Randall Smith, founder of Mesa/BoogieRandy Smith, founder of Mesa Boogie (one of my favorite amp companies), announced he was selling the company to Gibson Brands. Randy is 75, he has been at this a long time, and he deserves to hand the company off and ease into retirement, right?
Before the Mesa Boogie news was official and announced, the blogosphere and Facebook user groups lit up with alarmist reactions. “This is the end of Mesa Boogie!” “Boogie is doomed!” “Your pre-Gibson Boogie is now going to double in value!” “Gibson is going to kill Boogie and rename them!”
OK, I get it. No, I really do. Under Henry Juszkiewicz, Gibson did some pretty boneheaded moves in not only what companies they acquired, but what they did after acquisition. I can’t list all of the bad acquisitions and screwups here, I don’t have the space. Bottom line: it was a scorched earth disaster of epic proportions.
As I often participate in these user groups, I had to chime in. And what I got smacked back with was lots of folk trying to school me on the history of Gibson’s screwups of acquisitions and beloved brands. It was as though many of the people replying were not aware that Gibson has new ownership and management. Some didn’t know Gibson was not in bankruptcy now. They don’t mention that the new management of Gibson gave Tom the rights to his own name back for free. Maybe they don’t know or forgot. They don’t know a lot, but they have strong memories of what they think they know, and that is going to be a continuing challenge for Gibson.
Those who didn’t know were the easiest to get to consider that maybe, just maybe, this is not bad news, but good news for Mesa Boogie, and for Gibson. Then there were the diehards who are convinced the new management is just as bad because they heard Dean was sued for trademark infringement, or that dang video (you know the one) from Mark Agnesi that probably shouldn’t have been made or released.
The weeping and gnashing of frets was in full force. No amount of reassuring them that the new Gibson is not Henry’s Gibson will convince them, so Gibson is just going to have to prove them wrong.
My message to them was simple: this isn’t Henry’s Gibson anymore. I bought three new Gibson models since 2019, an SG with Maestro and a TV Yellow Les Paul Special, plus a red ES-335 made in Nashville. These guitars are excellent. The finish, the craftsmanship, the sound, feel, tone. And if you read my piece in MMR July 2019, you’ll know that I was looking at the new management through the lenses as a highly skeptical former employee, and somebody with enough inside knowledge to know if the new management was full of it. And my conclusion was that they were not, and they seem like they are going to be good stewards of the historic, storied brand, and not go pulling a “Henry” left and right.
Gibson’s battle for some time going forward is to stay on track making great products, continuing their quest to raise QC, making it easier to be a dealer for any of their lines, and over time instill confidence in consumers as they slowly chip away at the reputation damage Henry did over the course of a couple of decades. That’s a tall order. I think they can do it. I can’t imagine that the Cesar and JC I’ve met and interviewed are going to muck up Mesa Boogie when they seem to be guys who “get it.”
So, sit back, relax. Things are going to be fine. I assure you of this, if I perceive a screwup at Gibson, in this acquisition, or just in business dealings period, I’ll gladly call them out. So far, I’m seeing a turn-around success story in the making, and enjoying my new guitars, with my (older) Mesa Boogie. For full disclosure, Gibson Foundation recently donated some guitars to a charity I am involved with, but donation or not, my opinions will not be tempered when it comes to Gibson. While I want them to succeed as a lifelong fan, I will call them out in a heartbeat if something is wonky and I see it. I am not a disgruntled former employee. I am a Gibson player. I own two dozen or so. I always want more. So far looking into the new ownership, I don’t think Mesa Boogie is in any trouble.
