We're Going Public Again?

[armybass]

Watch the redneck/sweat tea jokes Jr.!







It's "a fat kid in a donut shop".........

I resemble both so its all good Andy.

 

[Dr Stankface]

I'm not a redneck but I do love my sweet tea.

 

[Fred E.]

Nah, I mostly moved papers from one place to another.

That doesn't let you off the hook, Jack--that describes 98% of government work--trust me, I have 30 years experience as a bureaucrat. In fact my staff wrote policy regulations & most of them could have excelled as crytographers!

Just my usual injection of irrelevancy--sorry.

 

[Sigmunds Couch]

Did you know that Jack once worked as an cryptological tech for the Navy? They have this room called SSES where nobody is allowed to get in except them.

I've sat here trying to think up a witty comment about this that I can post on a public forum. I got nothin...can we switch to JWICS?

 

[andynpeters]

And bodies.



Seriously though, Dan must be pretty clueless.

A man that's never played a gig in his life REALLY knows his stuff about basses, huh? .

There was a man called Leo Fender......

 

[armybass]

OK, I bet I am banned.

 

[barkatozz]

There was a man called Leo Fender......

Beat me to it.

 

[bovinehost]

OK, I bet I am banned.

You're not REALLY cool until you're banned, unbanned, then banned again.

can we switch to JWICS?

They won't let me have it at the house anymore.

 

[Sigmunds Couch]

They won't let me have it at the house anymore.

Too many Martini pictures......you know that rule book...

 

[Big Poppa]

Guys

Dan Lakin can say what he wants it is America. I wish Dan would have called me and heard my side....he has my bat phone number. The calls are no longer welcome.


Thread closed

 

[bovinehost]

I have one thing left to say here and then I'll re-close it.

If there's one thing I should have known a long time ago, one thing my dad certainly told me more than once, it's this: be careful what horse you back.

I had a lot of faith in Steve. I knew he was volatile, that he was opinionated, that his people skills were sometimes a bit suspect, but I also knew that he was a stand-up guy when it came to business. He gave you a deal if he could, he shipped sometimes before people even paid him. So he could be difficult, but he always came through, on time and sometimes before time.

I wish that version of Steve were still around. I'm sad to say that things began to change last fall, around October, and even when things began to go a bit wrong, I wasn't about to give up on a friend, and we WERE friends. Had been for years. Never doubt it. But things went south, and he knows it. When I went out to Arizona last fall, he was a skeleton, a walking skeleton. He couldn't possibly take care of the things that needed taking care of.

And I had to be realistic. Was I going to go down with him? Could I take responsibility for what was going on behind closed doors with people no one could possibly trust? Could I even help him to stop? No, no and no. I had to divorce myself from the business end, but I never really divorced myself from the friendship - until now. He's failed to be honest with a lot of people who deserved honesty. He's turned on the people he could have trusted most. He thinks that I was 'in on' something from the very beginning, that I was somehow plotting with BP to bring him down.

In his heart, I suspect he knows it isn't true, but he's willing to publish that claptrap in order to take the heat off himself. So be it. I can do no more than I've done, and I've ended up regretting ever being involved in a business relationship with him, but - things were different then.

So I've said what I think I need to say, I don't relish the drama and I don't want to hurt Steve in any way. Like everyone else I've talked to lately, we all hope he pulls it out and survives without crashing and burning in some cheap motel somewhere.

Through all of this, BP has tried to help him survive, has given him very reasonable options, small steps that would lead to a happy ending, at least, to the business relationship. At every point, Steve ignored what had to be done in favor of what he wanted to do, which was....well, your guess is as good as mine.

But I was there. The truth is sometimes subjective, depending on who's doing the observing, but I was on the phone with two guys I cared about and respected, and I know what BP did and I know what Steve did. One side was honorable, caring about YOU guys who ordered instruments, and the other side took another approach. I can't even guess what the thought process was. I can't get my brain to do those things.

So let's end it, if we possibly can. But Sterling was ALWAYS concerned about the customers, always wondering what else we could do to get Steve out of the fire, and I think it's fair to say that BP and Dargin and the rest of the EBMM staff were completely dedicated to making the relationship with VBTC a success.

And they were paid back with......well, you know. A virtual kick in the teeth. That just ain't right.

Peace, my forumites, and let's go back to being positive and happy, shall we?

Jack