Randall Smith Gone From Mesa Boogie/Gibson?

[Allexi]

Randall posted some videos couple days ago. Fascinating story.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

4:45 here he says he was fired, which I guess has some range of interpretation associated with it, but he obviously feels that’s how it ended

 

[EOengineer]

I really enjoyed listening to this series of videos. The early days of boogie sound like they were pretty colorful. Would have been a fun ride.

 

[EOengineer]

Randall seems pretty no-bullshit which from my experience tends to be greeted with a fair amount of hostility inside larger modern corporate environments.

I could easily see him escorted out of the building for speaking too frankly to the wrong executive.

 

[la szum]

4:45 here he says he was fired, which I guess has some range of interpretation associated with it, but he obviously feels that’s how it ended

Haha! Looking forward to the "spin" those who knew better all along are going to put on this.

He clearly wants his narrative out there, too---and I would say he deserves
to control it versus the Venture Capital Bros that is Gibson leadership.

 

[spawnofthesith]

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

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Haha! Looking forward to the "spin" those who knew better all along are going to put on this.

He clearly wants his narrative out there, too---and I would say he deserves
to control it versus the Venture Capital Bros that is Gibson leadership.

Fluff is wiv the angels now hun

 

[spawnofthesith]

Fluff isn't off the hook imo. What he did was disrespectful to Randall for the sake of clicks. I have no pity for him getting blacklisted

 

[EOengineer]

It hits me in the feels a bit observing the reverence Randall has for the circuits that inspired his journey that eventually sealed Mesa’s success.

Engineers often knowingly “stand on the shoulders of giants” and take the next step forward because they see a practical problem they know how to solve.

I have a hard time believing that reverence and respect translates over to the product and marketing teams who simply want to make a buck and could care less if it’s an amplifier or a refrigerator.

I guess I’m getting old and these are just the times we live in. I wish I was more optimistic about the future.

 

[Elf]

*They don't make amps like they used to, took a total new meaning for me after this revelation!

 

[JiveTurkey]

Fluff isn't off the hook imo. What he did was disrespectful to Randall for the sake of clicks. I have no pity for him getting blacklisted

Who accepts their own nickname as Fluff?

 

[dbagchee]

It hits me in the feels a bit observing the reverence Randall has for the circuits that inspired his journey that eventually sealed Mesa’s success.

Engineers often knowingly “stand on the shoulders of giants” and take the next step forward because they see a practical problem they know how to solve.

I have a hard time believing that reverence and respect translates over to the product and marketing teams who simply want to make a buck and could care less if it’s an amplifier or a refrigerator.

I guess I’m getting old and these are just the times we live in. I wish I was more optimistic about the future.

It's obvious from his stories that he just has a genuine love of the craft and the creativity of hot rodding everything he can get his hands on. I don't doubt that Doug West, John Marshall, and team have the same love and that hopefully they will carry on. I guess we'll see what comes after these re-issues.

 

[Desertdweller]

4:45 here he says he was fired, which I guess has some range of interpretation associated with it, but he obviously feels that’s how it ended

That changes things a bit now, doesn’t it?

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Fluff isn't off the hook imo. What he did was disrespectful to Randall for the sake of clicks. I have no pity for him getting blacklisted

No dog in the fight, but surely Fluff went from having no Mesa hookups to having no Mesa hookups.

Mesa went from having a fairly prominent gear tuber doing free advertising work for them to him basically hopping over to do it for Marshall instead. Just seems a bit pointless for them to drive a wedge between the guys who are actually genuinely passionate about Mesa amps.

 

[norminal]

I'll eat crow

Fluff isn't off the hook imo. What he did was disrespectful to Randall for the sake of clicks.

This.

 

[spawnofthesith]

No dog in the fight, but surely Fluff went from having no Mesa hookups to having no Mesa hookups.

Mesa went from having a fairly prominent gear tuber doing free advertising work for them to him basically hopping over to do it for Marshall instead. Just seems a bit pointless for them to drive a wedge between the guys who are actually genuinely passionate about Mesa amps.

He just posted a FAQ video stating that Mesa severed all official ties with him

 

[MirrorProfiles]

He just posted a FAQ video stating that Mesa severed all official ties with him

blimey. feel like i’m missing some context but I don’t really see the big deal - probably better if Mesa allow their collaborators and mouth pieces to at least fein being able to speak freely about the companies they work with.

EDIT: just watched Fluff’s video, I actually feel a bit sorry for him but ultimately if they get butthurt over things like that, then something like this is bound to happen eventually and he’s better off avoiding them altogether. I didn’t expect much to change with Gibson taking over but there’s already been a surprising number of easily avoidable, eyebrow raising moves from them.

 

[GreatGreen]

Fluff isn't off the hook imo. What he did was disrespectful to Randall for the sake of clicks. I have no pity for him getting blacklisted

Nah. Fluff is loyal to Mesa and Randall Smith. The dude still hosts an old school website he made himself devoted to the history of the Rectifier, his self proclaimed favorite amp of all time, and has been for years. He put the word out because he felt Randall had been wronged and wanted to set the record straight. I don't think he did it for clicks.

Gibson also happened to pull this move on one of the most influential Recto nuts on youtube, right before the first new major release of one of their biggest flagship amps in the better part of two decades. That's a lot of publicity for Gibson to lose because Gibson wanted to throw a hissy fit about not getting away with quietly firing Randall Smith, the literal inventor of modern high gain, from Mesa.

 

[TSJMajesty]

Gibson also happened to pull this move on one of the most influential Recto nuts on youtube, right before the first new major release of one of their biggest flagship amps in the better part of two decades. That's a lot of publicity for Gibson to lose because Gibson wanted to throw a hissy fit about not getting away with quietly firing Randall Smith, the literal inventor of modern high gain, from Mesa.

Idk the guy; I've probably watched 1 of his videos..., but assuming he is that influential, then that's a great point.

But I'm honestly wondering how big the market is for either of these reissues. Seems to me you get a lot more amp with a Mark V or VII, and the MWDR.

I can't find any details on the DR (says they'll be available after the 14th), but on the IIC+, apparently the most you can do is switch btw 2 modes, the reverb, and the EQ. That's not much compared to the VII.

 

[spawnofthesith]

Nah. Fluff is loyal to Mesa and Randall Smith. The dude still hosts an old school website he made himself devoted to the history of the Rectifier, his self proclaimed favorite amp of all time, and has been for years. He put the word out because he felt Randall had been wronged and wanted to set the record straight. I don't think he did it for clicks.

Gibson also happened to pull this move on one of the most influential Recto nuts on youtube, right before the first new major release of one of their biggest flagship amps in the better part of two decades. That's a lot of publicity for Gibson to lose because Gibson wanted to throw a hissy fit about not getting away with quietly firing Randall Smith, the literal inventor of modern high gain, from Mesa.

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