LeftyBassist.com

Saw this on Reverb the other day https://reverb.com/news/gibson-buys-mesa-boogie .
Also Korg buys Aguilar! https://reverb.com/news/korg-has-acquired-aguilar-amplification

Too bad for Mesa. Probably good for Aguilar.

I'm interested in your opinion on why? I was wondering myself and I hoped to get some info on this here.

Gibson classically have ruined most other brands they acquire. Specifically for bass they have a bad record, having ended or reduced some classic companies to budget brands (ie. Tobias, Steinberger, Trace Elliot). I hope I'm wrong and the new management at Gibson will not repeat the habits of the past with Mesa.

It's portrayed in the media as an acquisition, but Randall Smith of Mesa/Boogie calls it a partnership and mentions they were "asked to become Gibson's custom shop for amps", like Trace Elliot originally was too after they became part of the Gibson family (remember the Gibson Goldtone amps?). I wonder what this new "partnership" will look like.

I agree with Andrew, the fate of brands acquired by Gibson has never looked good. Tobias, Kramer, Steinberger (the "MusicYo" brands, Gibson's old webshop for these brands that delivered them to your door straight from the South-Korean manufacturer) and Trace Elliot didn't do well. Hell, Tobias has been reduced to "Toby by Epiphone" these days! Kramer is making a comeback though.

Thanks for the info guys. That was my gut reaction when I red this. Hopefully this won't be another case of history repeating itself and Randall will still have enough influence to keep things from going south.