Randall Smith Gone From Mesa Boogie/Gibson?

[EOengineer]

When I saw him tell the story on his FAQ video I started looking into it all and ironically made my own video which I’ll link here in a sec when it’s live.

I’m less focused on what he did was that wrong or right, it is what it is and it’s done (and removed)… The situation is bad from all sides but at this point what does black listing him gain? I doubt they’ll work with him again but I’d be happy if they did at some point.

It can definitely be viewed from a bunch of lenses but if some bad shit went down at line6, fractal etc then I’d rather know the information than getting the marketing PR spin version. I guess I also see it from the point of view working with brands… Of course it’s business doing videos but there’s still an emotional input in making things and representing brands from his pov…. I can definitely see how he felt part of the betrayal and probably felt bad if he had to pretend it didn’t happen. He’s a fan at the end of the day as well.

I’m definitely more grossed out by Gibson forcing a retirement narrative than I am Fluff leaking the info. That move WREAKS.

 

[spawnofthesith]

I think it’s worth clarifying that, while Fluffs site is a nice concise resource, it’s only a few years old and I almost am getting a feeling that people are mixing up Silverwulf/Jack Beard with Ryan Bruce/Fluff (YouTube channel called riffs and beards)


Jack’s guides around the internet are more highly detailed and predate anything Fluff has ever done in the recto (and truthfully probably where he got the info from)

 

[TSJMajesty]

I wouldn't necessarily say it was a 'bad decision' on Gibson's part.

For the sake of argument, let's just assume it wasn't working out to Gibson's liking. (perhaps RS was in the habit of making his own schedule, Gibson didn't like that, but also knew it was pointless to make him change, since he was used to doing so for so long. Just an idea on my part, nothing more, because the exact same thing happened to me, so I can certainly imagine that being one possibility. Whatever.)

Gibson decided to let him go, but they didn't want it to become public knowledge. Nothing wrong with that at all, imo. It's their business, so they have the right to not make it publicly known. It may very well have been under an NDA with RS. But people talk. So it got out via fluff, and Gibson did what they did.

I can see both sides of the arguments, but I feel it really wasn't Fluff's place to say anything. At the very least, it was unprofessional.

 

[spawnofthesith]

I hope Randall elaborates a bit more in one of his videos eventually to put all the speculation to rest lol

 

[Desertdweller]

Excellent video Nathan!

 

[Allexi]

Whatever happened there I would not overestimate Fluff importance. And btw I never, again never heard a good tone from him of any rectos he did.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Whatever happened there I would not overestimate Fluff importance. And btw I never, again never heard a good tone from him of any rectos he did.

Yeah I’m not gonna say he’s no one at all… but citing him as the definitive Recto expert who brings the amp to the masses seems like an extremely strange alternate universe to me

 

[MirrorProfiles]

I don’t think anyone is really claiming he’s the person who let the cat out of the bag with RS, nor that he’s the most prominent and important recto user of all time.

He’s merely an online personality with a strong and known association with Rectifiers. I really doubt he was getting much from Mesa besides some artist rates and maybe the chance to demo some stuff early on, they were getting a load of exposure on youtube. Cutting him out like it’s some kind of punishment is hilarious to me, who’d want to work for someone like that? He already has more amps than anyone would ever need. I genuinely think those relationships benefit Mesa more than the “artist”, and it doesn’t really matter what we think of the tones. Having someone who’s genuinely passionate about a brand and their products and has half a million subscribers (as well as those on other platforms) who spend money as a result of said videos is the reason influencers are doing the job they are.

If Ola had a falling out with (say) Randall amps, I don’t think he’d be losing any sleep.

 

[spawnofthesith]

AFAIK there weren’t any public rumblings about RS being fired until fluff started posting that he was. That’s the cited source in every thread you can find online discussing it. Fluff didn’t seem to really have that much of an inside scoop either… his citation was that people he knew at Mesa were told RS was retiring and they “didn’t buy it”

All I know is that if I went to the internet leaking information that my CEO was being terminated I’d be instantly fired and possibly sued. Probably wouldn’t bode well for future employment endeavors in my industry either

 

[MirrorProfiles]

AFAIK there weren’t any public rumblings about RS being fired until fluff started posting that he was

Nah, it was all over the internet. I mean, Fluff’s comment itself was a reply to the discussion. I started to pay more attention when people who I know know mesa staff were saying it that you could tell it wasn’t just rumours.

All I know is that if I went to the internet leaking information that my CEO was being terminated I’d be instantly fired and possibly sued. Probably wouldn’t bode well for future employment endeavors in my industry either

Not disagreeing there, it’s understandable why Gibson would want to control the narrative. I’m not sure it’ll affect Fluff’s work - plenty more companies who’ll want advertising and work from him. I mean, he’s already been flown to Bletchley to do stuff with Marshall and they can spin how “he can say what he wants” and how they “aren’t like other companies”. Gibson come out of it with more attention that they didn’t want, and with a reputation of trying to punish their most passionate users, and one of the bigger influencers not batting for them anymore. It’s all odd really, so petty when it doesn’t really benefit Gibson in any way (besides maybe setting an example to others).

Not sure why anyone here would want to side with the bureaucratic corporate machine.

 

[KingsXJJ]

No matter the reason or “business case”. This just makes me sad and disappointed.

Love them or hate them, Mesa was always in their own class as far as I’m concerned.

If they keep the Mesa soul intact and return to rack products such as power amps and preamps, I’d be able to forgive it somewhat.

 

[norminal]

fluff just wanted to be “first”

I bet Fluff is one of those people who post “First!” In the comments section of YouTube videos.

 

[LCW]

I think it’s worth clarifying that, while Fluffs site is a nice concise resource, it’s only a few years old and I almost am getting a feeling that people are mixing up Silverwulf/Jack Beard with Ryan Bruce/Fluff (YouTube channel called riffs and beards)


Jack’s guides around the internet are more highly detailed and predate anything Fluff has ever done in the recto (and truthfully probably where he got the info from)

Link to Jack Beard site?

 

[LCW]

Excellent video Nathan!

I wanna know where that proto Recto clip of younger Randy is from? Would love to see the whole thing.

0:57

 

[GreatGreen]

Disagree completely. did not seem like “loyalty to Randall” in the slightest. Spreading rumors about someone being fired is rude and disrespectful in any circumstance, but especially when it was blatant pot stirring. Pure clickbait. There was no record to set straight even, Randall’s departure hadn’t even been announced yet, fluff just wanted to be “first”


Also fluffs influence with the recto is just ridiculously overstated by a small handful of people on the internet. It’s not like the recto was some unknown obscure amp before fluff started making videos about them. That’s just absurd

He’s also almost as bad as Dinesh at dialing in Mesas

Except it wasn't "rumors." Fluff knew the truth, which has since come out exactly as Fluff described. Also, it would only be "disrespectful" to Randall if the rumor was that he was fired for incompetence, which is not what happened. Nobody in the entire guitar community thinks Randall Smith, the literal inventor of preamp gain, is incompetent.

Fluff put the word out that Gibson fired Randall out of loyalty to Randall, because he wanted the world to know what was unjustly done to him. That was Fluff's thinking.

Also, he wasn't "click farming." If he was, he would have made a video about it. He didn't do that, he just made a comment in a comment section. That's not how you farm for clicks.

And finally, there is a concept called a "middle ground" you know. Gibson also didn't have to go full excommunication forever with Fluff, they could have suspended the relationship for a specific duration, there's a lot of stuff they could have done. But nope, just straight to "you're done forever for telling the truth about what we did, despite possibly decades of loyalty. Fuck you, don't let the door hit you on the way out."

The whole thing says WAY more about how awful Gibson's people are than it does about Fluff, and they did it to themselves.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Really this "controversy" is more about the opinions people have on certain YT guys more than anything else. Fluff is a nice guy I'm sure. And your video was good @[Nathan] (not sure why I can't tag) but once you start talking about "Mount Rushmore of gear tubers"; um...I'm pretty much out at that point

 

[la szum]

I'll eat crow


He still chose Gibson to sell too. If people want to be mad at either party, I'd lean towards placing that anger at the sellout not the buyer Don't make deals with the devil and cry about it later (not that I'm getting the impression that Randall is crying about it, the "fired" comment seemed pretty offhand in the story he's actually telling there)

I'm sure Mr. Smith is sleeping just fine at night

I don't like the way you chewed that. Can you do it again??

 

[la szum]

Disagree completely. did not seem like “loyalty to Randall” in the slightest. Spreading rumors about someone being fired is rude and disrespectful in any circumstance, but especially when it was blatant pot stirring. Pure clickbait. There was no record to set straight even, Randall’s departure hadn’t even been announced yet, fluff just wanted to be “first”


Also fluffs influence with the recto is just ridiculously overstated by a small handful of people on the internet. It’s not like the recto was some unknown obscure amp before fluff started making videos about them. That’s just absurd

He’s also almost as bad as Dinesh at dialing in Mesas

 

[EOengineer]

No matter the reason or “business case”. This just makes me sad and disappointed.

Love them or hate them, Mesa was always in their own class as far as I’m concerned.

If they keep the Mesa soul intact and return to rack products such as power amps and preamps, I’d be able to forgive it somewhat.

New rack stuff or would you want to see them reissue older gear?

I’d love to see a rack mounted mono simul class power amp with the deep and modern switching from the 2:90. Studio or Quad Preamps would be neat, bonus points if they did miniaturized versions of each as pedals using mini tubes or some such black magic trickery. Or maybe a synergy-esque approach with official preamp modules with a kick ass power amp that can do simul class AND recto inspired power amps.

 

[Desertdweller]

New rack stuff or would you want to see them reissue older gear?

I’d love to see a rack mounted mono simul class power amp with the deep and modern switching from the 2:90. Studio or Quad Preamps would be neat, bonus points if they did miniaturized versions of each as pedals using mini tubes or some such black magic trickery. Or maybe a synergy-esque approach with official preamp modules with a kick ass power amp that can do simulator class AND recto inspired power amps.

Fryette and Synergy are making true stereo power amps, and you have the Fryette Power Station mono amps too. I'd love to see Mesa come out with a new preamp, hopefully an update from the Triaxis. They'd probably be more apt to go with something like the Friedman IR-X with a pedal first, and then if it's successful move into something like the new Soldano rackmount.

Something like a Fillmore clean, a Mark lead channel, and a Recto Modern would be an insanely useful 3 channel preamp. Add in IRs, a boost and power amp modeling, use 2-3 preamp tubes like the Synergy and Friedman stuff, and you've got a winner in a pedal. Basically a mesa version of the IR-X. Rackmount, yeah a new Triaxis with a whole ton of modes would be great, but I bet they go with a pedal platform that will actually sell first.