I got my Strictly 7 Boden and....

[wespaul]

This dude reminds me of restaurant owners on Kitchen Nightmares who drive their business into the ground and are angry with everybody but themselves over it.

 

[dcoughlin1]

This dude reminds me of restaurant owners on Kitchen Nightmares who drive their business into the ground and are angry with everybody but themselves over it.

Are you talking about these crazy people?

 

[wespaul]

I was totally going to make an Amy's Baking Company reference but wasn't sure if anybody would get it, haha

 

[Mr-Jemhead93]

I can understand he is under a lot of stress but this definitely could've been handled a lot better. This guy needs some sort of PR person because obviously he doesn't know how to talk to the public. This whole insulting ex employees, his current (or is it ex now?) business partners, and customers is ridiculous and a major boner kill for me atleast when it comes to this guitar company. He was just being criticized by customers who weren't satisfied with what they purchased (and they had every right to be), and a bunch of us guitar nerds, hell plenty of guitar companies get flack for releasing sub-par instruments and I've never seen them make videos of them "defending their name". This just seemed really silly and immature of him to go and do this because people had negative things to say about his company.

 

[Jzbass25]

These videos are sad, it seems like they can see their company slamming into a brick wall. I think they need to call chef ramsay to fix their company, this is near Amy's Bakery social media breakdown level =P

I'm not on any side at all but this is not how you do it. I like how this guy touts his published graduate work and says "I'm not an idiot" as he consistently proves that he doesn't know how to manage a company. I'm a smart guy that works with smart people and something a lot of smart people need to realize is that they can't be good at everything, especially running a company haha. I give him credit for refunding some people (only example I have is the guitar he showed in video 2) and I understand the difficulty with email sometimes but not being able to respond to emails have buried companies, you have to keep up with the times whether you like to email or not. He likes to talk about today's "internet world" or he mentioned something about instant gratification society, yeah I understand where he's coming from but adapting to the times is what you do as a company, or generally you have some issues or a lot of issues lol.

I can't talk about the quality of their products but you do not call out costumers, you do not let emotions influence you like this or do the talking for you and if you're competing in the price range you're going to have some issues if you ever put out a guitar that isn't immaculate or if you have this kind of attitude with your customer service. I do understand the problem with customers not understanding how to work strandbergs and then getting mad at s7 but damn videos like these are just a horrible idea.

Edit: I will say I always had this weird vibe coming from S7, I'm sort of glad I never ordered a Boden from them. I would like to wish them the best but after these videos I just can't. It seems like the case of another company/owner that wasn't ready to take on the market (and the demand for strandbergs) and the way it runs.

 

[Jzbass25]

I'll quote myself from the other thread that's about the S7 videos (with amy's bakery reference =P)

These videos are sad, it seems like they can see their company slamming into a brick wall. I think they need to call chef ramsay to fix their company, this is near Amy's Bakery social media breakdown level =P

I'm not on any side at all but this is not how you do it. I like how this guy touts his published graduate work and says "I'm not an idiot" as he consistently proves that he doesn't know how to manage a company. I'm a smart guy that works with smart people and something a lot of smart people need to realize is that they can't be good at everything, especially running a company haha. I give him credit for refunding some people (only example I have is the guitar he showed in video 2) and I understand the difficulty with email sometimes but not being able to respond to emails have buried companies, you have to keep up with the times whether you like to email or not. He likes to talk about today's "internet world" or he mentioned something about instant gratification society, yeah I understand where he's coming from but adapting to the times is what you do as a company, or generally you have some issues or a lot of issues lol.

I can't talk about the quality of their products but you do not call out costumers, you do not let emotions influence you like this or do the talking for you and if you're competing in the price range you're going to have some issues if you ever put out a guitar that isn't immaculate or if you have this kind of attitude with your customer service. I do understand the problem with customers not understanding how to work strandbergs and then getting mad at s7 but damn videos like these are just a horrible idea.

Edit: I will say I always had this weird vibe coming from S7, I'm sort of glad I never ordered a Boden from them. I would like to wish them the best but after these videos I just can't. It seems like the case of another company/owner that wasn't ready to take on the market (and the demand for strandbergs) and the way it runs.

 

[Rev2010]

I was totally going to make an Amy's Baking Company reference but wasn't sure if anybody would get it, haha

I think half the country knows about those loons by now

*EDIT - oh crap... now I gotta worry they're gonna come after me for calling them loons on the internet... being the evil cyber bully I am


Rev.

 

[wannabguitarist]

After watching that video (while Jim's tone is not helping his cause) I have to agree with Jim about how ridiculous the tuning pegs and "dry finish" issues are.

Out of curiosity; is what he's saying about the claro walnut true? I know you're supposed to fill the holes with epoxy which you can't really do with oil right?

Not trying to defend Jim but it sounds like he's gotten some silly complaints on top his own mistakes as well

 

[Captain Butterscotch]

Aaaaaaand now the video is private.

 

[Jzbass25]

After watching that video (while Jim's tone is not helping his cause) I have to agree with Jim about how ridiculous the tuning pegs and "dry finish" issues are.

Out of curiosity; is what he's saying about the claro walnut true? I know you're supposed to fill the holes with epoxy which you can't really do with oil right?

Not trying to defend Jim but it sounds like he's gotten some silly complaints on top his own mistakes as well

You're always going to get silly complaints, you just don't handle it with that kind of attitude.

I think a major problem, I only slightly touched on, is selling a guitar around the 3k range as a production guitar when the guitar is known for being a custom guitar.(if that makes sense) He brings it up slightly too, if you're going to be making a production guitar you can't really hand pick each piece like a custom shop, now it could come down to his wood supplier also being an issue as well though; however, I would always contact the customer before putting out a guitar that might come back like the walnut top guitar in the video.
It might not look like the picture but most people are going to expect an immaculate instrument especially at that price point, hell I can get a production mayones for a couple hundred more.

 

[Captain Butterscotch]

It might not look like the picture but most people are going to expect an immaculate instrument especially at that price point

This is essentially why I think that Jim isn't doing it right as far as mindset goes. At that price point, I want a high quality piece of functional art. Not a neat little stringed thing that they spat out in a couple weeks complete with little "inane" and "artsy" flaws.

 

[TIBrent]

WOW!

 

[HighPotency]

It's hard to make a fair assessment of the situation since I don't know what happened other than what's been said, but there's no doubt that Jim is handling this very unprofessionally.

 

[ElRay]

Aaaaaaand now the video is private.

Only the hour long one is. The other one is still open, and the number one recommended video one of the Crazy Amy from Amy's Baking Company videos.

Ray

 

[wannabguitarist]

This is essentially why I think that Jim isn't doing it right as far as mindset goes. At that price point, I want a high quality piece of functional art. Not a neat little stringed thing that they spat out in a couple weeks complete with little "inane" and "artsy" flaws.

But those "artsy" flaws in the walnut top aren't really flaws at all if that's actually how the wood is. If you can't fill the top with epoxy with an oil finish then some of those little black holes (not talking about the worm holes in the ash) is something you just have to deal with. The only Claro tops I've seen have been under lots of poly so I dunno how the process works with oil

 

[Rev2010]

Aaaaaaand now the video is private.

Maybe he thought he was being too subtle and plans to release an angrier version.

Seriously, I don't know why people don't watch something after they film it before posting... or often times even with posting people get mad and don't read what they just wrote and hit Reply and then later regret it. I've been making the effort for a while now to look over my posts and emails before sending, and sure enough there have been many times I reworded stuff just so it wouldn't be read in a bad way or cause any kind of drama. Making the video private at this point does nothing, the cat is out of the bag. Poor Jim, I wish he could've handled it better... he's does seem quite a nice guy at heart if you've ever communicated with him.


Rev.

 

[AwDeOh]

Seeing public shit-flinging matches like this between company and customer might be entertaining drama for the discerning popcorn lover, but custom guitar builders are business owners no different to any other. You can't do business like this, and expect to keep doing business.

On the other hand, they are providing heaps of "what not to do" examples for those of us who want to start building for others. Thanks, Jim.

 

[L1ght]

But those "artsy" flaws in the walnut top aren't really flaws at all if that's actually how the wood is. If you can't fill the top with epoxy with an oil finish then some of those little black holes (not talking about the worm holes in the ash) is something you just have to deal with. The only Claro tops I've seen have been under lots of poly so I dunno how the process works with oil

From what I gathered, whether the holes were there or not was not the problem. It was the amount of holes and their size and prominence that was causing issues with the customers. Having one or two TINY holes that you can barely see at all may not be an issue, but at any point in time when you can see said natural flaws of the wood itself without even having to second glance, the wood SHOULD NOT be used. It should be tossed, and another piece with less imperfection should be selected.

Using an imperfect piece of wood on a +$3k instrument is unacceptable. It is not art, it does not add character, and if the customer does not want it, then it shouldn't be there. In this situation it literally IS that cut and dry, no exceptions. Toss the wood, use a different ....ing piece.

 

[wannabguitarist]

I'm pretty sure there aren't any "perfect" pieces of Claro walnut by your definition

 

[ElRay]

I like how this guy touts his published graduate work and says "I'm not an idiot" as he consistently proves that he doesn't know how to manage a company.

And you definitely don't spew bad physics (the first time I remember reading that ice-skate press does NOT melt the ice was 15 -20 years ago.) and you definitely don't use a statement that actually disproves your point. On that note, TiteBond III is not a good glue for neck laminations because it does creep when under pressure. Furniture builders don't use it for bent laminations. They use epoxy, polyurethane or original TiteBond.

Ray