bovinehost
Administrator
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
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
