RIP strictly7?
- Thread starter oath5
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links like Ebay, Amazon, and others.
This site may earn a commission from merchant links like Ebay, Amazon, and others.
maximummetal288
Well-Known Member
From Jim's Email
Hello Gentlemen:
It is with a heavy heart I write this letter
If you are receiving this e-mail that means you are still waiting for your custom shop guitar, or a signature model that was customized with a custom inlay, or a signature model that was discontinued because that artist left during production. Some of you have been waiting an absurd length of time and have been in previous communication with me. Im aware many of you have been trying to get in touch with me with no luck; which causes high anxiety I know for that I do apologize. Some nasty chatter has been brought to my attention from a customer who knows Im an honest man and directed me to a well known forum so I could read the slander and defaming words for myself, all I can do is shake my head. The only piece of truth in any of the inane, uninformed bloviating is that I am alone in the shop now. My employees have quit as of 2 weeks ago yesterday. As you can imagine, I have been trying to figure out a solution to this situation. Im not just going to throw in the towel and throw all my hard work in the trash. No way.
Please do not panic! You are not going to get screwed; Im just communicating the current situation and my plans to fulfill my obligations. The comparisons between me and other builders/luthiers are unfair and will be proven incorrect. Most of you are familiar with the difficulties I/S7G had last year w/the headlessfanned fret debacle; a very unfortunate set of circumstances and contract violations that put me in a serious financial hole, which I am still not out of; hence the continued delays on your guitars. And the VAST MAJORITY of you all have been incredibly understanding of the delays and for that I am thankful, so please do not read any hostility in this message.
Im not asking for money, many of you graciously sent money previously which really helped move things forward (hard to believe on your end Im sure). I am simply laying out the current plan.
Bottom line, I am shutting down the custom shop side of S7G until further notice. This means, unless I already have the programming to do a build, it will not be agreed upon to build. I will be focusing on finishing the current Custom Shop orders and my production lines for my Dealers, period.
I tried to do everything people wanted with their guitars, even allowed changes mid-way through the process, some of these changes have caused the delays those of you who requested changes are experiencing. Doesnt matter either way. I have said this before, many times, but people just dont seem to believe me; Im not out drinking and doing cocaine with your deposit money. I spent it on materials, parts, labor, and shop/equipment rent/payments and money has run out because orders have slowed down while overhead hasnt. Why have sales slowed who knows? The biggest complaint with S7G product is NOT THE PRODUCT; it is the stupid wait times. I cant change that now; all I can do is finish what I have left, so here is my plan
I have attached an Excel file with the list of what guitars are still left to complete. The oldest orders that are paid in full will be completed first, in order.
Then, guitars that are the oldest but have outstanding balances will be completed oldest to newest. If you have a different amount due than I show here, please e-mail me the credit card receipt, wire transfer, or Paypal receipt.
I am not, will not, and/or cannot issue refunds so e-mails to that effect will be ignored. If you dont want your guitar, just let me know via e-mail so I dont waste time finishing it; but know what money you have paid thus far is gone. Several people with whom I have communicated this information agreed they would rather have the guitar than nothing, despite the wait time. I have tied up ALL the money in the guitars, parts, and overhead as explained above. I have paid myself a total of $5,000 over the past 3 years, so the money isn't paying my bills, just ask my mortgage company and student loan people. That leaves me with this final thought
If you would prefer to receive a production model piece, or some other custom model I have in the shop; I can re-calculate the costs and let you know the difference. I will be taking pictures of what pieces I have that are in near completion levels that I can send on request after this weekend.
Money situation has sucked badly for about the past year-18 months; Im not going to cry about it, those who maliciously set out to cause me this problem will answer to karma in the end. Right now, you all are the unfortunate collateral damage of this BS and for that I truly am sorry. My employees all quit because they had been working for FREE the past 2 ½ months to help get product done and caught up in the hopes things would get better but that hasnt happened. This means I am doing it all by myself like I did when I first started out; funny how life comes full circle sometimes. Curran and Eric have said they will help me with final assembly when I get things to that point which will help move things along quicker; but until that point of the build process, I am on my own. I still have to work my day job so I get to work on guitars in the evenings and weekends; but focusing only on 1-2 at a time until completed.
I will do my best to check e-mails several times a week, but please know I am not going to answer e-mails that are requesting refunds or cancellations as I said above. My other option is to just file for bankruptcy and forget all of it; no one wins if it comes to that. I am not a quitter, simple. Im a man of my word and I/we/S7G build a superior product and I want you all to have one of my guitars. I dont screw people. Honesty and integrity are all I have to fall back on in the end. When I meet my Maker, I will know I did right by people. I have poured my blood, sweat, and tears into this business. Cost me 2 serious relationships and a couple of friends along the way as well. Many of you know this to be true. People have witnessed my blatant honesty, intensity, and love for this product on my many YouTube videos. Again, doesnt change the fact you are still waiting for your guitar(s). They will be done.
Thanks for everything over these past 2 years, I do appreciate the support. I wish I could have done things better, faster, or differently to not be typing this letter; but I didnt.
Hello Gentlemen:
It is with a heavy heart I write this letter
If you are receiving this e-mail that means you are still waiting for your custom shop guitar, or a signature model that was customized with a custom inlay, or a signature model that was discontinued because that artist left during production. Some of you have been waiting an absurd length of time and have been in previous communication with me. Im aware many of you have been trying to get in touch with me with no luck; which causes high anxiety I know for that I do apologize. Some nasty chatter has been brought to my attention from a customer who knows Im an honest man and directed me to a well known forum so I could read the slander and defaming words for myself, all I can do is shake my head. The only piece of truth in any of the inane, uninformed bloviating is that I am alone in the shop now. My employees have quit as of 2 weeks ago yesterday. As you can imagine, I have been trying to figure out a solution to this situation. Im not just going to throw in the towel and throw all my hard work in the trash. No way.
Please do not panic! You are not going to get screwed; Im just communicating the current situation and my plans to fulfill my obligations. The comparisons between me and other builders/luthiers are unfair and will be proven incorrect. Most of you are familiar with the difficulties I/S7G had last year w/the headlessfanned fret debacle; a very unfortunate set of circumstances and contract violations that put me in a serious financial hole, which I am still not out of; hence the continued delays on your guitars. And the VAST MAJORITY of you all have been incredibly understanding of the delays and for that I am thankful, so please do not read any hostility in this message.
Im not asking for money, many of you graciously sent money previously which really helped move things forward (hard to believe on your end Im sure). I am simply laying out the current plan.
Bottom line, I am shutting down the custom shop side of S7G until further notice. This means, unless I already have the programming to do a build, it will not be agreed upon to build. I will be focusing on finishing the current Custom Shop orders and my production lines for my Dealers, period.
I tried to do everything people wanted with their guitars, even allowed changes mid-way through the process, some of these changes have caused the delays those of you who requested changes are experiencing. Doesnt matter either way. I have said this before, many times, but people just dont seem to believe me; Im not out drinking and doing cocaine with your deposit money. I spent it on materials, parts, labor, and shop/equipment rent/payments and money has run out because orders have slowed down while overhead hasnt. Why have sales slowed who knows? The biggest complaint with S7G product is NOT THE PRODUCT; it is the stupid wait times. I cant change that now; all I can do is finish what I have left, so here is my plan
I have attached an Excel file with the list of what guitars are still left to complete. The oldest orders that are paid in full will be completed first, in order.
Then, guitars that are the oldest but have outstanding balances will be completed oldest to newest. If you have a different amount due than I show here, please e-mail me the credit card receipt, wire transfer, or Paypal receipt.
I am not, will not, and/or cannot issue refunds so e-mails to that effect will be ignored. If you dont want your guitar, just let me know via e-mail so I dont waste time finishing it; but know what money you have paid thus far is gone. Several people with whom I have communicated this information agreed they would rather have the guitar than nothing, despite the wait time. I have tied up ALL the money in the guitars, parts, and overhead as explained above. I have paid myself a total of $5,000 over the past 3 years, so the money isn't paying my bills, just ask my mortgage company and student loan people. That leaves me with this final thought
If you would prefer to receive a production model piece, or some other custom model I have in the shop; I can re-calculate the costs and let you know the difference. I will be taking pictures of what pieces I have that are in near completion levels that I can send on request after this weekend.
Money situation has sucked badly for about the past year-18 months; Im not going to cry about it, those who maliciously set out to cause me this problem will answer to karma in the end. Right now, you all are the unfortunate collateral damage of this BS and for that I truly am sorry. My employees all quit because they had been working for FREE the past 2 ½ months to help get product done and caught up in the hopes things would get better but that hasnt happened. This means I am doing it all by myself like I did when I first started out; funny how life comes full circle sometimes. Curran and Eric have said they will help me with final assembly when I get things to that point which will help move things along quicker; but until that point of the build process, I am on my own. I still have to work my day job so I get to work on guitars in the evenings and weekends; but focusing only on 1-2 at a time until completed.
I will do my best to check e-mails several times a week, but please know I am not going to answer e-mails that are requesting refunds or cancellations as I said above. My other option is to just file for bankruptcy and forget all of it; no one wins if it comes to that. I am not a quitter, simple. Im a man of my word and I/we/S7G build a superior product and I want you all to have one of my guitars. I dont screw people. Honesty and integrity are all I have to fall back on in the end. When I meet my Maker, I will know I did right by people. I have poured my blood, sweat, and tears into this business. Cost me 2 serious relationships and a couple of friends along the way as well. Many of you know this to be true. People have witnessed my blatant honesty, intensity, and love for this product on my many YouTube videos. Again, doesnt change the fact you are still waiting for your guitar(s). They will be done.
Thanks for everything over these past 2 years, I do appreciate the support. I wish I could have done things better, faster, or differently to not be typing this letter; but I didnt.
downburst82
Well-Known Member
Chris still feels the same way..I mentioned it on facebook(2 days ago) and his response didn't really make it seem like he had changed his perspective at all..
*edit* just saw the post (email)above..not sure what to make of it....but I really respect alot of what Jim said
ElysianGuitars
Well-Known Member
Can't figure out how this is legal, unless the people who gave money to him signed some kind of agreement that their money was non-refundable...
I love how he puts "forum" in quotation marks, as if to question SSO's legitimacy.
Spoken like a true "luthier."
Spoken like a true "luthier."
axxessdenied
Arium Addict
not surprised
Señor Voorhees
Well-Known Member
Deposits are generally non-refundable. If I'm not mistaken it's to cover parts/materials. Edit: you can probably sue for the remainder, but a dude with no money to give will get you no money.
Anyway, what a lame email... Guy sounds like a total knob. I'd get more into it if I weren't so damn sleepy, but it sounds like he's apologizing that his customers (you know, the people receiving the email) are too demanding and windbaggy shit heads. Like worm holes, sharp frets that fall out, and shitty gluing are totally fine on $2k+ guitars.
Yeah, .... you bro. You get no sympathy from me. The customers who got nothing and/or a poorly built guitar at insane prices get my sympathy, not the whiny shit who poorly invested the money he was given for a specific task.
flexkill
Vodka & PentaTonic
I have a bad feeling many people have made "Donations" of charity to Jim unknowingly.
He needs to understand that people didn't send him their hard earned money on a gamble that he would succeed in doing what was promised. He isn't the stock market. He has basically spent other peoples money on his own risk taking.....and failed. So far anyway.
He needs to understand that people didn't send him their hard earned money on a gamble that he would succeed in doing what was promised. He isn't the stock market. He has basically spent other peoples money on his own risk taking.....and failed. So far anyway.
Yep the backlash from BRJ, Sherman, and S7 has been going around here for quite a while and it definitely not helpful to honest guys trying to earn a living at it.
flexkill
Vodka & PentaTonic
But do you think this was his plans all along??? I really do not. I don't think he is dishonest per say....just a real bad decision maker and businessman.
leonardo7
Banned
Time works in his favor so just continue waiting patiently for your guitars. He has a full time job and no employees, and a history of putting out nothing even when he had employees and a bunch of free time. Just let the statute of limitations run out, let more time go by, no big deal. No need to take action or get frustrated now cause he's gonna come through eventually.
This is how I wasted the 45 day ebay policy on filing a dispute. Jim said guitar is done please send payment. I send payment. Jim ships guitar when? 30 days later!! while not replying, updating, or filling me in on anything. I get guitar 30 days later. I send email. No response. I email again. No response. I waste two weeks waiting for a reply. 45 days gone like that.
Its because of this that Im pretty sure he knows that buying time works in his favor.
Also worth noting is that S7 didnt have one of the small tiny booths down in the basement at NAMM that only cost a couple of grand, he had a good sized booth upstairs in a great location. As far as I know, those booths cost more than $10,000 and he also had 15 guitars on display easy! This was around 2 months ago that he was at NAMM with that killer booth.
Also, it kind of seems like his email was only in response to this thread. If this thread didnt exist would he have emailed?
Grand Moff Tim
Some call me... Tim
Yeah, it sucks when luthiers work on NAMM guitars instead of completing outstanding orders.
I was surprised to hear he went to NAMM. I guess all those charitable donors, a/k/a customers, were pretty generous!
leonardo7
Banned
Apparently employees too! This isn't some one man show luthier, this guy supposedly had a team of guys and still couldn't get good guitars out the door. Payment that went to him went to Strictly 7 Guitars LLC, according to my paypal receipts. Its a company, not a luthier.
TRENCHLORD
Banned
Sorry, but when a customer sends deposit/finishing cash it is NOT supposed to be used for general shop/material upkeep.
Deposit money should be basically kept/secured in escrow, unless it's used for that customers special requirements on his/her specific guitar.
He ran his cash out because he was borrowing from Peter to pay Paul.
It's very obvious from his tone that it was not his intention to screw anyone, but failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
He would have been much better IMO to dock the ship when it started taking on water, instead of steering into deeper water and requiring more and more help/luck to stay afloat.
Deposit money should be basically kept/secured in escrow, unless it's used for that customers special requirements on his/her specific guitar.
He ran his cash out because he was borrowing from Peter to pay Paul.
It's very obvious from his tone that it was not his intention to screw anyone, but failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
He would have been much better IMO to dock the ship when it started taking on water, instead of steering into deeper water and requiring more and more help/luck to stay afloat.
Stuck_in_a_dream
Well-Known Member
Necris
Bonitis.
Yeah, just take no personal responsibility for the failings of your own business; that's always the sign of a real winner. Seriously, what the hell?Jim at Strictly 7 said:
Jonathan20022
Engineer
So he CAN basically file for bankruptcy in a few months and be done with his company and anything he owes his customers? But he's choosing to brave it and get as much done as possible by himself while supporting his own family by working a day job?
When have you guys heard this before?
If you want to wait for this to really .... up to an even worse extent, by all means. But If I were any of you involved I would be doing anything I can to pressure this guy, sorry you can't just "ignore" people who have already paid for something that they won't receive unless they sit around wait this company's already inevitable doom. Pretty sure you can use his own words against him, your money isn't lost if you don't want to be taken on a ride, if you buy into his words then I don't know what to tell you.
When have you guys heard this before?
If you want to wait for this to really .... up to an even worse extent, by all means. But If I were any of you involved I would be doing anything I can to pressure this guy, sorry you can't just "ignore" people who have already paid for something that they won't receive unless they sit around wait this company's already inevitable doom. Pretty sure you can use his own words against him, your money isn't lost if you don't want to be taken on a ride, if you buy into his words then I don't know what to tell you.Captain Butterscotch
Well-Known Member
Eh, usually when someone says "Don't panic!", that's just about the time you should start panicking.
