Anyone heard from Sherman lately?

[angus]

Originally Posted by psychoticsnoman

I'm pretty sure that he was well known before you ordered your basses.

Maybe in the business, but not outside of it. He had two posts here when I placed the order (October 2006; he received payment in November). I found him through talkbass. He was not well known, at least by anyone here on the boards. I am his longest-served customer, in that sense.

I've known Mike for a while now and I can honestly say I find this completely false. If anyone is to blame for any lack of respect it would certainly be you. Mike isn't the type of guy where as if your a great customer, let him do his work and not nag him every day He'll turn around and tell you to .... off and stop working on your instruments. Something had to be done on your end first.

And if you met him here, then I've known him longer. He was an absolutely great guy in the beginning. He only started becoming rude and ignoring me when I questioned why nothing was happening for months and, well, years. I WAS a great customer because I didn't do anything but call once every two months to get a status update, at which point I'd be told that they are either in final sanding or in the booth to be sprayed (or will be sprayed at the beginning of the next week). That happened every time we talked from early-mid 2007 up until September 2008. I just said ok, cool, please follow through with it. I'm a ....ing great customer. Again, he was always very nice to talk to, but just either wasn't following through with what he said he'd do, or had no intention of doing it. I don't know, but I don't care to pick apart intention or reasoning- the point is, it wasn't getting done, and I was being told it would be done.

I only began to contact him more frequently when he sold that guitar to someone else. But it's not like it's daily. I'll call maybe once or twice a week for a few weeks, then give up and not call for a month or two. They don't get answered or returned, and rarely do the emails (as was addressed earlier in the thread).

Since then, we promised finished instruments in December, then January, then March, then May, then June...

Finally, I told him to just send me the instruments as is (without finish) because it was clear that he was never going to get around to finishing them, for whatever reason I don't understand (as they are completely paid for). I suggested the idea, so that's fine. I just want them as this point. He said he'd get some custom-built cases for them (which I paid for) and ship them out right away. Cool. That was June. It's almost October. Granted, I was gone from mid-August to mid-September, but he didn't reply to my emails during that time, either.

It's not hard to get some cases and ship these out. I'm even letting him do it without having to go through the effort of finishing them, which he hasn't gotten around to doing in 2.5 years. 2.5 years. So yes, tell me I'm the asshole, that it must be MY fault for waiting patiently up until this point where I finally blew up, through the times were it felt like he'd taken my money and run, where he told me if I complained publically he wouldn't send me my instruments, through all of it.

I've given him EVERY opportunity to make it right- by simply finishing the instruments and sending them out. Now, all his has to do is send them. That's fine. But he never does it. He says he wants them done and out...but doesn't ever work on them, and doesn't ever get them out like he says. I've given him every opportunity to make it right, and I would've stayed quiet and happy, but it's just been too much. I've spent $8000 with him...it's not too much to ask to be civil and to follow through with promises at least once. It's been 3 years, and I just want to get them so I can finally stop having to worry about the fact that I may never recoup the money or receive what I paid for. That's all I want.

And I've given him the opportunity to do the right thing at every single opportunity...it just doesn't materialize.

I really like Mike. He's great to talk to, he's really interesting, he's had an interesting life, and he always has cool stories to tell. He's a great guy. But that doesn't mean that I haven't gotten a really raw end of this, and it doesn't mean that I've done everything wrong. I gave him almost $8000- it's his JOB to make things right.

So sorry, no, I can't honestly say that I have done anything wrong in this scenario that's prompted him to not give me my instruments. The silence is what caused this whole thing to blow up, but you know what? He finally answered his phone, told me he'd send them on Monday (yesterday)...and it may finally work. I haven't heard from him, but at least he's now publicly accountable. I'm sorry for holding him to our agreement, but I've given him more time, space and leeway than any customer here ever would.

But yeah, no, it's probably my fault, and I'm the dick for giving him a bunch of capital to help launch his business.

Trust me, if you were in my situation, I doubt you'd be thinking "Man, this is all MY fault."

If he'd followed through with what he said he'd do, none of this would've happened, and it would've all gone away happily. But after a couple years of being told things that weren't happening, or getting ignored, I'm sorry, I can't take it any longer.

I've given him a goddamn lot of respect, and have been shown ....all for the last year-plus. If he comes through this time, I will definitely say so, and I'll definitely make it known that he did what he told me he would, and that he came through on a promise. But at this point, I don't think I have to do anything to earn your approval at this point in the game.

But I appreciate your input nevertheless.

Originally Posted by psychoticsnoman

^ ya sure, the pole pieces didn't line up which wasn't shermans fault, but qucifer took it upon himself to fix that, without giving sherman a chance to fix the problem.

That the pickup poles were misaligned, it's not Mike's fault, no. If he sent the guitar out with the pickup with misaligned poles installed, it's his fault. If he built the guitar, he should've noticed that they don't align correctly and contacted Nordstrand. He IS responsible for the correct parts being on the instrument...that's part of the job.

If your car came with a door that didn't shut right, would you say it's not the manufacturers fault?

Luckily the pickup issue was a quick fix, and it got taken care of either way. But he's correct to say that it should not have exited Mike's doors that way. But mistakes happen, and it's been corrected at this point, so it's sort of moot.

Originally Posted by Xaios

While I think it's inexcusable that these things have happened for both Qucifer and angus, I can't help but get the feeling we don't know everything that's going on. After all, before this, Mike's reputation around here was absolutely sterling. Just look at all of Lee's guitars. He sings Mike's praises endlessly, and he's someone who's owned guitars from nearly every custom shop in the book. Heck, he's practically got Mike on the payroll with the number of guitars he buys. There are also plenty of other forumites who own guitars made by Mike who absolutely adore them, including this forum's former administrator, who said the guitar he got from Mike was far and away the best guitar he's ever played.

I'm not saying there's an excuse, but there's likely a reason.

But we aren't the only ones. There was one before me- the customer who was Mike's other main internet customer along with me in the beginning. And there is another two customers who've contacted me with issues on their instruments, and I urged them to talk about it with Mike first. So we're not the only ones.

If my story had been public this whole time, a) I would've gotten my stuff a lot sooner just because of public pressure, but b) you wouldn't say that the image is sterling. I've made clear every detail throughout this whole process- there really isn't any information missing.

Tout ce qui brille n'est pas or.

I hope Mike comes through this time. I really, really do. And I'll be the first one to acknowledge it and do high-fives all around. I'm not out to get him, and I'm not attacking his character. I just want him to follow through when he tells me he's doing something...he at least owes me that, at this point. As I said, he was always a great guy until the order started to get really stale.

[ohio_eric]

All right this is the only warning I will give. Everyone needs to chill the .... out. If angus and qucifier have issues with Mike Sherman then fine. But there is no need to turn this into a pissing match either against or in defense of Sherman Guitars.

Also since the mods were nice enough to issue warning about using e-rep to be an anonymous prick I have no idea why I have to repeat this but I will anyway. Stop it now or I will ban you for a very long time. I don't care how popular or important you think you are you will get the ban hammer.

Now behave all of you.

[angus]

I appreciate everyone's posts here, but please do not let it get vitriolic or out of hand. It doesn't need to devolve into character attacks on anyone or anything like that, please.

Originally Posted by SupaCoolMan2005

^
Maybe that will get shermans attention

It did. He wasn't pleased. The basses will go out saturday at the latest, though, due to his wife's car. Fair enough. I'll leave it at that. If they go out, all's cool.

Originally Posted by Cheesebuiscut

Not to mention that sherman used the wood that angus gave him for that and other guitars that was out of angus's pocket.

In the interest of fairness, it was a gift- it was a big slab of heavily figured bubinga. It was for my fretless bass, with the intention that all of the extra wood (enough for tops for a bunch of guitars) was a gift to him, as he was being great at that point. So in the interest of fairness, he of course was allowed to use the wood on any other instrument that he wanted.

But it definitely added insult to injury that a bunch of other customers got instruments made with that wood while I was still waiting for my bass made of it.

But it is completely cool that he made other guitars with it- that was the point. No foul there at all.

Originally Posted by psychoticsnoman

I'm going to have to call bullshit on this. Why would he agree to ship them out with no clear, so someone can finish his work and possibly .... it up, then he has a blotched finish job on a guitar out there with his name on it. doesn't make sense, seeing his high quality clear he would trust that someone would finish his product to the same quality as his own

Nah, it's true. I offered, he agreed. I don't hold that against him. He wasn't getting around to finishing it, and I could at least have that chapter of my life over and get it finished locally by Alembic or Michael Dolan and put the instruments to actual use. Michael Dolan in particular uses the same type of finish that Mike does.

He offered a refund at point, too, but a) I knew it was a lot harder on him financially to have to give back $5900 rather than just ship the instruments out, and b) I didn't think I'd ever see the cash, honestly. Trained response.

I'm not holding it against him that they will arrive without finish. We agreed on it, I was the one who initiated it in the hopes that they would actually arrive in that case, so it's perfectly fine. That they were never finished in the first place is another issue, but the fact that they will arrive sans finish is perfectly okay because we agreed on it.

[angus]

Originally Posted by ohio_eric

All right this is the only warning I will give. Everyone needs to chill the .... out. If angus and qucifier have issues with Mike Sherman then fine. But there is no need to turn this into a pissing match either against or in defense of Sherman Guitars.

Also since the mods were nice enough to issue warning about using e-rep to be an anonymous prick I have no idea why I have to repeat this but I will anyway. Stop it now or I will ban you for a very long time. I don't care how popular or important you think you are you will get the ban hammer.

Now behave all of you.

Thank you, Eric. I don't want this to be some massive attack on Mike, his business OR his customers either! But it is important that people know what's up, though I'd prefer it stays as civil as possible, too.

Originally Posted by MTech

This makes me wonder why somebody would pay in full up front, and if given a date, and have these emails etc.. why he doesn't put a lawsuit on him and get his money back at the least. File a civil complaint.

Throwing good money after bad. The problem is that it would be in Federal court because it crosses state lines, and the value is >$5000, so it would immediately go to Superior court level. I would spend more money getting my money back than I would just waiting.

Besides, I'm a working musician staring at $300,000 in medical school bills over the next 4 years. I can afford to go to court, but man, I hate that shit.

I'd much rather take him at his word and wait. I would do it if I had to...but I don't want it to come to that at all. I don't need that much hassle in my life. I just want some cool instruments.

Originally Posted by jsousa

This thread is one big cluster.... of problems. I have never in my life heard a story so dreaded and sickening as Angus's. I pray karma works in his favor, my God.

Me too, man, me too- thanks. I've definitely heard worse (someone who waited 10 years), but I'll be happy when Mike and I can put it behind us and have the deal we struck 3 years ago come to fruition. That's all I want, and I'd be happy with that.

[Qucifer]

For the record, I just want to get my money back, sans a reasonable fee for having to deal with the sheared off screw. Mike offered, I just want to take him up on it.

So far, I still haven't heard from him.

If Mike does come through, I'll be more than happy to let everyone know that he did.

[angus]

Originally Posted by Xaios

I'm not saying that it's about their guitars. What I'm trying to say is that, up until this point, on this forum especially, there's been an established precedent that Mike's work has been nearly universally revered. This precedent has been set by the glowing reviews his work has received.

I know this next part is gonna sound awfully corny, but here goes anyway. In a court of law, you can generally get a lot of points for your argument if you can cite precedent as to why you're right about something. And if a precedent that is generally thought be solid is presented and rejected, there's usually got to be some pretty damning reason why.

This is definitely true, but by that logic, I am the precedent, chronologically. My stuff was completed sans finish before Lee or Letchford ever came along. You heard about it later, but chronologically speaking, I am the precedent, more or less.

BTW, for what it's worth angus, you've presented yourself in a most respectable manner. While I can only base this off what has been presented in this thread, you come accross as a pretty level headed guy. I hope you get what's owed to you.

Thank you- that's what I would hope, as this is how I act in real life. I don't generally get angry, except in very rare circumstances (this being one). Going off the rocker doesn't help me, Mike or anyone else, so I genuinely hope that the thread doesn't proceed that way, and it sure as hell doesn't feel good to yell.

But not everybody will see it that way, but there isn't much I can do about it. Mike thinks I'm "cyber bullying". Everybody is entitled to an opinion, and his is just as fair as mine.

Originally Posted by the hittmann

You should get a plane ticket to conneticut, get your basses, and be done with it. That is what I would do in this situation.

Coming from a guy named "the hittmann", that suggestion makes me more than uncomfortable, haha. Nah, I don't have any reason to storm up to his place of living and get in his business- that isn't fair. I'd rather make the assumption that he'll do the right thing than make any show of aggression. I'm just not into that.

[angus]

Thank you for the offer- however I would be uncomfortable sending a mob in, even if it is just one person. I don't want to intrude upon his personal space.

And I want him to come through on this.

I do appreciate the generous offer of help, though.

[angus]

I understand getting the police involved, but it's not to THAT point yet, and I don't want to jump that gun by any means. He said he would ship them by Saturday at latest, so if that happens, then everything is good. If it doesn't, I'll take things as they come, but I don't want to involve outside resources. But I will, if this drags on, and it's a fair point to make.

But again, I want him to come through with this and do the right thing. I have every hope that he will by Saturday as he stated.

Though no, I do not have any proof that the basses still exist- particularly the fretted bass. I'm not going to make any assumptions that they are gone, though, and will trust him at his word that they will be in the mail by Saturday.

I'm man enough to grant him that and not jump to any conclusions.

Again, I have no proof that they are still around, but I have no proof that they aren't either, so I'd rather not think that way. I'd rather trust that they haven't gone anywhere.

However, your point is legally valid, and I appreciate the input. It's definitely a theoretical route if things continue as they have, but I'm hoping that he'll pull through on this one. But I won't rule anything, if I have to.

Originally Posted by Xaios

Ah, my apologies, I did indeed misconstrue your intentions. Still, I don't think I'd wanna do that, either.

Yeah, I don't think he meant for any beatings or something like that, but no need to get local uninvolved parties involved. Though I think his point is valid.

I've heard worse, of a customer who waited 10 years, etc

I should clarify- this statement is NOT referring to Mike, but to a customer of a builder named Ken Bebensee. Nothing to do with Mike at all. Just saying it could be worse!

Originally Posted by cyril v

Under more considerable circumstances, getting your "as-is" and some money back to pay for what it would likely cost you to get them totally finished, probably would've been ideal.

It's a nice thought, and I'd love to say that I thought that was an option, but I can't imagine him budging on that at all. I think he feels like he's the victim in this scenario, so I don't think that that scenario is one he'd feel obliged to enter into.

Even if, given the circumstances, it's the correct thing to do (or, well, the next most correct, behind simply finishing the instruments).

But I'm taking the high road on this, and not asking for money back. I don't think I'd ever see the instruments or the money, so I'm eating the $800-900 it'll cost me to finish them just to have the situation finished and the stress off of my mind.

I can do the electronics in my sleep. I ended up having to correct wiring and shield the cavity on my 8 string guitar anyway, so it's cool. I don't mind the work, but I do mind the stress of wondering what's going on.

Regardless, if he comes through as promised with the basses and the hardware, I'll be cool with it. The stress isn't worth the money for me, even if I'm going to have to sell a guitar to pay for the finish work.

I'm going to dip out of this thread for a while and wait until Saturday. I have too much stuff to do to be distracted right now, but I'll be back for updates this weekend sometime.

[TemjinStrife]

Angus, I can at least confirm that your basses exist and are at Mike's house. Mike is a good friend of mine and I do not wish to get involved in this rather venomous debate, but I do know that the basses are there.

And, FWIW, regardless of this thread, if I ever have the money, I will be ordering a Sherman. The beauty, craftsmanship, wood choice, weight, neck profiles, playability, attention to detail, and flat-out resonance and liveliness of every Sherman I have played (and I've played and handled a fair few at this point) are simply staggering.

But that's just me.

[action=TemjinStrife]bows out of this debate.[/action]

[angus]

Originally Posted by TemjinStrife

Angus, I can at least confirm that your basses exist and are at Mike's house. Mike is a good friend of mine and I do not wish to get involved in this rather venomous debate, but I do know that the basses are there.

And, FWIW, regardless of this thread, if I ever have the money, I will be ordering a Sherman. The beauty, craftsmanship, wood choice, weight, neck profiles, playability, attention to detail, and flat-out resonance and liveliness of every Sherman I have played (and I've played and handled a fair few at this point) are simply staggering.

But that's just me.

[action=TemjinStrife]bows out of this debate.[/action]

I'll chime into this one more time, briefly.

Thank you for the words and the confirmation- it is greatly appreciated.

I do hope, though, that you don't feel that the thread itself is venomous- it is not the intention, nor do I hope it comes off that way. I've done my best to keep everything as respectful and civil as possible, even though emotion creeps in from time to time, because everybody is best served that way. I hope that comes across.

That said, I fully support your intention to purchase and support Mike. Nobody here (at least that I saw) said to stay away from him, to avoid his business, or that his stuff was crap. I know I certainly didn't say any of those things, nor did I insinuate such things. I would urge anyone to support Mike's work if they feel that is the right thing to do, as much as I would urge them to understand that everything isn't clean under the bridge. But nobody here- I hope- has stated that they should avoid his work, if indeed it is his instruments that speak to them as a musician. Thus I would support your choice to buy his instruments if and when you choose to do so. Not everybody will have this experience, and many will be happy. It's just that here- it definitely did not work out.

Thanks for the input, though- it is just as welcome as any other poster here (and moreso than the posters who can't keep civil). Game on.

[Qucifer]

An update...

It seems that I'm at an impasse with Mike. He contacted me via email today. He's suggesting that I'm somehow being hostile in my dealings with him, and that he's refusing to negotiate with me in public in any way. I don't have anything to hide in this situation... I'd rather we just worked this out in public so that everyone is held accountable.

Mike is also claiming that because I had a guitar tech look at the guitar, before he had a chance to do anything about my problems, that there is no warranty at all. The tech did nothing other than give me a second opinion on setup and make a few minor adjustments.

This is really unfortunate, and is the same situation I found myself in 2 months ago. Mike would not agree to an escrow return, and insisted that because I had my tech inspect the guitar, that there's no warranty. I don't feel comfortable just sending my guitar to him unsecured, because I've pretty much hit the limit of my trust with him.

Anyone have any suggestions about what to do next? At this point, 2 months ago... I just gave up and tried to just be okay with sorting out the problems with this guitar. That's why I went ahead and started working with Nordstrand to swap out the pickups.

But at the end of the day this whole experience has been so awful, that I don't see how I'm ever going to be okay with this guitar. I don't want it anymore, I just want to salvage what I can out of it financially and then I want it out of my sight. If you want it, make me an offer... seriously. I'm pretty sure that Mike offered to sort out any issues with it for the future owner.

Advice would be appreciated.

[AbaddonHammer]

This bums me out. I've been drooling over Shermans for a long time now. After i got paid next week and had enough money, i was going to pull out the credit card and call up Mike to get a custom order put in.

After this, and all the other bad things i've heard about certain smaller custom shop builders, i just dont feel comfortable throwing around thousands of dollars and waiting how ever many months or years, just for a custom guitar that might not even come.

Not contacting a customer regarding progress of their intrument after months is unacceptable. I dont care how busy you are. If your so busy that you cant keep in contact with a customer about the progress of their guitar, then you are clearly taking on too much of a workload.

This really bums me out, like i said, out of all the smaller custom builders i've researched about, Mike Sherman was the only one that i really think could of built my dream guitar/s.

After reading all this, i'm not giving Sherman my business. I'll make sure and give the fellow guitarist in my band a heads up about not giving Sherman his business either.

I dont know what really happened here, but all i know is, a customer isnt satisfied, and the builder took entirely too long to even attempt to satisfy the customer. I'll be damned if i have to wait years or have to deal with no contact with the builder for many many months, after handing over thousands of dollars to a builder. .... that.

[Qucifer]

Originally Posted by Koshchei

I am not a lawyer, but I would advise reading this: Consumer Law: Warranty FAQ - Lawyers.com

If you have a warranty in writing, I'm pretty sure that Mike can't legally void your warranty unless you violate the expressly written terms of the product. I'd contact a lawyer on this, as you're dealing with a fair chunk of change.

That aside, the way I'm reading the situation is that Mike doesn't have the money to refund you. Could be wrong, but that's the way I read it.

That's the thing. There is no warranty in writing. He made up those terms after the fact, and he's citing that it's "common sense" that I would only allow him to work on it.

I suspect that I'm going to have to get an attorney involved. Again, I just wanted a cool guitar... I never wanted to have to deal with any of this mess.

[Qucifer]

Originally Posted by Koshchei

Is it common sense to only be allowed to take your car to the dealer where you bought it, rather than an independent garage?

The key component of the sentence is "only be allowed"... I would think it's acceptable to take it to an independent garage and not violate the warranty if I choose. Does common sense differ?

[st2012]

This thread is pretty eye-opening for me. I'm really sorry to you two guy's and hope everything works out somehow. I won't comment too much on the situation since it really doesn't concern me but I'll say this: For the last 5 years or so I've been saving for a custom 7-string and had decided without question that it would be a Sherman. That's not the case anymore. Looks like I'll need to start researching different builders. Again, good luck to you guy's.

[djpharoah]

Ok. I have painstakingly cleaned up the garbage in this thread including anything OT, well wishers, people adding nothing, people inquiring stupid shit, people putting oil on the fire, people in shock, people who aren't gonna buy, people who don't own a sherman, people with no clue, people offering advice etc.

If you aren't Qucifer, Angus or Mike Sherman and you ....ing post in here one more time its gonna be lights out for 2 weeks or so. I can't be held to that as it depends on my mood.

So lets just ....ing keep this thread for them. Anything else is handled via PM. We are not interested in your regarding this matter and yes we know you all have the best of intentions - but posting in here just makes the real shit harder to find cuz you have to wade through a lot of shit posts.

Anyone else?

Capiche?

[angus]

Well, it's almost Monday. I didn't hear from Mike on Saturday- he said he'd send me an email with pictures of the receipt to prove that the basses were sent. I didn't receive anything. I haven't tried to get ahold of him yet, as admittedly I was away for the weekend, but I also didn't receive anything. I'll try calling him tomorrow to see if they were sent before/on Saturday as promised.

[angus]

They weren't sent by Saturday. I talked to him today (Monday) and he said he shipped the fretless this morning, but that the fretted bass needed to stay as the pickup cover twisted. I never saw the pickup cover for that bass in any pictures. Although I wonder why it wasn't noticed a long time ago, it's all good- he said he'll make another and have the fretted bass out to me this week. I hope that all happens.

Will keep this updated.

[jsousa]

Originally Posted by angus

They weren't sent by Saturday. I talked to him today (Monday) and he said he shipped the fretless this morning, but that the fretted bass needed to stay as the pickup cover twisted. I never saw the pickup cover for that bass in any pictures. Although I wonder why it wasn't noticed a long time ago, it's all good- he said he'll make another and have the fretted bass out to me this week. I hope that all happens.

Will keep this updated.

update plz?

[angus]

I haven't yet called Mike to see if he sent the fretted bass by the end of the week as he said, and the fretless bass has not arrived at my doorstep yet. He sent it on Monday he said, so it's not without reason to say that it is still in transit. It's also not without reason to say I'm skeptical on all counts, especially given that he never sent me pictures of the receipts as proof as he said. But I'll keep updating in case anything happens, and I'll call Mike on Monday.

Thanks, guys. Here's to hoping.

[angus]

Round one done.

The fretless bass arrived today, via UPS rather than USPS. The box was pretty beat, but the bass was perfectly well protected. I got a bunch of pictures of opening it, etc, but my normal upload server is overfull, so I'll have to fix that first.

Everything was there- the bass, a very nice ProTec case (I've never seen their soft hardcases like these, though I have some gigbags by them that are very nice), the bridge hardware and the tuners. Awesome!

It's really too bad that this whole thing has gone the way it was, and seeing the bass I'm particularly mystified at why he didn't finish it...it's freaking ridiculous. The bass is incredible. The woodwork and detail is just gorgeous. The neck profile is great, and the attention to detail is amazing. I had some issues with my Sherman guitar, but I can't see anything wrong with this looking at it. Granted I'm not a luthier, but I scoured the thing to make sure there wasn't some obvious reason why they never got finished (twisted neck or something, for example), but I couldn't find anything. It's a mind-blowing piece of wood working. It's too bad that things happened how they did and that it never got finished, because my god, it's by far the most impressive instrument that I've seen him produce, by a long ways. I imagine the fretted bass will be the same.

Just for reference- I have a Fodera sitting here next to me (that I'm selling), which is generally the gold standard for bass building. This bass is, in every way, comparable in woodworking quality and attention to detail. That says a hell of a lot. Which is why it is particularly mystifying to me that he handled things as he did. But that doesn't in any way take away from his quality as a builder. I have every reason to hope that, once I finish putting it together, it'll be a killer instrument.

I've tried to call him to get a status on the fretted bass, which should have gone out last week as he said (and it might've-I have no idea), but haven't gotten a hold of him yet. I've only called today, though, so I'll give it a day or two then try again.

Either way, he came through as he promised (though a few days later, but I don't care about that) with this. It's a really, really beautiful instrument. I wish he'd just finished the whole order out, though, so that I could be sitting here saying how incredible the bass is and not sitting here hoping that the actual finished instrument will be as successful and problem-free as it looks.

I'll get some pictures later. The ones I took were pretty shitty anyway.

[Hollowway]

Cool. Glad you got it. And I'm especially stoked that you took the NBD pics for a photo story!

[angus]

Definitely!

Update: The fretted bass has't arrived yet, and Mike hasn't answered/returned calls since the fretless arrived, so I have no idea if it's been sent or if it's in the mail or what. Still hoping it's in the mail.

[Esp Griffyn]

It sure does seem to be taking a while

[MF_Kitten]

how is the bass not finished btw? and pics when?