Is Randall Smith no longer with Mesa?

  • Thread starter Thread starter IIBornotIIB
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Kinda sucks to hear as a Mesa Boogie fan. Not interested in giving Gibson my money so my Boogie days are over unfortunately. This was probably the final nail in the coffin.

Tried to do some research regarding the PE firm that bought Gibson (KKR) and went through their financial statements to see if there was any mention of the partnership between Gibson and Mesa Boogie. Usually you can find out a great deal about the terms of a partnership but wasn't able to find anything.

With a PE firm moved in, the original owner out, the writing is on the wall. Tale as old as time.
 
I honestly can't see the future for new Mesa amps now.

Current production amps are fine and I still want a Mark VII at some point, AS LONG AS they maintain their quality, which I no longer intrinsically trust. I'm absolutely going to be second guessing the quality of the internals of any new production Mesa amp with a post mid-2024 serial number until shown otherwise.

But future amp models? Can't say I have any faith in those at all now that Randall is gone.
 
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TheGreatGreen said:
I honestly can't see the future for new Mesa amps now.

Current production amps are fine and I still want a Mark VII at some point, AS LONG AS they maintain their quality, which I do not intrinsically trust any longer. I'm absolutely going to be second guessing the quality of the internals of any new production Mesa amp with a post mid-2024 serial number until shown otherwise.

But future amp models? Can't say I have any faith in those at all now that Randall is gone.
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What is interesting to me is the number of local shops that are not so hot on accepting older Mesa Amps that may need servicing.
 
japetus said:
What is interesting to me is the number of local shops that are not so hot on accepting older Mesa Amps that may need servicing.
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Mesa doesn’t release schematics and they’re densely laid out with large single boards that involve a lot of work to flip them upside down to replace components properly since they’re top side mounted bottom side solder pads. It’s old school work but they aren’t built for easy maintenance in mind like a lot of James Brown’s designs. If you mess something up or have a problem after repairs it can be damaging to the reputation of the shop and the owner of the amp. People know their limits and Mesas are something that require reverse engineering on the fly to understand what went wrong. Actually fixing them is a whole different challenge. It’s why Mesa can turn them around so fast and others won’t even touch them - there’s no documentation or troubleshooting guide for channel switches or logic information.
 
japetus said:
What is interesting to me is the number of local shops that are not so hot on accepting older Mesa Amps that may need servicing.
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Both my techs work for MAGNATONE and won't work on Mesa's.
That left me sending my amps to Bendinelli in CA [thats out] or god forbid Gibson and thats not happening.
Sold all my Mesa's its not if but when they need service especially 30+ yrs old.
The market is already flooded with Boogies that need all kinds of repairs cuz they can't get them fixed.
 
shar-vell Dan said:
Both my techs work for MAGNATONE and won't work on Mesa's.
That left me sending my amps to Bendinelli in CA [thats out] or god forbid Gibson and thats not happening.
Sold all my Mesa's its not if but when they need service especially 30+ yrs old.
The market is already flooded with Boogies that need all kinds of repairs cuz they can't get them fixed.
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I got to check out that whole line of Magnatones. Absolutely killer sounding amps but man are they pricey. Is Obied one of your techs?
 
I lucked out and sent a Mark in for service right before all this. Interestingly enough, the CS people responding now are completely different from when I first sent it in. I wonder if there were any more personnel that left because of this.

I'm half thinking of emailing Mike B to ask since I'm sure many Mesa owner's would be interested.
 
japetus said:
I got to check out that whole line of Magnatones. Absolutely killer sounding amps but man are they pricey. Is Obied one of your techs?
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Jah ... were good friends. He's as good a GP as he is an Engineer and damn good at both.
Chris is Production manager he worked on my amps before MAGNATONE. Also outstanding.
Mesa's are a real headache i get it. Alot to go wrong.
 
shar-vell Dan said:




Jah ... were good friends. He's as good a GP as he is an Engineer and damn good at both.
Chris is Production manager he worked on my amps before MAGNATONE. Also outstanding.
Mesa's are a real headache i get it. Alot to go wrong.
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Real deal mofo right there
 
TheGreatGreen said:
At this point, there's enough rumor and concern that he has been fired that if he hasn't, it would probably be a good idea for him to make that announcement to clear the air.
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RS is likely silent & bound by a NDA else Gibson will sue the piss outta him.
 
shar-vell Dan said:
RS is likely silent & bound by a NDA else Gibson will sue the piss outta him.
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That's fair. If (and that's a big if) Randall wasn't fired, then Gibson would be smart to allow and even encourage him to make a statement as at this point.

Until then, I think it's fair to assume he was fired due to disagreement with the management. If his departure was an agreeable one, you'd think both parties would want to make that known at this point now that the rumor mill is so publicly churning.
 
TheGreatGreen said:
That's fair. If (and that's a big if) Randall wasn't fired, then Gibson would be smart to allow and even encourage him to make a statement as at this point.

Until then, I think it's fair to assume he was fired due to disagreement with the management. If his departure was an agreeable one, you'd think both parties would want to make that known at this point now that the rumor mill is so publicly churning.
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but Gibson is never smart ----
 
Can't wait for the shitstorm when the new 2C comes out.
Predictions are that the people who own originals will say it sucks.. :ROFLMAO:
 
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