Are Brand Acquisitions GOOD Or BAD? 

Last I heard, Mesa distributors are now required to buy a quarter of a million dollars in Mesa stuff in order to remain a distributor. So, I would agree that Mesa has now access to Gibson's distribution network, but also to their corporate voracious greed.

Ever since Gibson bought Mesa Boogie, the 2 music stores that carried Mesa no longer do; from what I understand, this is due to an increased minimum order (or something like that) that these stores can't afford to make anymore.

I think the acquisitions are always viewed with such fear is because of just how many brands have been killed by mismanagement after the acquisition. Just think of all of the great brands that died under the hammer of Fender/KMC (SWR, Hamer, Tacoma, and more) and Gibson (Tobias, Trace Elliot). These were all brands that had loyal fanbases and made great stuff. Then they were acquired, streamlined, and reduced to the point where they often no longer fit in the company picture. After that, they'd either be discontinued completely or shuttled off again to a new owner just to be a shadow of their former self (Guild).

Interesting that you mention Gibson's distribution network as a bonus for Mesa because after the acquisition Mesas are seemingly no longer for sale anywhere except their own website. At least no longer available in Norwegian stores, nor on Thomann or Gear4Music which have been my go-tos for online shopping. I do like the sound of Fender recording starter packs though, I hope they do something with that!

It’s not all sunshine and rainbows. It’s different for product companies I would imagine but I was part of an acquisition, they wanted our engineers - we had no product or IP, and 90% of us quit over three years. They destroyed our consultancy with micro management, long hours, outsourcing, and corporate compliance efforts.

I know some guys from TC and some of their best product developers left. I know 4 guys who quit the day they found out they sold the company. It's about credibility and freedom. Behringer is a control freak. One of them left for UAV.

It's amusing to hear your affiliate link bit at the end, because we don't yet know how the acquisition of Sweetwater by venture capitalists will affect that brand.

Being both a business and a music guy, I thought you highlighted some good points here Fluff. People tend to conflate "acquisition" with "hostile takeover" and assume that the bigger brand has sinister intent when sometimes it's just what is best for both brands. I think Fender and Presonus are a good match and I don't think Fender is going to mess with them much.

TC Electronic is basically a zombie brand at this point

I agree that the Presonus move really made sense. I reallllllllly don't like the Gibson management anywhere near Mesa although that move made sense for Gibson. I see this as being more money with fewer companies, potentially closer to monopolies, not necessarily better competition in the long run.

Aaaahhh, acquisitions. I've been a software developer for 25+ years straight. I've been hired by two different companies (and only interviewed for one of them), but I have been an employee of 6 (six) different companies. I'm actually quite happy with my current employer, but other buyouts weren't all that great. In my experience, a buyout is good if the parent company is looking to break into a market they don't have (and therefore want to keep the products going), and bad if the parent company is looking to acquire a bigger market share of shared customers (and therefore sunset the products). There can be exceptions to the latter situation (Gibson buying Kramer, perhaps), but I think they're rare.

I really love how people are already trying to sell “Pre-Gibson” Mesa products.

Very levelled-headed Fluff! Not worried whatsoever but it's always a good thing to be reminded and also educate others why this is not an apocalypse :D

I think it would be cool to see like some sort of Fender interface that comes with built in Amp modellers like the Twin, Deluxe reverb etc. Sort of like the Tone Master amps but in Interface form! Thats what i imagine. Get that Twin sound on your DAW!

Like 90% of these brand acquisitions are fine by me. The issue I have is when they get the names and rights and then completely phase out the brand as soon as possible.

Gibson buying Boogie was a bad idea, when Randy and Mike retire? Who’s going to do what? The ears will be gone and Boogie will just be a memory

You literally just popped in my mind while I was jamming (actually on my sons synth this time) and I NEVER see your vids on my main page. I had to bell you now bro! Good to see you are still at it! I'll catch up on content soon :)

Thank you for saying TC Electronic. 90% of people get it wrong and say “TC Electronics”.

Well I think TC Electronic actully went downhill. They have not released anything new in the past ~4 years, except some cheap entry level chorus, drive pedals...

TC electronics can no longer be found in any music stores (at least is Canada) since the Behringer acquisition because Behringer has decided to try to move all their sales out of store to online only