The BRJ Black Friday Thread (Only for updates for/by customers.)[Ad Free]

[Speculum Speculorum]

We're just saying, bro. You don't have any history here. You come in and without any introduction of yourself, your very first post is "Bernie's in a coma I'll try to get somebody from his family to post here".

Dude... what would you expect from a bunch of guys who've been jerked around for the last several years. Even if you're telling the truth, a bunch of people are going to be pissed. If nobody has said anything about a situation this serious, it still reflects very badly on the business side of things.

 

[SpaceDock]

I'll take any info I can get about the situation, but it is hearsay at this point.

 

[jjcor]

I find this really amusing - that guitar started off as mine, I sold it before completion to phrygian who sold it before completion to jjcor who sold it shortly after recieving it to some random dude who's now selling it on ebay and was kind enough to take pictures that demonstrate quality -

Me and the guy who bought it had a little feud over this guitar. When I had it, it was in perfect shape. The frets had a little rough edges but that was it. I sold it to him and then all of a sudden he emails me 2 WEEKS LATER saying that the frets were sticking out and that the 3rd fret was actually coming completly off the fretboard. It made me a little curious as to why it took him 3 weeks to actually see that. So only thing I could think of was he did something (god knows what?) In between those 2 weeks that screwed up the frets. Now I'm not trying to say that what is going on here with Bernie is ok but as far as THAT guitar goes, it was in good shape when Bernie sent it to me. Oh and the conclusion to that story was he claimed it was damaged in shipping and ups gave him $150 to fix it, which he clearly didn't do. And I got my shipping money refunded as well.

 

[Red&Die]

I heard from a source that Bernie was in a coma but don't understand why the family hasn't said anything about it.

The delay while not appropriate was by no means intentional. I will see what I can do to get a family member to post an update here so that all his customers can stop worrying and start praying.

Hey,man:

If you're telling the true, we would like to receive a official announcement from Bernie or even his family. I have visited Bernie's workshop last November, he is a great guy and I hope he can get well soon.

 

[MunchiesSockmonkey]

It was from diabetes related illness, which was on the downlow. There's no reason to keep it a secret.

The windows are blacked out in the shop to prevent sun warping to the wood, the shop is climate controlled to keep the wood in good condition. The shops rent is getting paid and all the guitars are still there most just need assembly.

I can't reveal my source but some of the members here know more than they are saying.

 

[Speculum Speculorum]

Boy if you aren't trolling the shit out of us right now, you'd better get somebody in his family to get their ass onto his facebook page or a mass email out so that people can get some verifiable proof as to what it is you're saying. If you've got these sources, you'd better tell them that BRJ guitars is about to have a very large legal foot up their ass when he gets out of this said 'coma' because people who have been waiting for such a long time with absolutely no communication are straight freaking pissed about what has gone down.

Until that point, nobody believes you.

 

[Red&Die]

It was from diabetes related illness, which was on the downlow. There's no reason to keep it a secret.

The windows are blacked out in the shop to prevent sun warping to the wood, the shop is climate controlled to keep the wood in good condition. The shops rent is getting paid and all the guitars are still there most just need assembly.

I can't reveal my source but some of the members here know more than they are saying.

Since you're from San Diego, that's also Bernie's wood shop located, are you relate with BRJ guitar?

 

[MunchiesSockmonkey]

I am not trolling or trying to stir the pot, I'm trying to extinguish the towering inferno of flames. I just felt bad about this situation I saw unraveling on Facebook and knowing things that aren't getting out, and not knowing why it isn't getting out really bothers me.

I have a friend thousands of dollars invested in BRJ that has talked to him about his health related issues. The seriousness of which has nearly bankrupted him and caused the loss of property.

BRJ's only concern throughout his entire ordeal is worrying about the guitars he makes. His first and foremost priorities even before getting back to good health is getting all those guitars out.

He made tremendous blunders by taking on way too many orders, coupled by bad hires, and a laundry list of business mistakes which are obvious to everyone. The guy in charge of the web presence was another unreliable.

Right now behind the scenes an effort is being made to get all the info out to everyone to all social media outlets. You have been very patient with BRJ and it is very appreciated, to ask for more patience might sound insulting and anger you further, but please know you will get the information you need soon. Close friends & relatives will either assign a spokesperson to give an update or they will do it themselves asap.

 

[Hollowway]

Assuming this is true, and you're not just messing with us, I'm glad to hear it. A lot of us thought he just skipped out on everything and we were hosed. Or he was doing drugs. I understand people wanting privacy, but once it's announced that you are in the hospital, and almost dying, I would think it would be ok to specify that is was diabetes. There's nothing shameful about that. Anyway, please do try to get information to us from a reputable source (ie one who can post on FB on his behalf, or send an email from his acct). And soon, because there are dozens of really nervous people taking preliminary legal and other steps that could really make it difficult for him to just go back to work.

 

[slayercannibalsuffohead]

I call BULLSHIT yet again on this one Munchies! Not believing anything from your mouth, whoever you really are. It's just another stall/hope tactic that Bernie has used time and time again, and now this one comes conveniently after a week of "lawsuit" talk! Load of crap about "BRJ's only concern throughout his entire ordeal is worrying about the guitars he makes. His first and foremost priorities even before getting back to good health is getting all those guitars out." F*&K OFF mate! I've read 80 odd pages of gullibleness and hope, and if his pea sized brain can't type 1 f'n paragraph on his FB page or here, then this is just going to be another 15 pages of bullshit!

I messaged Jed Simon the other night, and he got back to me with a few paragraphs of his own. I can't show you what he said exactly (all due respect to him), but he did acknowledge that he stuck his neck out for him, hoping to get a reaction for all you blokes here. Now here's the funny part ...........

(I take it that I was talking to the "real" Jed Simon on FB), and not once in the message back, did he mention anything about Bernie being "sick". He does go on to say that he talked to him, and had others try and "reach out" to him. He also said "It seemed like he might be ready to tackle his issues but it doesn't look like it..." and "I thought that maybe me saying some positive things for him might help kick him in the ass...". All this plus a few other factors, suggest drug/gambling/bad investment issues, rather than "sick" issues. I truly believe if he was unwell, he would of posted something months ago.

What I'm saying is that I am going to believe a one "Jed Simon" on facebook, over some "Chris G" cartoon character coming in here, trying to buy off another couple of weeks. Jed is now selling his Vixens because he is fed up with what has gone on. I think he knows more than most of what is really happening here, and I couldn't see him selling his guitars if Bernie was seriously ill and that's all. You're a $1.10 at the T.A.B to join the long list of have beens/workers/close buddies that disappear after a month of coming here and trying to patch up this monumental screw up called Bernie!

And to do all this, only after a few have bound together to get a lawsuit happening and try and recover their hard earned, for me, is the last weak gutted effort in this shit fight. The whole BRJ camp is weak as piss, and f'n ludicrously stupid. So this is what the last roll of the dice looks like hey ......... feed them some more hope? I think you know exactly what's going on, and have money tied up in BRJ and are stalling for time. Then adding that some here know more than what they are letting on is the icing on the cake. Couple that with why you know exactly why the windows are blacked out etc, suggests to me that you stand to lose something big if shit hits the fan. Don't be a weak c^&t and tell everybody here who you are exactly, and what you stand to gain from posting here!

 

[BIG ND SWEATY]

you are making some VERY big assumptions there bud, it still seems a bit odd though

 

[MJS]

Anyone still wondering why no one sticks around to help with communication?

 

[lametacomeat]

I agree with slayer, this comes at a very convenient time. Someone comes in to promise that Bernie is still looking out for us a couple of days after legal routes are looked at.

This seems like a desperate attempt to keep everyone at bay.

 

[Speculum Speculorum]

Well, as I said earlier, it's a tough sell to come onto a forum with no history and start throwing around that kind of information to a bunch of dudes who have been screwed around with this builder for a substantial amount of time and money. It is bound to go over like a fart in church.

Yes - Bernie has taken some knocks over the last period of time. Health issues can have major impacts on the finances of even the pretty wealthy. However, as my father (who is probably one of the hardest working living men to walk the face of the planet) so brutally, and eloquently stated: "If you take a bunch of product orders, tell everybody they'll have the product in 6 months, and then take 2 years to build any products, you're going to go broke and lose your damn house." It sounds heartless, but at it's base it is true.

It is, at this point, difficult for people to accept that Bernie's primary concern is that his customers receive high quality instruments. Given the track record over the last few years of delivering sub-standard (that's below C grade) service, screwing up build specs, and delivering $3,000+ guitars with jaw-dropping flaws, one can only assume he went "Simple Jack" on us and just totally checked out. In addition to that, so many idle promises have been made to his customers that simply never came to fruition, Bernie has exhausted the level of grace that many are willing to extend to him.

May I reiterate for the forum the growing list of concerns about the recent professional history of this builder? This is not to be cruel, but simply to put our grievances into concise context (in no particular order and I may miss some).

1. Securing a large number of build orders before securing supplies (including wood and bridges) to actually build said custom instruments
2. Taking deposits on new orders after establishing a backlog of at the very least 100 (!!!) instruments
3. Lying to people about build estimates to secure deposits for new builds (quoting 4-6 months after having a backlog of nearly 200 guitars)
4. Lying to customers about completion dates, requiring final payments to secure shipping, and then completely cutting off contact with the customer and in some cases never delivering the instrument.
5. Losing track of somewhere around 50 sets of ordered BKP humbuckers, and then installing them at random into customer's guitars in some cases using the incorrect pickups.
6. Numerous instances of telling people their guitars were almost finished with set-up, and then several months later telling the same people their guitars were just getting out of wood shop or that their guitar had never been started. In some cases, Bernie didn't even remember who the customer was.
7. Requiring additional money for complex finish options, completing guitars with incorrect finish options (which were simpler and less costly) and not refunding the customer for the additional money paid for the requested finish after agreeing to do so.
8. Using, knowingly, improperly or poorly cured wood for builds, resulting in warping, cracking, improper body binding, and splitting in builds (some of which were delivered)
9. The use of incorrect neck angles on builds, requiring questionable shimming of fretboards, and at least one case where a TOM bridge was shoddily ground down to "fix" issues with proper bridge/neck alignment (as the neck angle was originally built for a Hipshot bridge).
10. Improper shielding of pickup cavities and electronics cavities.
11. Lying to customers about personally completing final setups on instruments
12. Delivering guitars with flaws to construction not limited to: drilling tuner holes to incorrect width, improper binding of guitars, incorrect shaving and slotting of bone nut, incorrect sizing of nut, incorrect wiring of guitar (reverse of pickup selection).
13. Freaking out on customers who bring build issues to his attention
14. Refusing to give refunds after grossly failing to meet estimated build times on instruments (to the effect of 5x longer than estimated with no clear end to wait time).
15. Lying to customers about completing all finish work personally

I'm sure there are more, which is staggering. At this point, is anyone still wondering why people are so pissed off? It's a tough fight from the BRJ corner if the man wants to rebuild his brand. A pity.

 

[spawnsc]

Sounds like a shit filled Twinkie to me... If his family or friends cared anything about his business and believed in what he is doing they would step out and make it known that he is sick or in coma.

Either way its gloves off we want our guitars or our money back simple as that.

 

[lametacomeat]

Everyone has to keep the pressure on him with BBB complaints and police fraud report filings. Eventually, it will be big enough problem for him that he'll have to do something.

Also, as said before, get your money charged back on your credit cards as soon as you can. If you are inside that 120 day back-charge period, consider yourself extremely lucky.

 

[ovation22]

Well, as I said earlier, it's a tough sell to come onto a forum with no history and start throwing around that kind of information to a bunch of dudes who have been screwed around with this builder for a substantial amount of time and money. It is bound to go over like a fart in church.

Yes - Bernie has taken some knocks over the last period of time. Health issues can have major impacts on the finances of even the pretty wealthy. However, as my father (who is probably one of the hardest working living men to walk the face of the planet) so brutally, and eloquently stated: "If you take a bunch of product orders, tell everybody they'll have the product in 6 months, and then take 2 years to build any products, you're going to go broke and lose your damn house." It sounds heartless, but at it's base it is true.

It is, at this point, difficult for people to accept that Bernie's primary concern is that his customers receive high quality instruments. Given the track record over the last few years of delivering sub-standard (that's below C grade) service, screwing up build specs, and delivering $3,000+ guitars with jaw-dropping flaws, one can only assume he went "Simple Jack" on us and just totally checked out. In addition to that, so many idle promises have been made to his customers that simply never came to fruition, Bernie has exhausted the level of grace that many are willing to extend to him.

May I reiterate for the forum the growing list of concerns about the recent professional history of this builder? This is not to be cruel, but simply to put our grievances into concise context (in no particular order and I may miss some).

1. Securing a large number of build orders before securing supplies (including wood and bridges) to actually build said custom instruments
2. Taking deposits on new orders after establishing a backlog of at the very least 100 (!!!) instruments
3. Lying to people about build estimates to secure deposits for new builds (quoting 4-6 months after having a backlog of nearly 200 guitars)
4. Lying to customers about completion dates, requiring final payments to secure shipping, and then completely cutting off contact with the customer and in some cases never delivering the instrument.
5. Losing track of somewhere around 50 sets of ordered BKP humbuckers, and then installing them at random into customer's guitars in some cases using the incorrect pickups.
6. Numerous instances of telling people their guitars were almost finished with set-up, and then several months later telling the same people their guitars were just getting out of wood shop or that their guitar had never been started. In some cases, Bernie didn't even remember who the customer was.
7. Requiring additional money for complex finish options, completing guitars with incorrect finish options (which were simpler and less costly) and not refunding the customer for the additional money paid for the requested finish after agreeing to do so.
8. Using, knowingly, improperly or poorly cured wood for builds, resulting in warping, cracking, improper body binding, and splitting in builds (some of which were delivered)
9. The use of incorrect neck angles on builds, requiring questionable shimming of fretboards, and at least one case where a TOM bridge was shoddily ground down to "fix" issues with proper bridge/neck alignment (as the neck angle was originally built for a Hipshot bridge).
10. Improper shielding of pickup cavities and electronics cavities.
11. Lying to customers about personally completing final setups on instruments
12. Delivering guitars with flaws to construction not limited to: drilling tuner holes to incorrect width, improper binding of guitars, incorrect shaving and slotting of bone nut, incorrect sizing of nut, incorrect wiring of guitar (reverse of pickup selection).
13. Freaking out on customers who bring build issues to his attention
14. Refusing to give refunds after grossly failing to meet estimated build times on instruments (to the effect of 5x longer than estimated with no clear end to wait time).
15. Lying to customers about completing all finish work personally

I'm sure there are more, which is staggering. At this point, is anyone still wondering why people are so pissed off? It's a tough fight from the BRJ corner if the man wants to rebuild his brand. A pity.

This deserves to be quoted to a new page.

 

[JPMike]

I am not trolling or trying to stir the pot, I'm trying to extinguish the towering inferno of flames. I just felt bad about this situation I saw unraveling on Facebook and knowing things that aren't getting out, and not knowing why it isn't getting out really bothers me.

I have a friend thousands of dollars invested in BRJ that has talked to him about his health related issues. The seriousness of which has nearly bankrupted him and caused the loss of property.

BRJ's only concern throughout his entire ordeal is worrying about the guitars he makes. His first and foremost priorities even before getting back to good health is getting all those guitars out.

He made tremendous blunders by taking on way too many orders, coupled by bad hires, and a laundry list of business mistakes which are obvious to everyone. The guy in charge of the web presence was another unreliable.

Right now behind the scenes an effort is being made to get all the info out to everyone to all social media outlets. You have been very patient with BRJ and it is very appreciated, to ask for more patience might sound insulting and anger you further, but please know you will get the information you need soon. Close friends & relatives will either assign a spokesperson to give an update or they will do it themselves asap.

You have a friend who has invested thousands of dollars in BRJ??
Do you have the slightest idea of how much money I have invested in BRJ?? 5 figure number!!

And 1 guitar was almost ready and he wouldn't communicate to finish it, the other 2 somehow had the necks warped or whatever, plus the 1 was wrong finish, and had to be rebuilt. All my guitars were supposed to be delivered by March 15th (in 2 days).

The guy in charge, you mean, John?? John is an amazing person,we have talked so many times and had amazing conversations. I wish I could find him and ask him what happened between him and Bernie. Really know both sides of the story.

Bad hires? People quitting?
This makes me think, whose fault this might be? Maybe the boss' fucked up behaviour and Ego? Cause look at the videos in youtube, or notice the way he talks over the phone or by emails, feels like something's wrong.

And please stop fucking acting, like he's a Hollywood Star or some shit. He's not, so why keep secret of his "sickness"??

Yes it angers and insults me to post this here, cause it makes me I am stupid or some kind of sucker. If all this is true, say your name, show your face, you ID, who you really are and I bet you won't.

I am one of these people that will actually forgive anything and I don't like causing anything bad to others, but I won't stand this shit anymore. If he was sick in any way he would have communicated through someone and notify us. We are human, we have families, friends, colleagues, etc too. We've been through serious shit in our lives, even as the ones suffering or as fellow people of the ones suffering. We understand how it is to be sick and we would have UNDERSTOOD words of honesty and truth.

In any case, forgive me for this, but good job on destroying the legacy he have inherited. I've lost interest on my builds and I want my money back. Like, now!

 

[MetalDaze]

I am not trolling or trying to stir the pot, I'm trying to extinguish the towering inferno of flames. I just felt bad about this situation I saw unraveling on Facebook and knowing things that aren't getting out, and not knowing why it isn't getting out really bothers me.

I have a friend thousands of dollars invested in BRJ that has talked to him about his health related issues. The seriousness of which has nearly bankrupted him and caused the loss of property.

BRJ's only concern throughout his entire ordeal is worrying about the guitars he makes. His first and foremost priorities even before getting back to good health is getting all those guitars out.

He made tremendous blunders by taking on way too many orders, coupled by bad hires, and a laundry list of business mistakes which are obvious to everyone. The guy in charge of the web presence was another unreliable.

Right now behind the scenes an effort is being made to get all the info out to everyone to all social media outlets. You have been very patient with BRJ and it is very appreciated, to ask for more patience might sound insulting and anger you further, but please know you will get the information you need soon. Close friends & relatives will either assign a spokesperson to give an update or they will do it themselves asap.

Trust me, we all want to believe, but understand that the community has lost patience and at no point in time has the phrase "actions speak louder than words" had more relevance.

We are all human and have compassion, but we are also customers who have spent money with nothing in return. More important than an explanation of what is happening is a plan for resolution, whether it be in the form of refunds or completed instruments. If it the latter, we need a timeline for completion and some assurance that it can/will happen.

Otherwise, there will be no end to the current inferno, as you state.

 

[kmanick]

Never got it, dude.

Here he is a few months after you were there holding it along with my 2nd one. Never got either of them. I took the pic when I was there at the end of January 2012.

What a travesty this whole ordeal has become. Look at these two guitars, just f'n gorgeous, if these were mine I'd be so furious that they were never delivered.
thankfully my Hesperian was delivered in November 2010 way before all of this BS started to go down and luckily I apparently got one of the last "good ones".