Randall Smith Gone From Mesa Boogie/Gibson?

[paisleywookiee]

They have hired Mike Soldano as a consultant?

 

[dbagchee]

Is John Marshall still at Mesa? My understanding was that Randall brought him on to help pass on his knowledge as an Amp Designer. I thought he would eventually take over when Randall retired. The Gibson buyout may have changed all that of course.

 

[la szum]

They are retooling Petaluma to exclusively build more Gibson Reissue amps.

Randall sat down in peaceful protect. Gibson didn't relenquish the plan, so
he lit himself on fire and self-immolated.



V's up for Randall!

 

[la szum]

I actually think Randall Smith was the single most important amp designer builder of
the Modern era. Leaving Leo and Mr. Marsahll out of the equation for now---even if
one could argue that Randall made more innovations and unique amp designs with
more variety than either James or Leo. I mean, Leo had the Tweed thing and the Black
Panel thing---and then different wattages/output configurations. So not an huge
range of colour there. James Marshall had the JTM/JMP/JCM thang. 1970's rock would
not exist without Marshall (nor Hair Metal and the 80's rock).

Now look at Randall. You have the Mark Series 1st iteration which was also akin to being
the Proto Dumble. Fat, soaring leads without much hair but a lot of harmonic content
and volume/headroom for cats like Santana.

Then the Mark series is totally repurposes into crushing, mid-scooped Metal and enough
low-end to make Jason Newsted cry to be heard in a mix for all of Eternity. The IIC+, the
III, the IV. Marks will live forever and you can literally do anything from Master Of Puppets
to Phish.

Fast forward to the early 1990s and here comes the Bro-est of all Bro Amps ever made, Bro!
Dual Rectifier kicking down Yo Momma's door to have relations with her.

No one. No one influenced .... wait that word is not strong enough..... no one impacted Modern
Guitar Music and shaped how it would sound as much as Mesa Boogie and Randall Smith.

What a legacy. Like a great Football franchise putting a statue of their best player out in front
of the Stadium, there should be one for Randall Smith somewhere close to Mesa Boogie's
ongoing place of operations. Celebrate the man! Laud him. Own the legacy. Put it front and
center Gibson, like the first pair of denim pants that became Levi's.

 

[metropolis_4]

I actually think Randall Smith was the single most important amp designer builder of
the Modern era. Leaving Leo and Mr. Marsahll out of the equation for now---even if
one could argue that Randall made more innovations and unique amp designs with
more variety than either James or Leo. I mean, Leo had the Tweed thing and the Black
Panel thing---and then different wattages/output configurations. So not an huge
range of colour there. James Marshall had the JTM/JMP/JCM thang. 1970's rock would
not exist without Marshall (nor Hair Metal and the 80's rock).

Now look at Randall. You have the Mark Series 1st iteration which was also akin to being
the Proto Dumble. Fat, soaring leads without much hair but a lot of harmonic content
and volume/headroom for cats like Santana.

Then the Mark series is totally repurposes into crushing, mid-scooped Metal and enough
low-end to make Jason Newsted cry to be heard in a mix for all of Eternity. The IIC+, the
III, the IV. Marks will live forever and you can literally do anything from Master Of Puppets
to Phish.

Fast forward to the early 1990s and here comes the Bro-est of all Bro Amps ever made, Bro!
Dual Rectifier kicking down Yo Momma's door to have relations with her.

No one. No one influenced .... wait that word is not strong enough..... no one impacted Modern
Guitar Music and shaped how it would sound as much as Mesa Boogie and Randall Smith.

What a legacy. Like a great Football franchise putting a statue of their best player out in front
of the Stadium, there should be one for Randall Smith somewhere close to Mesa Boogie's
ongoing place of operations. Celebrate the man! Laud him. Own the legacy. Put it front and
center Gibson, like the first pair of denim pants that became Levi's.

Nothing against Randall Smith, but guitar amps as we know them wouldn’t even exist if it wasn’t for Leo Fender. And reducing all of his contributions to the development of modern amps to just “tweed” and “blackface” is being unfairly reductionist towards all he did. You’re drastically minimizing his work and the historic significance of it.

Before Leo, guitar amps weren’t even powerful enough to push the sound of the guitar above the volume of a band. So guitarists were mostly relegated to comping chords to drive rhythm. His amps forever changed the role of the guitarist in the band because it was the first time they had enough volume to be a lead instrument and not just part of the rhythm section.

The guitar as a lead instrument in a band wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for Leo.

Marshall and Mesa wouldn’t even exist if it wasn’t for Leo. They based their amps on his designs standing on his shoulders. And the demand for their amps that drove them to create what they created wouldn’t have existed without Leo Fenders earlier work.

 

[spawnofthesith]

https://www.guitarworld.com/news/gibson-mesa-boogie-randall-smith-exit

 

[JiveTurkey]

 

[spawnofthesith]

"Old man who sold company so he can retire retires" not quite as sexy as "Evil corporation Gibson FIRES pioneer and beats up his puppy"

 

[norminal]

https://www.guitarworld.com/news/gibson-mesa-boogie-randall-smith-exit

 

[TubeStack]

So Doug is staying, that's good:


Mesa/Boogie’s Director of R&D Doug West adds, “Few in this world ever get the chance to be mentored, coached to excellence and to perform at their consistent personal best in the ways our design team, and everyone here at MESA/Boogie, have under his tutelage.

“Randy leaves us in good stead to carry on his legacy and tradition of excellence.”

 

[spawnofthesith]

If Randall releases some sort of negative statement (unlikely if there's NDAs), launches a new company/project suddenly, or in the coming months we see an exodus of important folks like Doug, then I'll buy into the salacious aspects of Fluff's dirty delete

Otherwise, sounds like things are following the course of why RS sold the company to begin with

 

[la szum]

Nothing against Randall Smith, but guitar amps as we know them wouldn’t even exist if it wasn’t for Leo Fender. And reducing all of his contributions to the development of modern amps to just “tweed” and “blackface” is being unfairly reductionist towards all he did. You’re drastically minimizing his work and the historic significance of it.

Before Leo, guitar amps weren’t even powerful enough to push the sound of the guitar above the volume of a band. So guitarists were mostly relegated to comping chords to drive rhythm. His amps forever changed the role of the guitarist in the band because it was the first time they had enough volume to be a lead instrument and not just part of the rhythm section.

The guitar as a lead instrument in a band wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for Leo.

Marshall and Mesa wouldn’t even exist if it wasn’t for Leo. They based their amps on his designs standing on his shoulders. And the demand for their amps that drove them to create what they created wouldn’t have existed without Leo Fenders earlier work.

Huh? Wut? I am not disputing any of that. Did you have your Coffee yet?

Also, this thread is not about Leo.



I kind of get tired of this world where you cannot tout someone without
someone else needing to supersede and trump that, or outright call it into
question, and make it something other than what was intended.

I also stand by comment about Leo using a couple of basic circuits and then
mostly altering the output/power section, chassis, and cabinet/speaker configuration.
It's pretty obvious---especially if you have owned and played a few different vintage
Fender's at the same time.

That's not me throwing shade on someone to prop up someone else either. My vintage
Fenders are happy here, and I am happy to have them.

 

[la szum]

"Old man who sold company so he can retire retires" not quite as sexy as "Evil corporation Gibson FIRES pioneer and beats up his puppy"

And yet, you're POV is as much conjecture as the nannie panted POV's of the Mob.

 

[TubeStack]

@la szum a little grouchy today.

 

[TubeStack]

 

[TubeStack]

 

[spawnofthesith]

And yet, you're POV is as much conjecture as the nannie panted POV's of the Mob.

My POV is mainly - old man who sold his company so he could retire 3 years ago retired... not much too look into past the facts we actually have without any other details

 

[spawnofthesith]

Randall Smith also said the Mark VII was his Magnum Opus. Not much left to do after releasing your magnum opus

 

[la szum]

Boilerplate marketing release from Gibson is 100% convincing. I'll give you that. It totally settled the
non-issue for me, too.

 

[la szum]