From the way outside looking in, I'm thinking Mr Smith, with 50-odd years of his life invested in M/B, was looking for not just any buyer, but someone who would continue the Mesa reputation. Gibson, in its post Henry J iteration has restored the brand and smartly expanded the brand. It makes perfect sense for Gibson to acquire Mesa, as it instantly buys them instant credibility as an upmarket amp to pair with their upmarket products, and immediately saved them a kings ransom in not having to grow an organization like that.
Furthermore, the acquisition only makes sense if the plan is for Mesa to remain a top-shelf, world-class line at a time when in a practical sense tube amps are mature, ampless stages and emulators are making inroads, and cheapening the brand name would be a ticket straight downhill that would wreck the reputation, to never be recovered. The smart people would leverage the Mesa brain trust for inexpensive amp designs to be sold as Gibson or Epiphone amps, or maybe a new brand name.
As most of these acquisitions go, the original brain trust is kept around for a period of time to finish projects and aid the integration, and at the conclusion of that process, they usually move on to a deserved retirement or possibly new interests. In the meantime, tongues wag, but I can tell you that Gibson under Mr Guelkian is a different universe than the Henry days, and as such, I'd be very surprised, stunned, if Randall Smith had to suddenly turn in his badge and keys and he escorted off the property.
www.cocobrooks.com
