Is Randall Smith no longer with Mesa?

  • Thread starter Thread starter IIBornotIIB
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IIBornotIIB

IIBornotIIB

Well-known member
Buried somewhere among the RT posts this week was a statement that Randall Smith was (presumably, recently) fired by Gibson? I tried looking up any references and couldn’t find anything to confirm it, Whatcha know?
 
thegame said:
Maybe he simply retired?
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Can’t imagine he would be fired. It would be bad publicity for the brand under Gibson. It just doesn’t seem logical. But all bets are off when you sign away your company and many promises are meaningless shit unless in a strong contract. Weird that there doesn’t seem to be any release on it. Certainly don’t see anything about it on a casual Google search. It might just very well be total BS.

***edit….Okey Dokey….not B.S. real bummer.***
 
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thought he was making the mark vii as his last hoorah and then was retiring?
 
that’s very surprising if he was fired. Often times when a company acquires another company with a visible figurehead they will require that figurehead to stay on for 2 years (sometimes more) to help integrate that personality into the new company to retain the user base and help with any admin transition. Perhaps his time was just up and it was a planned exit in the acquisition contract?
 
RaceU4her said:
thought he was making the mark vii as his last hoorah and then was retiring?
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I thought this too. I was told by two dealers. One who talked to a well known rep last week that he was fired. He has a 1 year non compete agreement (may not be enforceable) and was told by the other dealer, (whose source I’m not familiar with) that John Petrucci is aware and is very upset. I was told by this dealer that there could be a mass walkout at Boogie. The other dealer told me that Gibson could probably weather this but when I mentioned the mass walkout rumor to him he said that that would pose a problem even if it was just certain other key personnel. Was also told that Randall Smith has communicated to some that he will start up another amp company and stick it to Gibson as soon as possible. He be angry.

Could it be fiction? Maybe. I’m very confident Randall Smith was fired last week. The other stuff is from the dealer whose source I’m not familiar with. I tend to believe it though.
 
justin said:
I thought this too. I was told by two dealers. One who talked to a well known rep last week that he was fired. He has a 1 year non compete agreement (may not be enforceable) and was told by the other dealer, (whose source I’m not familiar with) that John Petrucci is aware and is very upset. I was told by this dealer that there could be a mass walkout at Boogie. The other dealer told me that Gibson could probably weather this but when I mentioned the mass walkout rumor to him he said that that would pose a problem even if it was just certain other key personnel. Was also told that Randall Smith has communicated to some that he will start up another amp company and stick it to Gibson as soon as possible. He be angry.

Could it be fiction? Maybe. I’m very confident Randall Smith was fired last week. The other stuff is from the dealer whose source I’m not familiar with. I tend to believe it though.
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The crew at Mesa/Boogie is like family. If Randy starts a new company he'll bring as many of his people as he can with him. Lord knows he's got the money after selling the company. I'm sure he got a pretty penny for it when he sold it to Gibson. Petrucci is probably thinking of his next Signature amp, to be made by Randy's new company.
 
JohnnyGtar said:
Petrucci is probably thinking of his next Signature amp, to be made by Randy's new company.
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justin said:
I thought this too. I was told by two dealers. One who talked to a well known rep last week that he was fired. He has a 1 year non compete agreement (may not be enforceable) and was told by the other dealer, (whose source I’m not familiar with) that John Petrucci is aware and is very upset. I was told by this dealer that there could be a mass walkout at Boogie. The other dealer told me that Gibson could probably weather this but when I mentioned the mass walkout rumor to him he said that that would pose a problem even if it was just certain other key personnel. Was also told that Randall Smith has communicated to some that he will start up another amp company and stick it to Gibson as soon as possible. He be angry.

Could it be fiction? Maybe. I’m very confident Randall Smith was fired last week. The other stuff is from the dealer whose source I’m not familiar with. I tend to believe it though.
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Mostly fiction. He was probably kept on like many that sell companies to transition the team and now that's done, time for him to move on.

He is 80 years old and sold the company because it was time (in his own words) to retire. He is not going to start up another company. He sold Mesa because he was done.

Dealers would have zero inside knowledge about what the inner works were anyway.

But Gibson will run Mesa into the ground. With the new CEO at Gibson, it's the same old story: Crappy QC and overpriced guitars, and lawsuits against others. Publicly held companies extract profit and bleed the product dry.

Maybe someday I can retire selling my pre-Gibson , Magnetic Components USA transformers JP2C..............:ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 
Crunchtime said:
Imo, there should have been an announcement about his retirement. I feel that level of respect is due.
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Likely because RS leaving wasn't on good terms with Gibson.
I sold all my Boogies after Mesa sold. Seen it a mile away.
If anyone actually thinks Gibson is capable of producing & servicing amplifires, buckle up.
I would go a step further and bet Gibson is not or did not live up to the terms of the sale hence Smith aint gonna put his name on Gibsons bullshit.
 
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