Mesa Boogie is now a branch of the Gibson brands. I didn't see that coming.
Mesa Boogie is now a branch of the Gibson brands. I didn't see that coming.
seemed to have caught a lot of people by surprise. I lost track of how many threads started about it over at TGPOriginally Posted by Sérgio
"Live and learn and flip the burns"
I'm not optimistic about this- it never seems to end well. We'll see.
It seems that Mesa has had a tough year between being closed for a while and supplier issues. Randall Smith is 75. Maybe it was time to move on.
I'm not a huge Mesa fan boy, though I like to have one for when I want their sound. I've had several and am really enjoying my Mark Five:25 1x10" combo.
The company that was teetering on bankruptcy just a few years ago has come back in a big way. But taking on debt was what got them in trouble...
Striving to be ordinary
Proud to be a TFF Dumbass!
I guess the board of directors of Gibson is same old same old, Buying up other assets that may or may not help there profits. At least Fender knew how to do a buyout with Guild with taking Bigsby and guild patents, then sold the company back to the Guild family with the stipulation that fender would make and market the Guild and split profits with Guild.
on the surface it was a good move. Elliot is 75 and has been the company since day one. This is one way to make sure his legacy keeps going. Gibson hasn't had a real amplifier division in decades, and taking in The boutique amp company that started the whole shebang was a pretty slick move. Fender already has an amp division and never really lost theirs. Will there be teething pains as the two companies grow together? Assuredly there will be but the potential for a fruitful synergy is there.
"Live and learn and flip the burns"
Gibson's problem before was that they had bought up too many needless brands without giving good attention to any of them. I have a friend who worked in corporate. She told some pretty wild stories about the crazy decisions made during Henry's tenure.
So Gibson was shitting money for nothing in return, and still borrowing to keep these bizzez afloat. Henry's son was calling in dedicated, loyal executives and firing them for no just cause except that Gibson shat away money they should have used to strengthen their core products. Horrible decisions like putting the Robot tuners on most standard models. Worker dissatisfaction grew--look at employee reviews on job sites and you'll see a picture of shitty treatment of workers, the terrible "air" of things in the corporate offices with Henry and son making mistakes that even a non-business, head in the clouds dreamer like me wouldn't have made.
If we'd known we were going to be the Beatles, we'd have tried harder.--George Harrison
You mean Randall Smith?
I'm holding up judgement for now... It can either go the way of Trace Elliot, Slingerland, etc, or it could end up being a great move for both companies.
If Gibson can more or less lay off Boogie and let them do what they've always done, with minimal corporate oversight, it's nothing but good for both. If beancounters get involved with every decision over on the left coast, then it will be a disaster.
I read in Gibson's statement that it was originally started from wanting to resurrect the designs of a couple of the old Gibson amps from back when. (which I've been interested in for a while) and sort of bloomed from there.
Randy isn't getting any younger, and I bet he's sick of all the bull of running the company.
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"Do you call sleeping with a guitar in your hands practicing?"
"It is if you don't drop it."
- Trent Lane, Daria, Episode 1-2.
Oops. Yes, you're quite correct
"Live and learn and flip the burns"
AFAIK it used to be that Gibson's board was like that. This new CEO is doing a pretty good job in keeping the company above ground...
Although I must say I'm not sure how this will affect Mesa's quality and rep. I'm not a Mesa guy myself, either, but acquisitions like that usually don't end up well.
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