Randall Smith Gone From Mesa Boogie/Gibson?

[spawnofthesith]

Cesar after having security escort randall from the building

 

[dk_ace]

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

This situation looks absolutely nothing like a peaceful retirement of a long time contributor who was planning to retire now. This just isn’t how things play out when that is the case. Something negative went down here. I’d totally expect NDAs, so we’ll probably never know exactly what happened. But I see no chance this was the planned, peaceful, ride off into retirement scenario.

D

 

[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.”

@la szum has me picturing Doug reading this from cards behind the camera in a grainy, hostage-style video...

 

[greatmutah]

I’d feel more at ease about it being peaceful retirement if Randall Smith issued a statement. The Gibson stuff is typical corporate fluff. Doug West sounds appreciative but may be trying to do damage control with the rest of the employees. No comment from Randy leads me to believe he didn’t want to go yet. And we’ll probably never know the full story.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Sneak peak at production of the new IIC+ reissue MSRPL: $10,999.99

 

[dk_ace]

I’d feel more at ease about it being peaceful retirement if Randall Smith issued a statement. The Gibson stuff is typical corporate fluff. Doug West sounds appreciative but may be trying to do damage control with the rest of the employees. No comment from Randy leads me to believe he didn’t want to go yet. And we’ll probably never know the full story.

They probably would have played it for marketing purposes over a few weeks if it was the normal retirement scenario, celebrating an industry hero and all that…

A lot of times in bad separations, there’s a financial incentive tied to signing an NDA and keeping your mouth shut. So we probably won’t be hearing from Randall. Even if we do, that could be a requirement of a package too. Usually those packages include a clause that you can’t even acknowledge that such a package or arrangement exists lol.

D

 

[spawnofthesith]

So even if RS were to come out with a glowing statement later this week about retirement and leaving behind is legacy in good hands... the assumption is still that it was all bad and sheisty? Not saying that that couldn't be the case but I do have to raise an eyebrow to speculating that a situation falls into salaciousness no matter what



You know what the one thing we all know that he never "had" to do though? Sell his company


Anyway as long as Doug West and crew are still steering the ship I still don't think there is much to worry about. If these folks start slowly departing/getting replaced with Gibson yesmen, than maybe. I guess we shall see what happens


Was anyone really thinking Randall was going to stay on until he was 6 ft under though? After he, ya know... sold the company? With all the doomsaying that occured 4 years ago its a miracle he lasted this long

 

[TSJMajesty]

Boilerplate marketing release

Yep.

 

[dk_ace]

So even if RS were to come out with a glowing statement later this week about retirement and leaving behind is legacy in good hands... the assumption is still that it was all bad and sheisty? Not saying that that couldn't be the case but I do have to raise an eyebrow to speculating that a situation falls into salaciousness no matter what



You know what the one thing we all know that he never "had" to do though? Sell his company


Anyway as long as Doug West and crew are still steering the ship I still don't think there is much to worry about. If these folks start slowly departing/getting replaced with Gibson yesmen, than maybe. I guess we shall see what happens


Was anyone really thinking Randall was going to stay on until he was 6 ft under though? After he, ya know... sold the company? With all the doomsaying that occured 4 years ago its a miracle he lasted this long

Usually when someone hates your guts but has a contractual obligation to fulfill, it’s not a particularly glowing statement and most will probably see it for what it is.

If big glowing statements and the kind of send off you would expect in this situation suddenly materialize, then it probably isn’t a negative situation just a botched marketing job on the transition. This is a big, expensive business deal though, kinda hard to believe they would botch this that badly. More likely that both parties got sideways with each other and ended things abruptly.

You can believe whatever you want.

He chose to sell the company, it is what it is regarding what happens after that unless they broke a binding contract.

Kinda sad to see it not end well if that’s the case. Maybe he’s sore they’re making a IIC+ reissue with the wrong OT????

D

 

[spawnofthesith]

Usually when someone hates your guts but has a contractual obligation to fulfill, it’s not a particularly glowing statement and most will probably see it for what it is.

If big glowing statements and the kind of send off you would expect in this situation suddenly materialize, then it probably isn’t a negative situation just a botched marketing job on the transition. This is a big, expensive business deal though, kinda hard to believe they would botch this that badly. More likely that both parties got sideways with each other and ended things abruptly.

You can believe whatever you want.

He chose to sell the company, it is what it is regarding what happens after that unless they broke a binding contract.

Kinda sad to see it not end well if that’s the case. Maybe he’s sore they’re making a IIC+ reissue with the wrong OT????

D

If it was a happy send off, well, we have Fluff to thank for the botching... who has a history of stirring up drama.

Even if it is all true and a nasty separation, this really isn't a good look for him. But I'm sure companies will still keep sending him free stuff

 

[norminal]

If it was a happy send off, well, we have Fluff to thank for the botching... who has a history of stirring up drama.

Well, there could be some truth to what “Fluff” said. Perhaps he was fired but Gibson/Mesa Boogie decided to change the narrative.

Regardless, “Fluff,” who isn’t that dissimilar to any other media outlet should’ve provided a source with his claims. That’s just bad journalism content creation.

All applicable links are in the description.

 

[metropolis_4]

I kind of get tired of this world

Feeling a bit melodramatic today?

You brought up the comparison to Leo and pulled him into the conversation. I’m just giving my thoughts on your thoughts

Without Leo, Mesa Boogie never would have existed.

 

[paisleywookiee]

Sneak peak at production of the new IIC+ reissue MSRPL: $10,999.99

Not quite that much, but it sure AF ain't cheap.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Not quite that much, but it sure AF ain't cheap.

Do you have the skinny on the transformers?

If they actually went to the effort to have the tooling done for the unobtainium I could see that commanding a high price. But I'd be skeptical that actually happened

 

[TSJMajesty]

the transformers.... to have the tooling done for the unobtainium

My recollection is it has an environmental aspect, i.e., they cannot produce it, or a portion of it, any more.

Like why a Pennsy GG1 will never run again, because its transformers used PCB's. Not saying OG IIC+ amps' transformers had PCB's of course. Just drawing a parallel to why certain products can't be faithfully reproduced, due to certain components not being allowed to be manufactured any more, because of environmental regulations prohibiting them.

If that's the reason.

 

[greatmutah]

I had thought I heard from Mike B that part of the tonal differences were that parts of the preamp in the IIC+ were on different boards (I’m paraphrasing at best). When they went to the III, everything was all on one board and that contributed partially to the tonal differences there. Plus transformers, etc.

 

[paisleywookiee]

Do you have the skinny on the transformers?

If they actually went to the effort to have the tooling done for the unobtainium I could see that commanding a high price. But I'd be skeptical that actually happened

No, the shitty marketing blurb I’ve got doesn’t mention that.

 

[2dor]

“Randy, and his original design ideas, will continue to inspire us”: Gibson confirms exit of Mesa/Boogie founder and legendary ‘boutique’ guitar amp designer Randall Smith

It’s the end of an era as Smith parts company with the Mesa/Boogie brand he founded 55 years ago

www.musicradar.com

 

[LeftyLoungeLizard]

Sneak peak at production of the new IIC+ reissue MSRPL: $10,999.99

 

[spawnofthesith]

Here's some more hearsay from TOP:

I live in the area where Mesa Boogie has been since 1980. I have owned many Mesa amps and been friends with some folks that work there for many years. I've always been a very big fan of the company and purchased their stuff exclusively for a long time because I knew I could get things repaired quickly and easily. That being said, I decided to find out some detail about Randy's exit. Here's what I know from the mouth of a LONG time employee who knows Randy in a work capacity pretty darn well.

This may not be what people want to believe, but Randy wanted to retire. He's 78 and was ready to stop. He's actually been gone now for a month btw. Prior to that his presence at the factory was fairly intermittent. HR had a company meeting to explain he decided to retire (let your speculation go crazy for 20 more pages if you like to believe or not believe this) and there will be a private retirement party in the near future with a lot of long time employees.

Mesa's Future:

Again from my friend that works there currently and has for many years, production as a whole is pretty slow so there are less folks working in the factory daily as a result (this is more about inflation really if you ask me, which you didn't). There are only a few long time employees responsible for design of new products, but Mesa has contracted folks to come in and help design amps over the years long before Gibson purchased the company. The latest bass amp they have was actually designed by a contractor. You can check the bass forums at another site where this contractor routinely posts to confirm this. Certainly, Mesa had final say on things, but the nuts and bolts and design was done by a contractor.

The "Badlander" is a recent example of current employee designers who had the larger hand in designing instead of Randy. That doesn't mean Randy didn't have anything to do with it, but there is an actual team of people doing the work not just Randy.

Moving forward, these existing designers at Mesa (from the original Mesa crew over the years) are the only folks at the moment involved in design so far as my friend knows. However, people are getting old and approaching retirement and when shifts like this happen at a place of work (i.e. new ownership) it doesn't take much for someone to decide they would like to exit. There have been a few long timer folks that have left as a result of the company being sold, but that was back when it was made public the sale was happening.

Incidentally, most of the amps and things that have been very successful like Lone Star series, don't get produced anymore because the parts are just not available any longer. In the Lone Star case it's my understanding the transformers for that line aren't able to be produced. However, many parts go out of production over the years from factory's that produce them and the normal sort of flow of amp production life was around 5-15 years (that fluctuates based on success or lack there of for a particular amp).

Anyways, this is what I know from someone in the building and knows Randy personally, so take this for what it's worth.

At the end of the day, Randy was an icon in the amp business for many products, so I wish him well and hope he enjoys his retirement. He certainly deserves it for all the beautiful sounds that I've made and listened to over the years from Mesa Boogie.