I must have been one of the last customers to receive an instrument from Dave, my Octave Mandola. It's dated 17/11/08 gulp!!
I must have been one of the last customers to receive an instrument from Dave, my Octave Mandola. It's dated 17/11/08 gulp!!
Last edited by O'Riabh; Jul-04-2014 at 2:51pm. Reason: Spelling issue.
Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything. - Plato
nevermind
Last edited by Killian King; Jul-05-2014 at 9:55pm. Reason: past its sell by date
Not to sound like a horse's patoot, but is there a such thing as an organized, prompt, on-time, quick, ahead of schedule luthier/repairman? I once had a telecaster in for a refret, it took 15 months to get the guitar back. Nice job, too. BUT, it could have been completed in 3-4 hours if the guy just sat down and did it! Seems to be a trend. A disturbing one.
Well, I've used Lou Stiver (western PA) a bunch of times for mandolin work... His work is great, prices are cheap, and he never takes longer than a week to return my instruments...
It seems like we focus on the horror stories, while most luthiers are honest and hard-working....
Of course, we all tend to do this in every aspect of life, don't we??
I sure feel bad for those who gave this guy money and didn't get an instrument...
Right you are! I don't mean to sound like I'm talking about the fine members of the Cafe, of course!
Reminds me of a joke my late father liked to tell. A guy is cleaning out the closet and goes through the pocket of his old suit and finds a shoe repair ticket dated 1946. Well, the repair shop was still in business, so the next day, the guy goes by the shop, just for a joke, and presents the repair ticket. The owner goes in the back room and comes back, "They'll be ready NEXT TUESDAY!!!" LOL
Many of us are Craftsmen. I do not use the term lightly. We decide to take on projects for persons based on good faith and a desire to make them satisfied with our work within an acceptable timeframe and cost. You can do one project at a time from small to large scope and deliver it satisfactorily to the client; or take on several jobs and juggle them, hopefully making everybody happy.
You can decide that your commercial endeavor was ill-managed...but you cannot ignore the responsibility of the specific commitment you made to any client. If demand exceeds your capacity, then ongoing you have to be honest with prospective clients about expected completion time or cost. I see few reasons that a Craftsman cannot procure materials and complete builds as promised aside from the will to uphold his end of the bargain. If the promised calculation was faulty, then there is either a negotiation, or you work for less than you planned.
I'm not familiar with Freshwater's product or business practices. But as to being on schedule;
I build new instruments as well as doing repair. My main goal is building new instruments. Though I do stay fairly busy as a repair person. What irritates me is when I'm booked up and people insist on leaving their instrument even though I explain it will be 2-3 months before I can start on it. It never fails, within 3 weeks they call to see how its going, is it ready, or how much longer its gonna take.
David Houchens
http://bryceinstruments.com/
I don' know a thing about the Freshwater thing either but I sure recall with this thread and related ones came up a few years ago.
I do think those kind of calls that would be annoying. Maybe in those cases you should take to writing on their ticket -- this repair will not be even STARTED until such and such a date!
Just to reinforce the point made by others -- over the years I have dealt with a number of luthiers/repair folks and some do over commit (or in some cases have other interests that compete for their time in the shop). This can result in so pretty long (even unreasonable) delays and some irritation.
Typically, I will only go through that once with repair person and then it is on to someone else for me. I deal with a few folks here in this part of Ohio who are almost always right on time with their high quality workmanship.
Sometimes, if it merits, they will even call you if they are running behind and the work will be delayed. I'm good with that. Like the song says "ya gotta shop around".
Bernie
____
Due to current budgetary restrictions the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off -- sorry about the inconvenience.
While 15 months is clearly unacceptible, if you think you can do a decent refret in 3 or 4 hours then you may need to redfine your concept of "hour" somewhat
I guess the first rule must always be "keep the customer informed"... which reminds me of something I need to do...!
Amen! I am seeing a common happening on the wonderful worldwide web, and this isn't just instrument makers. It's covers a gamut of small shops that get their "15 Minutes of Fame" on the internet. Orders go through the roof, prices go way up (way too much in many cases), and then, in the ensuing months the disgruntled customer feedback starts showing up on the forums, and websites.
As a person, I believe in free enterprise, profit motive, and the right to start a venture as we would please. As a consumer, I also REALLY enjoy being able to purchase from a wonderful artist/builder/craftsman in a one-off, small town, cut-the-hype way.
In my own experience, I have noticed a common thread that a wonderful, friendly, and incredibly talented luthier isn't necessarily a good businessman. In fact, I have met folks that, in my own estimation, shouldn't be running a business at all. It makes a very good person look like a bad person. It's really not fair to all involved.
Hopefully these horror stories we see will become a thing of the past as folks get a handle on their businesses. I think we all will benefit.
I can beat that - 20.02.09! Also an Octave. I had no idea of the problems people were having - just that he hadn't been well (he's since passed away). I'd asked for electrics but it arrived without. The instrument was sent back to Scotland and within 2 weeks came back as ordered. Lucky me!
I'd also had a tenor mandola a couple of years before - pear wood, cedar and ebony!
I must say I do find it very peculiar that this thread has been revived after so long when you know that Mr Freshwater has passed away (some time ago).
Why?
David A. Gordon
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