Randall Smith fired from Mesa?

[narad]

It's a bit rumor-y at this point, but seems for sure he is leaving and insider sources say pushed out. This does not bode well:

Is This the End of an Era? Randall Smith Out of Mesa Boogie

Amplifier legend Randall Smith has reportedly been fired from Mesa Boogie. Learn about the potential impact on the amp industry and what could be next for the renowned designer.

guitarbomb.com

 

[soul_lip_mike]

Interdasting. I wonder why.

 

[AussieTerry]

Yes.

 

[Crungy]

If he doesn't start an amp company called Besa Moogie....

 

[nerdywhale]

If he doesn't start an amp company called Besa Moogie....

What about simply… “Randall?”

 

[Furtive Glance]

Without even reading the article and going entirely off speculation I’m gonna blame Gibson for ruining something else.

 

[crushingpetal]

I was just thinking yesterday how Gibson wasn't just milking the Mesa name, and not a lot has come out from Mesa in the last two years. Also speculation, I wonder if Randall was blocking whatever stupid ideas Gibson was proposing.

If it's true, it's dumb.

 

[AwakenTheSkies]

Are we getting a YouTuber signature Quadruple Rectifier?

 

[MaxOfMetal]

I trust Ryan Bruce about as much as I like his tone.

One of the reasons Randall Smith gave for selling to Gibson was that he, 75 years old at the time and now almost 80, was looking to retire in the near future.

What role he even still had at Mesa post sale doesn't seem to be entirely clear either.

If he wanted to do this until he's 90, he probably shouldn't have sold in the first place, but the dude is a legend. I like to think that he's riding off into the sunset to live out the rest of his days in a nice beach villa building Mk1 clones for the rich for five figures a pop while sipping maitais.

 

[G_3_3_k_]

What about simply… “Randall?”

Smith would work in all seriousness. Dude’s pretty old though. I wonder if he’ll just retire.

Without even reading the article and going entirely off speculation I’m gonna blame Gibson for ruining something else.

It’s not hard to believe. Guessing we have Mesa/Boogie headphones and Bluetooth speakers to look forward to.

I was just thinking yesterday how Gibson wasn't just milking the Mesa name, and not a lot has come out from Mesa in the last two years. Also speculation, I wonder if Randall was blocking whatever stupid ideas Gibson was proposing.

If it's true, it's dumb.

I wish I could say I wasn’t expecting this, but I was expecting this. Gibson wants to be a legacy brand associated with high end consumer goods and nostalgia for the glory days of rock. Selling Mesa to Gibson was a mistake. These situations when larger corpo companies come in and buy the smaller company and say “you keep running the company, we won’t change anything.” Until they want to change things. Peavey did it with Budda. It happened with Gibson before. It happened with Marshall. Outside of guitar shit, it happened recently with Bungie (though for good reason in this case). Disney has done it to Marvel. The problem with guitar people is that we don’t forget that stuff. That’s why there’s a market for certain manufacturing eras of guitars or there’s a higher asking price for a pre peavey Budda.

 

[Hollowway]

I wish I could say I wasn’t expecting this, but I was expecting this. Gibson wants to be a legacy brand associated with high end consumer goods and nostalgia for the glory days of rock. Selling Mesa to Gibson was a mistake. These situations when larger corpo companies come in and buy the smaller company and say “you keep running the company, we won’t change anything.” Until they want to change things. Peavey did it with Budda. It happened with Gibson before. It happened with Marshall. Outside of guitar shit, it happened recently with Bungie (though for good reason in this case). Disney has done it to Marvel. The problem with guitar people is that we don’t forget that stuff. That’s why there’s a market for certain manufacturing eras of guitars or there’s a higher asking price for a pre peavey Budda.

That's all true, but I can't say I blame him (Randy) for it. He build an epic, well respected, presumably profitable company. Not many people or corps could afford to buy it. And the dude deserves to make whatever he can on the company, because he sure paid his dues running that thing so well. There aren't many companies that have the amount of goodwill Mesa does.