L-R: Gibson’s Cesar Gueikian, Mesa/Boogie’s Randall Smith and Gibson’s JC Curleigh, pictured when Gibson acquired the brand in 2021.
Over three-and-a-half years after Randall Smith sold Mesa/Boogie to Gibson, Smith has completed his time with Gibson as the brand’s master designer and pioneer. Through his ground-breaking work at Mesa/Boogie, Smith was responsible for innovative modifications that gave small amplifiers more input gain, making them much louder, as well as creating an all-new high-gain distorted guitar tones.
Mesa/Boogie began as a small amplifier repair shop and was founded 55 years ago in 1969, in Mill Valley, CA by Smith who simultaneously respected and improved the vintage classics with his inventions. Smith’s ear for tone, passion for tube technology, and vision for building handcrafted high-performance amplifiers continues to redefine how we experience sound. Beginning at Prune Music in Northern California, Smith reconfigured amplifiers for more sound and power for all the great San Francisco area bands over 50 years ago when vintage gear was new. Being close to so many great guitar players, from Bloomfield to Santana and The Rolling Stones, Smith learned the virtues and shortcomings of the era’s gear and began a process of innovation, excellence, and invention that continues at the Mesa/Boogie craftory in Petaluma, CA today. Mesa/Boogie was the first boutique amplifier builder and revolutionized amplifier performance in ways that impact rock music worldwide.
Throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s a score of additional innovative and patented improvements saw Mesa Engineering emerge as the leader in tube amplifier technology. Today, Mesa/Boogie amplifiers and cabinets are renowned worldwide and unparalleled in performance and quality, every product is still hand-built, and our artisans are tenured with an average of 15 years at their post, many for much longer. We still hold true to the simple but increasingly rare principles Smith used to catapult Mesa/Boogie onto the world stage, hand-building the very best amps and cabinets and treating each customer as we wish to be treated.
Smith has positioned his legacy to be carried forward through the Mesa/Boogie team's continued commitment to quality and tone, and for the last two decades has been training the next generation of Mesa/Boogie designers.
Smith has been instrumental in growing the Mesa/Boogie portfolio with exciting new product offerings and overseeing the launch of the popular new Gibson Falcon amplifiers.
“I am incredibly grateful for Smith’s pioneering insights, design, and trust in Gibson,” says Cesar Gueikian, CEO of Gibson. “Randy’s DNA will always be present, and over the last few decades he has trained the new generation of designers that have been leading the way for Gibson and MESA/Boogie amps. As we evolve our Gibson Amps collection, including our Gibson and MESA/Boogie brands, Randy, and his original design ideas, will continue to inspire us to make the best and highest quality amplifiers we’ve ever made.”
“We’ve all talked about this day and have prepared for it in many ways over the years, but Randall Smith is a ‘force of nature’, and you can’t imagine it coming to fruition,” adds Doug West, Director of R&D at Mesa/Boogie. “Now, I reflect on the fact that few in this world ever get the chance to be mentored, coached to excellence and to perform at their consistent personal best in the ways our design team, and everyone here at Mesa/Boogie, have under his tutelage. Randy leaves us in good stead to carry on his legacy and tradition of excellence. With our respect for him and our shared love for what Gibson and Mesa/Boogie represent to music, Randy can bask in the contentment of knowing he has spread Tone and Joy the world over with his creations and that his contributions to music have made an indelible mark on generations, and the sound of electric guitar and bass over the last 55 years.”
For more information, please visit mesaboogie.com.
Upgrade your Gretsch guitar with Music City Bridge's SPACE BAR for improved intonation and string spacing. Compatible with Bigsby vibrato systems and featuring a compensated lightning bolt design, this top-quality replacement part is a must-have for any Gretsch player.
Music City Bridge has introduced the newest item in the company’s line of top-quality replacement parts for guitars. The SPACE BAR is a direct replacement for the original Gretsch Space-Control Bridge and corrects the problems of this iconic design.
As a fixture on many Gretsch models over the decades, the Space-Control bridge provides each string with a transversing (side to side) adjustment, making it possible to set string spacing manually. However, the original vintage design makes it difficult to achieve proper intonation.
Music City Bridge’s SPACE BAR adds a lightning bolt intonation line to the original Space-Control design while retaining the imperative horizontal single-string adjustment capability.
Space Bar features include:
- Compensated lightning bolt design for improved intonation
- Individually adjustable string spacing
- Compatible with Bigsby vibrato systems
- Traditional vintage styling
- Made for 12-inch radius fretboards
The SPACE BAR will fit on any Gretsch with a Space Control bridge, including USA-made and imported guitars.
Music City Bridge’s SPACE BAR is priced at $78 and can be purchased at musiccitybridge.com.
For more information, please visit musiccitybridge.com.
Floyd Rose introduces new USA-made Original saddle sets in various configurations, crafted from premium hardened tool steel with precision CNC machining. Available in chrome and black finishes now.
The new facility offers immediate availability of the legendary Floyd Rose Original saddles in multiple radius configurations for the first time. Engineered to perfectly match specific fretboard curvatures, these saddle sets provide a range of radius options without the need for individual saddle shims. Alongside the classic 12” radius, Floyd Rose has unveiled 8”, 10”, 14”, 16”, and 17” radii saddle sets. Crafted from premium hardened tool steel with precision CNC machining and finished with durable, smooth plating, these saddles are built to withstand the demands of intense performances. Chrome and black sets of USA-made Floyd Rose Original Saddles in various radii are available now at the company’s website, followed by gold and black nickel finishes in the 4th quarter of 2024.
The new Floyd Rose manufacturing center in North Carolina was designed to meet growing demand while ensuring the highest quality available using modern high-tech processes. Bringing production in-house enhances control over every aspect of the process including engineering, material selection, quality control, and scheduling. The facility features four Haas VF-seriesCNC machines, delivering precision machining fine-tuned for high efficiency and clean surface finishes. Alongside machining, the company has established a state-of-the-art metal finishing department and acquired stamping equipment with new capabilities added monthly.
At the heart of the Floyd Rose USA manufacturing center is a dedicated team of engineers and technicians who excel in their craft and are deeply passionate about the legendary product line. With decades of collective experience, the company’s experts meticulously craft each component to exacting standards.
“We are ecstatic to be making these new Original saddles in the USA, giving us better control over quality and production times while offering more robust options like these new radii,” said Andrew Papiccio, longtime president of AP International Music Supply / Floyd Rose and an original owner of Kramer Guitars. "With this new state-of-the-art facility, we are poised todeliver unparalleled quality and performance to musicians worldwide. As we integrate newproducts into this facility, we are expanding our commitment to ‘Made in America’ craftsmanship.”
The company plans to ramp up production of parts and innovations at their USA factory forFloyd Rose and their new AxLabs Hardware division.
For more information, please visit floydrose.com.
The Australian-American country music icon has been around the world with his music. What still excites him about the guitar?
Keith Urban has spent decades traveling the world and topping global country-music charts, and on this episode of Wong Notes, the country-guitar hero tells host Cory Wong how he conquered the world—and what keeps him chasing new sounds on his 6-string via a new record, High, which releases on September 20.
Urban came up as guitarist and singer at the same time, and he details how his playing and singing have always worked as a duet in service of the song: “When I stop singing, [my guitar] wants to say something, and he says it in a different way.” Those traits served him well when he made his move into the American music industry, a story that begins in part with a fateful meeting with a 6-string banjo in a Nashville music store in 1995.
It’s a different world for working musicians now, and Urban weighs in on the state of radio, social media, and podcasts for modern guitarists, but he still believes in word-of-mouth over the algorithm when it comes to discovering exciting new players.
And in case you didn’t know, Keith Urban is a total gearhead. He shares his essential budget stomps and admits he’s a pedal hound, chasing new sounds week in and week out, but what role does new gear play in his routine? Urban puts it simply: “I’m not chasing tone, I’m pursuing inspiration.”
Wong Notes is presented by DistroKid.
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PG contributor Tom Butwin takes a deep dive into LR Baggs' HiFi Duet system.
LR Baggs HiFi Duet High-fidelity Pickup and Microphone Mixing System
