Gibson/Boogie Partnership?

NelsonP

welshboyo said:

I bet all them bedroom dealers are loving this - they are now pulling out all those old unwanted DC and F-Series combos and peddling them as "pre-Gibson".....
 

Are the DC amps really unwanted? I'll have them then,  pm me if you want to give me your unwanted amp. 

Randall Smith basically is Mesa Boogie isn't he? Hope he doesn't mind being set objectives and having annual appraisals!

ICBM

NelsonP said:

Are the DC amps really unwanted? I'll have them then,  pm me if you want to give me your unwanted amp.

I like them too, but they're certainly not worth much now - you can get a DC-5 for only around £500. I have to admit that having used one for about seven years and never really wanted any other amp for most of that time, I finally found it too dark and "90s" sounding, and moved it on.

welshboyo

NelsonP said:

welshboyo said:

I bet all them bedroom dealers are loving this - they are now pulling out all those old unwanted DC and F-Series combos and peddling them as "pre-Gibson".....
 

Are the DC amps really unwanted? I'll have them then,  pm me if you want to give me your unwanted amp. 

Randall Smith basically is Mesa Boogie isn't he? Hope he doesn't mind being set objectives and having annual appraisals!

Fair point, perhaps I’m being unfair towards the DC - I’ve had 1 or 2 over the years and in all fairness they were OK but then I’ve played MK’s for years and years before and after them and to me they always felt they were built to a price and almost felt a bit mass produced - nothing wrong with that as they were still bloody expensive at the time!! Some of them scream 90’s though with the formats - 2x12 behemoths that weigh the same as a small house...not that the MK’s were any better in that respect...

I just really hope that Gibson don’t change the brand too much, weight and over-engineered ness aside they are and always will be spectacular amps IMO

Moe_Zambeek

My DC5 lasted about 3 months then went off to fife via ebay. If I’m honest I hated it...

I did quite like the single rectifier combo thing that they had in the Depot in Granton. 

57Deluxe

what are the worst acquisition scenarios you could imagine?

Amazon acquire Thomann...?

chris78

Oh bugger. My Mesa California tweed is going to snap in two if someone looks at it now

Haych

My only personal experience with Mesa was a MKIV - over complicated but sounded great once you had it dialled in right, and a Nomad 55, mediocre clean channel, very nice crunch channel and an awful lead channel.

I've certainly been happier with other amps I've owned.  My Peavey Duel 212 had as good a crunch channel as any Mesa I've ever heard and any decent Fender tube amp has cleans to die for.

The only other Mesas I've been curious about are the Tremoverb, Heartbreaker and Blue Angel.  Out of the three I'd probably have a Heartbreaker if I could find one.

While I don't doubt that Mesa make great quality stuff, they're not the be all and end all that a lot of players make them out to be.

jeztone2

ICBM said:

jeztone2 said:

So a company reknown for good quality control is bought out by a company known for dodgy QC.

I mean they ruined Trace Elliott. I saw some local rock bands live footage from 2019 and people still gig those old 715 combos and AH300’s. They will last forever.

No they didn't. That's a popular myth, but in fact Trace ruined themselves with a succession of poorly-built, unreliable amps some time before Gibson bought them, especially their valve guitar amps, Commando bass amps and other similar junk. Gibson actually *saved* them, and increased the quality of several of the amps - not least the Velocettes, which became the Goldtones - although admittedly, at the same time almost doubling the price.

The really early Traces - up to Series 6 - were certainly more reliable and better-sounding, but all those are getting very long in the tooth now. Very few working musicians will be using them now - even if they still work, they weigh far too much by modern standards and so aren't worth enough to spend a lot of money fixing when (not if, usually) they go wrong.

They don't go wrong though. Your seeing this through the prism of an amp tech, rather than a player. My Bassist has just bought a Warwick Elf. But his 715S 2 x 10 combo is still working fine. Its just a bit tatty. As are plenty of other bass player friends amps.

Unlike forum members a lot of gigging musicians are still using very old backline. I still saw plenty of Marshall 900’s, Trace Elliot rigs & Sessionette 75’s out there before lockdown. People still use them. 

I'd suggest saving a company is more along the lines of Bill Schultz & Fender. Where a brand goes from near bankruptcy to a significant global player. I mean Gibson have squandered Kramer’s legacy, as well as Steinbergers. 

ICBM

jeztone2 said:

They don't go wrong though. Your seeing this through the prism of an amp tech, rather than a player. My Bassist has just bought a Warwick Elf. But his 715S 2 x 10 combo is still working fine. Its just a bit tatty. As are plenty of other bass player friends amps.

They most certainly do go wrong, I've been seeing an increasing number of them for many years now. Contrary to what you seem to assume I'm also a bass player - I've owned and gigged several of them, up to Series 6. They were reliable enough in their day but they started to cause trouble eventually. Some will keep going, certainly - it doesn't mean that most of them are.

Regardless, Gibson did not do the damage at Trace - Trace did. The years before Gibson bought them included the valve guitar amps and bass amps, the Commando bass amps and the Tramp guitar amps, all of which are universally poorly-built, unreliable and difficult to repair even if some of them sounded good (debatable). They were starting to cause warranty problems well before Trace's owners made a sharp exit and left Gibson to pick up the pieces, which they did not do a brilliant job of - other than rebadging and re-engineering the Velocette/Goldtones, and rather generously supplying free replacement transformers for all the early ones which failed, even out of warranty - although that was far from the only problem with them.

I agree that Gibson don't have a good track record with most of the other brands they've bought though.

DrJazzTap

I just think the prices will go back up. Imho Gibson buying Marshall would make more sense. 

ennspek

They are protesting about this in Washington now.

tekbow

ennspek said:

They are protesting about this in Washington now.

Too soon?

Nah.

DrJazzTap

Is Randall going to have to buy a black leather jacket now?

ThePrettyDamned

I hope it goes well - hopefully same quality, but better distribution. 

spirit7

Terrible news given Gibson's recent history, in my view.

NelsonP

57Deluxe said:

what are the worst acquisition scenarios you could imagine?

Amazon acquire Thomann...?

Mike Ashley acquires PRS

spirit7

How long until the pressure begins for a made in China cheaper Recto?

gubble

spirit7 said:

How long until the pressure begins for a made in China cheaper Recto?

Already exists surely?

spirit7

gubble said:

spirit7 said:

How long until the pressure begins for a made in China cheaper Recto?

Already exists surely?

Haha!

riffpowers

But ..... everyone knows that Gibson and Marshall are the classic partnership!
mesa boogie should have joined esp !!!