Knuckleheads Overloading Customer Service?

[bovinehost]

Ladies, I have a delicate issue to discuss with some of you. Notice the "some of you", as not everyone is in the same boat. As always, if you think it applies to you, then it probably does. And vice versa.

The issue, as you may have guessed from the title, is that forumites are overloading customer service. If everyone who bought a Music Man instrument used CS the way certain people do, I suspect no more instruments would ever come off the line. There are a couple of very important issues at work here.

Understand what Music Man is. It is a factory. Many of you have seen the production line. While there is a human factor in the process at certain points, these are not handmade by elves that look like Jens Ritter. Music Man builds tools for artists, not art for critics. They are meant to be played, and damned near everything that leaves the factory really is pretty close to perfect.

But perfection is an odd beast, and means different things to different people. If you spot a pinprick sized dot on the back of the headstock and freak out and simply cannot play an instrument with such a horrific flaw...if your first reaction is "Oh my God, this must go back to SLO", then really, seriously: maybe you do need to talk to a custom builder.

Sterling has said to me, "I can build you anything you want. But you have to be willing to pay for it." Think about it. Our beloved EBMM instruments are priced below most (all?) other USA made instruments. Even the BFRs run about half of what a PRS Custom will cost you. This is not to say you should compromise; that's not what I'm getting at. I'm saying that we get an exceptional value, an exceptional instrument, but think about expectations versus price point. Hell, think about relative quality to price point.

Not many of us would want to see a 20% price increase for what might be a 3% quality increase.

It's been my opinion for a very long time that EBMM makes the best production instruments on the planet. Period. But what I don't expect is a handmade instrument, pored over by Rick Turner personally. Again, if that's what your expectations are, I have Rick Turner's phone number.

For the vast majority of you guys who are reading this, it's a non-issue. But for some of you it really IS an issue and the guys in Customer Service are suffering from Forumitis. You're killing them. And sure, we Knucks buy our share of basses, but it just isn't balanced out properly.

99.9% of the people who buy EBMM basses - and this includes yours truly - get their instrument and are perfectly content, or maybe way beyond content. Some of us leap and dance and larf and sing and absolutely adore the things. And some, very few but some, break out the magnifying glass and inspect the tuners to see if there are micro-sized 'flaws'. And then it's "Oh Sweet Jesus, I better call AJ and see what we can do!"

On a personal level, I really don't know how many EBMM basses I have owned over the years. Maybe in the hundreds. A lot. Not Dave Jeffries "a lot", but a lot nonetheless. Was each and every one dead perfect? Well, I don't know, actually, but probably not. The odds are really against it. But the other question is, "Was each and every one of them a great tool to make music with?" That I can answer with a definitive "oh hell yes".

Of the hundreds I've owned, I can also tell you how many I've had to send back to SLO for some horrific flaw.

Zero.

And for the most part, in case you're wondering, I buy my stuff just like everybody else. I call Pete DuBaldo or Bass Central or TPB or whoever, and I say, "I need to buy a bass" and I pay for it and hardly ever does anyone at SLO put special mojo dust on them for me.

No one is going to ask you to overlook a problem. That is NOT what this is about. Just remember what price point you're hitting and what you're getting in return for that. Is it a great value? I think so. I think most of you agree. "Relative quality to price point", I say again, and you won't - in my opinion - find a better deal or a better instrument.

Again, on a personal level, I am fortunate to know BP and Scott and Brian and Dudley and AJ and Aziah and a lot of other great people at Ernie Ball. Ask any of them how often I call. I hardly ever recommend being more like me, but in this particular instance.....I might.

Tools for artists, my friends.

Carry on.

Jack

[Big Poppa]

Thanks Jackie this is a touchy subject that I would hope that people would underatnd that it is an opportunity for us to re explain our philosophy and expectations. It is not something to make anyone defensive.

I figure that we make them perfect a high percentage of the time and rarely does a second get out the door.....I say rarely because we make mistakes and sometimes looking at instruments all day you can miss the obvious.

To put it in car terms we are charging you for a Buick always delivering a Jaguar or greater but rarely a Rolls Royce. Why? Because there is not a market or sucessful business model for a Rolls Royce. It is always a balancing act.



I guess I go back to trying to make top quality tools for artists with both real and percieved value. Thanks for your understanding

[mrpackerguy]

Good stuff.

[Jimmyb]

Good point Jack!

I think the only time I ever contacted CS was to ask if I could get a piezo replacement bridge for my Axis Sport. They were really helpful, although they couldn't offer a factory replacement. I bought a Super Sport with one instead. Not sure if I was a knuck at the time, so does that really count?

[Mabongohogany]

Hmmm..that's interesting; someone found a dust-mite in their StingRay or something?

(Don't mean to make light of anyone's issue; if it's important to them; it's important to them). EBMM CS is well, legendary I believe.

Funny 'cause I've always seen MM basses AS Rolls-Royces, and assumed it was zillions of dollars in guitar string sales that made it all happen...
Either that or, the Ball Family doesn't listen to their financial advisors, or maybe they just...dig...doing ...something ...cool.
Like that high-tech company somewhere that gave lots of Profit money to their employees instead of keping it for themselves. Happens I guess.

I
Have a LOT of basses, good ones, REAL good ones, the highest-regarded production basses, some VERY unique builder's pieces, and a couple custom-builts. You'd know what I'm talkin' about!
I love 'em all and play each one, and everyone, like a child, has a different personality, tone, and timbre, vibe and feel, Like a freakin' SNOWflake, ya know...

And really- I'm not stating this to get Brownie points- I've always pretty much thought my Single-H Sterling hangs in there build-wise and tone-wise with, well, with anything.

And tho it's a unique singular build, the "bones" are SOP/OEM, in my very recent addition a Mahogany(!) HH Bongo-
Ha!
LET something else take it on tone-wise.
Ha HA as if
Ha,.

So, the VERY few times I've called EBMM CS it was with a question or two, and I wish I could get that response from other buisnesses, I mean no VoiceMail "press 1 if you blabla..." right to a loving, caring, nurturing Human; either that or they got some great machines up there in SLO.

Anyway- Done. Just thought I'd post that before I took off for a few road gigs before the Holiday.

The OP I see is more or less a Deputy here, I understand, so, better listen & do what he says, huh?

Happy Thanksgiving.

[bovinehost]

The OP I see is more or less a Deputy here, I understand, so, better listen & do what he says, huh?

So there was this Navy research guy I used to hang with occasionally in South America. Mark something, nice guy, Navy CDR, had a warehouse full of monkeys and knew a lot about tropical diseases. He came by my office one day to pick something up and introduced me to a not-unattractive blonde woman in her late 30s, perhaps, saying, "This is Lt Col ___."

I said, "Nice to meet you" and so on, even though she appeared to be Army.

Mark says, "She's going to be my deputy."

I said, "Oh, like you're Marshall Dillon and she's Festus."

She gives me the eye and says, "Well, that certainly isn't an attractive way to put it."

I said, "Jeez, you'd get a gun and stuff, it would be cool."

[Mabongohogany]

LOL

Jack, I imagine that time spent with "a warehouse full of monkeys"
would go a good ways in qualifying you as a DEPUTY for this Forum!



And since I'm pretty new here---better state out front....

I'm JOKING! Joking!

Happy Holidays All!

[Stephen]

Just a side note: I was quite impressed with all the background action going on in the video of Rob "Blasko" Nicholson visiting the factory to pick up two new basses.

Well, that background action is actually anything but background. It is the daily business in a production environment and from the few glimpses the video gives us, you can tell it's a highly streamlined production process. Connect this to the number of models and options and you may begin to understand what BP means when he is talking about the need to sell enough instruments with exotic options before putting them in production or even development, let alone counting and approving every single birds eye on a neck ... in my opinion the quality of these instruments in general and in all the details is outstanding, especially for their prices (And yes, even at european prices and compared to builders like Human Base or Manne).

Anyway, if you guys at EBMM happen to have enough footage to cut a factory tour video, maybe more people would understand that they are dealing with something different than the average luthier ("Oh, Trans '57 Caddy Pink Blueburst and the output jack at the headstock? No problem, will take 17 months and cost 3 grand extra ...").

Cheers

[Kirby]

Very good points, applicable in most businesses today, not just here. I hope others read and respect this.

[Smallmouth_Bass]

And some, very few but some, break out the magnifying glass and inspect the tuners to see if there are micro-sized 'flaws'. And then it's "Oh Sweet Jesus, I better call AJ and see what we can do!"

Wow, are people really doing that? If so, I can understand the concern.

[spencer]

Well, some people are going to be weird. I know most people post their proble
s here and are told to call customer service. I never could think of a reason go call customerservice when I can just get the answer I'm looking for here. Maybe we should say ask here before calling customer service. Or I your problem falls under these catigories contact customer service if not post here.

[Powman]

Excellent thread.

My Sterling H has been excellent and as such no need to call customer service. Its tough being in customer service. Some days they must think "Do we ever do anything right?". But the fact is people only call when something goes wrong. They rarely call to tell CS that things are just fine, thank you.

[Smallmouth_Bass]

From what I have seen, people that post their problems here generally don't really have a problem. Then you get a bunch of threads with titles like "Problem with MusicMan", when it's something their dealer could fix or doing a search might get an answer for.

How many people have asked for setup instructions when it's on the Frequently Asked Questions of the main site?

[Big Poppa]

I think we can close this thanks Jackie