

[alantig]

I don't even play mine!
It is LOW on my amp depth chart. (Not that I have a lot of amps!)

Same for me. I haven't plugged mine in for probably two years at least.

If this was a couple years ago, in the Henry J. era, I'd consider this a death knell for M/B. Too early to say with the new ruling class. Let's face it - Randall Smith isn't going to be around forever, so he pretty much had two choices - pick a successor, like Bob Taylor did; or sell the company. Or he could have run it until he couldn't anymore, whether due to age or death, and then who knows what happens to it. This way he had control of what happened. In the short term, his employees still have jobs, the product goes on, and the path to the future is suddenly different.

 

[Huggy Love]

 

[veinbuster]

Not sure how this will play out for Mesa in the long run, but Randall is 75. If he got a boatload of cash, and is able to set up his family for a couple of generations, good for him.

I can’t help but be happy for Randall.
I want to think the purchase is a strong move from the current Gibson management.
I’ve got two wonderful Mesa amps and the Mark III will probably be the last amp in the house.

It’s been interesting watching so many of the old timers in the music industry turning their history into cash.

 

[Steve's addiction]

Another great brand destroyed by corporate pencil pushers

 

[DISTORT6]

R-2C+
R-III
R-IV
R-V

Buy one, gut it, and fill it with NOS/Vintage Boogie parts! Then there will be some “makeover” shops popping up.
The next trend! Match your R-LP!

And, of course, the chorus of “They don’t sound like the old ones”!

 

[John Beef]

I was thinking more like the unrated version's sex scene, specifically the "Cleveland steamer".

Also, related to both these things, I was once in a band where the bass player passed out laying in his own vomit behind the club in Cleveland. Ah, to be a young musician on the road.

 

[TonyG]

They had a really good year

That’s going some I’ve ever understood how big businesses work, it seems they can buy things but the money to buy them never exists. Don’t quite work like that for me

 

[Black-Viper75]

I was just reading this and it shocked me. But I can kind of understand why Randall Smith would do it.

 

[Tony M.]

This matters not one iota because everyone is playing
through pre CBS Blackface Fender amplifiers anyway.

 

[sergiodeblanc]

F@ck.

RIP

 

[Dirty_Boogie]

F@ck.

RIP

Well that news got you out from under your rock

 

[HANGAR18]

Not sure how this will play out for Mesa in the long run, but Randall is 75. If he got a boatload of cash, and is able to set up his family for a couple of generations, good for him.

Well I hope PRSh doesn't sell PRS Guitars to Gibson when he turns 75.