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MESA Factory Tour

#24
Benjamin Strange said:
Sorry, but there is no Mesa museum.

Randall did have one old snakeskin Boogie in his office at one point, but that was about it. Mesa isn't about reveling in it's past - note the lack of re-issues, minus the Mark I. They've never had an interest in making a museum.

I enjoyed my time working for Boogie. They are all great dudes there, all the way down to the guys putting leather corners on the amps (which is really hard to do, by the way). The're pretty serious about making sure that everything that goes out is top notch. I've seen them shut down the production line over minor quibbles like vinyl coverings not being perfect or handles not being seated properly. Sure, it's impossible to make a perfect amp every time, especially when you make 100 a day, but they try their hardest.
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Ah-ha! I wonderred if someone wasn't yanking my chain....

It really was great to see the effort put into what they do and the attention to detail.
 
#25
Technically it was not a museum, but there was a room upstairs with some older classic stuff, like their first bass amps, snakeskin covered mixers and amps, etc. So, we will call it "The Attic", instead, okay?
 
#27
Jeff Scott said:
Technically it was not a museum, but there was a room upstairs with some older classic stuff, like their first bass amps, snakeskin covered mixers and amps, etc. So, we will call it "The Attic", instead, okay?
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Ah - that was Randall's office. Apparently somebody has been collecting some older stuff since I was last there and brought it in. I know they've been taking pictures and using some of the older stuff for their timeline in their recent catalogs - maybe that's what they were for.
 
#32
Riley R said:
alembic is right in that petaluma/Santa Rosa area as well, but they only offer scheduled tours.
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Um, I just dropped in on Alembic once and Mica was great and showed me around. A friend of mine had his Dragon (being made) in the paint booth so I checked it out for him. I have some nice photos, too! :hyper:

Alembic is a great place with instruments hanging on the walls in the waiting room in various states of construction. There were a couple for "special" customers I was not allowed to photograph but other than that, everything was fair game. When I first walked through the door there was a Classico on a stand next to a pinball machine.
 
#33
Great thread! We will be featuring a Mesa/Boogie (or Mesa Engineering, if you prefer) tour in early 2009, when Randall and co celebrate 40 years of rockin' the guitar and bass world. :cool:

And even though Terry Buddingh lives a lot closer to Petaluma than I do, I am joining him in person for this tour. :D

Tom.
 
#34
Steve Mueller at Mesa is a very good friend of mine...they are a great company that makes great gear...Both Guitar players in my band use Mesa gear, and they both have great tone...I have used a couple of their heads in the past, and still have a few of their cabs laying around...and I love them...
 
#36
tombowlus said:
Great thread! We will be featuring a Mesa/Boogie (or Mesa Engineering, if you prefer) tour in early 2009, when Randall and co celebrate 40 years of rockin' the guitar and bass world. :cool:

And even though Terry Buddingh lives a lot closer to Petaluma than I do, I am joining him in person for this tour. :D

Tom.
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Looking forward to that. Great job on the magazine, BTW.
 
#37
fishtx said:
Steve Mueller at Mesa is a very good friend of mine...they are a great company that makes great gear...Both Guitar players in my band use Mesa gear, and they both have great tone...I have used a couple of their heads in the past, and still have a few of their cabs laying around...and I love them...
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Steve and I also go way back. He's a super great guy and was instrumental in turning me on to Boogie. He hooked me up with the prototype BassTraixis about 10 years ago. It's still my main amp to this day.
 
#39
The Growler said:
In a couple of minutes, Kris Dilbeck from Customer Service came out and introduced himself and gave us a tour of the plant.
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You could not have gotten a better tour guide. Kris is the son of my old drummer (Terry Dilbeck) from the '60s band, Kastahana. I stay in touch with Terry and (bassist) Kim Elsom, and there is always the joke about 'getting the band back together.' The amusing part is, I am now playing bass and Kim is playing heavy metal guitar. Kim is one of the the finest live bassists I've ever seen.

If you get the opportunity, give a listen to Kris' band. He is an outstanding guitarist, and they play regularly around Sonoma County.
 
#40
bgavin said:
You could not have gotten a better tour guide. Kris is the son of my old drummer (Terry Dilbeck) from the '60s band, Kastahana. I stay in touch with Terry and (bassist) Kim Elsom, and there is always the joke about 'getting the band back together.' The amusing part is, I am now playing bass and Kim is playing heavy metal guitar. Kim is one of the the finest live bassists I've ever seen.

If you get the opportunity, give a listen to Kris' band. He is an outstanding guitarist, and they play regularly around Sonoma County.
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I agree. Kris was very helpful and informative and a great host.

Thanks for the note on his band. I'll look for them the next time I'm in the area.
 

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