# Badstroke Guitars



## mechanyx (Mar 1, 2022)

Searched but found posts mostly talking about how terrible everyone thought the company name was. Didn't see any posts from anyone detailing how their ordering experience went or anything about the quality/sound of the guitars.

Has anyone played one of these? Thanks


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## RobDobble6S7 (Mar 1, 2022)

I'm curious as well. I know a person on Keith Merrow's discord who has one ordered, but not delivered I believe


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## Ben Pinkus (Mar 1, 2022)

I haven't seen many in the wild, but some of their models look really interesting


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## Jeffrey Bain (Mar 1, 2022)

I'd hate to say too good to be true but am I right that I'm able to get a semi-custom, with Bareknuckles for Around $1,150? That seems a little too awesome lol. Would be glad to be proved wrong though. I fuck with their Wendigo shape, this one in particular looks mint:


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## FancyFish (Mar 1, 2022)

I actually hopped on their 2nd run for their Fiend Series back in June. I'll update with info whenever I get it.


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## bostjan (Mar 1, 2022)

FancyFish said:


> I actually hopped on their 2nd run for their Fiend Series back in June. I'll update with info whenever I get it.


When were you quoted for delivery? Wasn't that run supposed to be done between January and March? I hope all goes well!


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## FancyFish (Mar 1, 2022)

bostjan said:


> When were you quoted for delivery? Wasn't that run supposed to be done between January and March? I hope all goes well!


I was quoted the end of February. It's kind of nerve racking because of the lack of activity on their social media, however I was told they were more active on their Facebook group, which I don't have.


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## mechanyx (Mar 2, 2022)

OK, so sounds like no one has actually played one yet so @FancyFish please let us know how it goes! Thanks!


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## mechanyx (Apr 1, 2022)

FancyFish said:


> I was quoted the end of February. It's kind of nerve racking because of the lack of activity on their social media, however I was told they were more active on their Facebook group, which I don't have.


Any updates? Thanks


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## FancyFish (Apr 1, 2022)

mechanyx said:


> Any updates? Thanks


Unfortunately, no updates.


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## mechanyx (Apr 2, 2022)

FancyFish said:


> Unfortunately, no updates.



OK, so, just to be clear, you were quoted end of February and that date passed with no updates from Badstroke. Is that correct? Thanks


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## FancyFish (Apr 2, 2022)

mechanyx said:


> OK, so, just to be clear, you were quoted end of February and that date passed with no updates from Badstroke. Is that correct? Thanks


That's correct. I emailed them yesterday, asking for an update, but I haven't heard back yet.


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## mechanyx (Apr 2, 2022)

FancyFish said:


> That's correct. I emailed them yesterday, asking for an update, but I haven't heard back yet.


OK, thanks. Super curious to hear how this plays out. Please keep us posted!


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## Albake21 (Apr 7, 2022)

Wait a second... is this just Aviator guitars? The sites are identical, both in Czech Republic, and even the models aren't too different. Maybe just a coincidence, but I feel like there must be some sort of overlap.


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## aWoodenShip (Apr 7, 2022)

Albake21 said:


> Wait a second... is this just Aviator guitars? The sites are identical, both in Czech Republic, and even the models aren't too different. Maybe just a coincidence, but I feel like there must be some sort of overlap.


Oh wow I completely forgot that Aviator guitars existed lol.


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## mechanyx (Apr 7, 2022)

Haven't heard of Aviator before but I looked them up and the sites appear to have differences to me. They also list different addresses (albeit both near Prague) and list different people. If you go on YouTube and watch the videos of Jan Dietl or Aviator and then of Badstroke (in which someone that I think is Ondrej appears), they appear to be different people. I wouldn't be shocked if there's some connection like they know each other or even used the same web development company or shared workshop space at one point but my 5 minutes of looking into it leads me to believe that they're 2 different operations.


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## Hollowway (Apr 11, 2022)

I can’t vouch for the current ones, but I got one yeeears ago, before all of these new styles came out. It’s a solid guitar, and plays well. It was a purple fade 8 string super strat. I’m assuming that they make them the same and with the same guys, but I have no way of knowing.


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## mechanyx (Apr 11, 2022)

Hollowway said:


> I can’t vouch for the current ones, but I got one yeeears ago, before all of these new styles came out. It’s a solid guitar, and plays well. It was a purple fade 8 string super strat. I’m assuming that they make them the same and with the same guys, but I have no way of knowing.



What year? I didn't think they'd been around very long but now that I think about it I don't know when they started. Thanks!


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## olejason (Apr 11, 2022)

I really dig their designs and the price is insane. It's a shame they don't raise prices and start actually producing guitars. I noticed they do claim to have one in-stock right now though.


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## mechanyx (May 15, 2022)

FancyFish said:


> That's correct. I emailed them yesterday, asking for an update, but I haven't heard back yet.



Just curious if there are any updates. If not, did you at least get a response to your email? Thanks


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## FancyFish (May 15, 2022)

mechanyx said:


> Just curious if there are any updates. If not, did you at least get a response to your email? Thanks


They did reply actually, but all they said was to follow their Facebook group for updates. And I refuse to make a Facebook account. So I'm kinda at an impasse.


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## tian (May 15, 2022)

FancyFish said:


> They did reply actually, but all they said was to follow their Facebook group for updates. And I refuse to make a Facebook account. So I'm kinda at an impasse.


Yikes.

Is the expected delivery within the window you can do a chargeback? Because if it's not, I'd push them for a more substantive update or otherwise seriously consider your options...


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## Hollowway (May 16, 2022)

mechanyx said:


> What year? I didn't think they'd been around very long but now that I think about it I don't know when they started. Thanks!


I bought it in 2018. I’m not sure what year it was, but maybe 2017?


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## Wucan (May 16, 2022)

tian said:


> Yikes.
> 
> Is the expected delivery within the window you can do a chargeback? Because if it's not, I'd push them for a more substantive update or otherwise seriously consider your options...




They have his money, they blew past their deadline, and they refuse to update on the progress of his guitar. He's being treated like a nuisance, not a customer who's owed a product long past the delivery date. They didn't communicate or make the sale through Facebook, so it makes zero sense to tell him to go there and presumably wait for a social media post. It's horribly unprofessional, and that's the best assumption that can be made - they might also be just buying time and not have a product at all to show.

I would politely but sternly threaten a chargeback, and follow through it if they don't respond in a week.

EDIT: I checked their Facebook page, no updates since December 2021. Instagram, latest post in February 8th. I would be exploring chargeback options right now.


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## FancyFish (May 16, 2022)

Wucan said:


> They have his money, they blew past their deadline, and they refuse to update on the progress of his guitar. He's being treated like a nuisance, not a customer who's owed a product long past the delivery date. They didn't communicate or make the sale through Facebook, so it makes zero sense to tell him to go there and presumably wait for a social media post. It's horribly unprofessional, and that's the best assumption that can be made - they might also be just buying time and not have a product at all to show.
> 
> I would politely but sternly threaten a chargeback, and follow through it if they don't respond in a week.
> 
> EDIT: I checked their Facebook page, no updates since December 2021. Instagram, latest post in February 8th. I would be exploring chargeback options right now.


I would love to look into the chargeback option, but I don't really know where to start. I get that guitars are hard to build (especially during covid), but it's not like it was some super custom guitar, it's just a semi-custom. And barely even that.


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## mastapimp (May 16, 2022)

Wucan said:


> They have his money, they blew past their deadline, and they refuse to update on the progress of his guitar. He's being treated like a nuisance, not a customer who's owed a product long past the delivery date. They didn't communicate or make the sale through Facebook, so it makes zero sense to tell him to go there and presumably wait for a social media post. It's horribly unprofessional, and that's the best assumption that can be made - they might also be just buying time and not have a product at all to show.
> 
> I would politely but sternly threaten a chargeback, and follow through it if they don't respond in a week.
> 
> EDIT: I checked their Facebook page, no updates since December 2021. Instagram, latest post in February 8th. I would be exploring chargeback options right now.


They appear to have a facebook "group" for owners and discussion that is administrated by the company. A simple search of "badstroke guitars" on facebook shows a guy posting an update from 2 weeks ago that shows a stack of guitars in process as well as what appears to be his guitar body that was going through finishing. 

I agree that their response so far is unprofessional, but being 3 months off of an estimated delivery date isn't that unusual for small and custom builders. Of the 4 customs I've had built, only Mayones delivered close to their estimate which was a 3-month window. Others ranged from 4 months to 1 year beyond original estimate.


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## Tree (May 16, 2022)

mastapimp said:


> They appear to have a facebook "group" for owners and discussion that is administrated by the company. A simple search of "badstroke guitars" on facebook shows a guy posting an update from 2 weeks ago that shows a stack of guitars in process as well as what appears to be his guitar body that was going through finishing.
> 
> I agree that their response so far is unprofessional, but being 3 months off of an estimated delivery date isn't that unusual for small and custom builders. Of the 4 customs I've had built, only Mayones delivered close to their estimate which was a 3-month window. Others ranged from 4 months to 1 year beyond original estimate.


@FancyFish you should really consider making a FB profile that you only use for situations like this. You don't need to become an avid social media user, but this could help you bridge the gap.


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## FancyFish (May 16, 2022)

Tree said:


> @FancyFish you should really consider making a FB profile that you only use for situations like this. You don't need to become an avid social media user, but this could help you bridge the gap.


You know what? I think I'll finally cave. Hopefully it'll clear up some stuff.


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## Ross82 (May 16, 2022)

For the record, I have a build in progress with Aviator and can say their communication is good from what I've experienced. Never went more than about 2 weeks without a reply and only nudged them on one which Jan apologized for. To date I've had 13 emails, last one was to pick out the top wood around April 14th. I dont think the two companies are related business wise but maybe the shared a web dev and accounts for the similar look?


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## Mura (May 18, 2022)

Hey guys!

I've been in e-mail communication with Ondrej several times since the middle of last month, and now I've finally paid and placed my order on the fiend line.

Ondrej said it should be ready in about 6 months, but from the looks of this thread, there will be a delay...


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## mechanyx (May 18, 2022)

FancyFish said:


> They did reply actually, but all they said was to follow their Facebook group for updates. And I refuse to make a Facebook account. So I'm kinda at an impasse.


Thanks for the update. Sorry for the slow response. I've been super busy. I would 100% push back against something like this. If email or phone or whatever was sufficient for their sales channel, it is sufficient for their support channel.

Also, I would strongly advise against using any Facebook owned product/service which includes Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Oculus.


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## Thesius (May 31, 2022)

Badstroke has posted an update on FB

"
ROADMAP UPDATE #5

Hello guys!! I missed you!!

Let's get the dark out of the way first
I honestly missed being able to talk and hang out with you guys! Unfortunately I had to find more work to be able to stay on Badstroke stuff which leaves me with little to no time overall. This brings me to the darker side of the news that I have to break to you. We are surviving by a thread at this moment and I honestly don't see how else we would even get this far without you - with only 2 pair of hands on deck and over a year without getting paid for the work we do on Fiend Series - now we have really hit the financial bottom of the whole operation. It's been really really crazy yet somehow it just felt right to continue and not let this whole thing go down, because well... who wasn't down sometimes? There will be up again eventually. Yet again, we are still committed to finishing, we are willing to invest our time into this but now this is probably the most down financially we've been in looong years yet here we are, breathing and trying to keep a positive attitude no matter how difficult it is. What I'm trying to tell you is that we have to make compromises if we want to get to a positive outcome with the guitars. It's not something we ever wanted to move to as we value the wishes and configurations for the builds highly but at this point a survival and delivering the baseline of the product must come first. All complaints and refunds can be handled after that rather than never - how are we so sure we would get a chance to even do that? Because we are moving forward with the prosecution and it seems like we might get enough money to get through this but we are in deep negotiations with lawyers and the other side almost on daily basis. We'll keep you informed as we don't want to jinx it at the moment - fingers crossed! 

_The_ issue of BKP
Speaking of compromises we are pushed into a corner, we will be refunding all the bkps to their owners by the end of the year when the second instalment from the financial operator is due. It is simply not realistic to uphold this plea, we are of course heavily aware that the prices have gone up but it's just where we are now. All bkp customers will automatically get a free badstroke pickup set installed in their guitar (they are now around 200€) and keep in mind that the cavities for both are compatible. So whenever you are good to go you can swap them up. With this comes a little tiny bit of good news. We proceeded with the technology on the pickups in the last month and we are now able to offer you, bkp supporters, a compensation: you get to choose standard, silver or gold bolts and a magnet a5 or a8 or ceramic (check out in photos).


backup is almost on stock
You may ask how are we going to get out of this? Well we had a little hunch that this might happen so in the background we veeery slowly have taken time to build a few guitars on the side that would help us in a situation like this. So if you see a few builds coming out on socials for sale try not to be alarmed. We are just doing our best to stay on our feet, they are basically a micro batch of on stock pieces with solid color, you may remember the shapes from the illustrations on the campaign. And they are still a WIP atm.


SHIPPING - OPEN CALL FOR HELP
Yet now it is time for us to ask for help from you. We are absolutely determined to deliver here but any hand we can get here is crucial to the mission. Shipping costs are enormous. But only if shipped separately. We can save A LOT by shipping the guitar boxes (2, 3..more) just... taped together. Sounds crazy but that's how it is. So now we kindly ask you to reach out to us (DMs or [email protected]) if you know someone who also ordered a build from the run and wouldn't mind if we sent it to the same address. Alternatively you can post a name of the city or country you are from in the comments here and perhaps find someone from the community here who lives nearby. This is a lot of hustle, we get it, and we'll send those with priority so in return you'll get your piece sooner! Some of the bigger cities got an option for pickup spots but some of you guys kinda got to know each other here and it felt like a good opportunity to try this out and take advantage of this opportunity. If none of this works for you, no problem. We'll get to you eventually.

Reminder of what is this group about?
Seeing some of the posts here is really heartwarming, even the critics we get are something that is very often spot on and we take them to heart but what's really cool is the music you guys share and the discussions you engage in. Initially this group wasn't about this at all but now it only makes sense that we share some of the reasons why we are all in passion of making music one way or another, together. Please keep sharing your work, what you love, discuss designs for your cover arts, collab and have fun doing it.

Progression
NOW let's get to the good part which is the progression! We spent a looot of our time on electronics and tons on pickups and wirings this month!
Raw CNC body COMPLETE
Raw CNC neck - COMPLETE
Raw CNC fretboard - 🛠 currently 90% 🛠
Body sanding (including cavities etc.) - 🛠 currently 95% 🛠
Full neck sanding - 🛠 currently 85% 🛠
Body stain / finish - 🛠 currently 80% 🛠
Fretting stage 1 preparation - 🛠 currently 60% 🛠
Fretting stage 2 finish - 🛠 35% 🛠
Complete assembly - 🛠 50% 🛠
Electronics / Pickups assembly - 🛠 30% 🛠
Wiring - 🛠 30 % 🛠
Builds Tried out - 4
Builds complete - 4
Builds Shipped - 


What you'll see in the photos? (who am I kidding - you went for them first, didn't you?)
Photos! Hell yeah! As we mentioned before, the poplar tops will be getting a pickguard on the side so you can eventually decide to put it on if you like. Here you can see how that would look like but you'll have all the time you want to make that final decision. You asked for details so we are bringing details, let us know what you think! We are ultra happy how they are coming together! As well as all the pots, switches and pickups. One of our personal favourites from this photoshoot is the flame mapled neck, we were able to get an insane quality wood for all the pieces but this one still stands out.


Additionally we would like to ask for patience when it comes to communication from our side, seeing as I'm not a full time guy here now and there is nobody else to take care of you other than Ondřej whose time is with all honesty best spent directly on guitars it may take some time before I get to answer your questions and comments. Make no mistake, this is still a very big part of my life and I'm looking forward to Badstroke getting back in the field in full sound! Now I'll leave you guys process all the information, ask questions and enjoy the photos 

love,
Andy & Badstroke Team"


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## tian (May 31, 2022)

Vague descriptions of ongoing litigation, pickup sourcing issues, the decision to build "extra" guitars to somehow help guitars already on order, shipping excuses... this is the laundry list we've seen over and over from builders that never end up delivering anything close to what was promised, if at all.

I have no dog in this fight but the feeling of deja vu is overwhelming.


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## ArtDecade (May 31, 2022)

Thesius said:


> love,
> Andy & Badstroke Team"



Nah. Hard nah on this company.


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## Jonathan20022 (May 31, 2022)

The sad part is that the guitar community is so depraved of good customer service, that they will probably think this is a good sign that they're getting so much BtS and communication all in one post.

The transparency of litigation and problems appearing financially is definitely a good step, but people should take that as a hard red flag and pull back in whatever capacity possible ASAP.


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## Wucan (May 31, 2022)

Welp, I knew the situation stunk :/

Asking buyers to work together so they can tape guitar boxes together? Saying they're so bad financially they're in litigation, but prioritizing side orders? Complaining about not getting paid for work, but happily taking full payment for incomplete work?

These guys have no idea how to manage money or workload, and have effectively said people who already paid are their lowest priority. And from a company that's currently in legal and financial trouble... that bodes very poorly when it comes to getting what you paid for.


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## aWoodenShip (May 31, 2022)

You could say they've had a... badstroke of luck


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## Ben Pinkus (Jun 3, 2022)

This is a shame as their previous custom/semi custom models as well as the batched series did look really cool! 
I did think that when they released the batch series there were a tonnne of options still at a super low price, so was always interested to see how those came out. 
Fingers crossed everyone gets the guitar they ordered and are happy with them, and badstroke get back on their feet soon


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## olejason (Jun 3, 2022)

Wow what a sham, I feel really bad for anyone with money tied up with these guys. They would have been much better off to just fund the guitars themselves and then put them up for sale but I guess it's too much to ask business owners to assume risk these days.


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## mechanyx (Jun 7, 2022)

Sorry for being late to my own thread. I haven't logged into the board for over a week.

First off, thanks @Thesius for posting this update.

I'm very confused by this wall of text though. What is the legal situation? When he write "Because we are moving forward with the prosecution" it was so out of nowhere I assumed they meant something else like "production" and it was just a translation mistake but then says "we are in deep negotiations with lawyers and the other side almost on daily basis" so I guess it really is a legal thing. Maybe my reading comprehension is just very bad but what is this about? People suing for refunds or is there context from another post that I missed?

All around, not good signs. Seems like a lot of people who get into guitar building have more of the required guitar building skills than they do the planning, logistics, budgeting and business operation skills.

It's doubly unfortunate because the accepted/default business model seems to be to shift a great deal of the risk onto the customers by getting money up front. In pretty much any other manufacturing business (pre-Kickstarter which don't get me started on those stats), you have to get investors to bring a product to market and hope it sells.


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## Tree (Jun 7, 2022)

I’d have to imagine they were using loans, defaulted on payments, and are now being sued by the lender(s).


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## mechanyx (Jun 7, 2022)

Tree said:


> I’d have to imagine they were using loans, defaulted on payments, and are now being sued by the lender(s).



Maybe but I can't imagine anyone giving a loan to a new small guitar builder.

Regardless, seems like you agree that the legal issue is unspecified, yeah?


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## FancyFish (Jun 7, 2022)

mechanyx said:


> Sorry for being late to my own thread. I haven't logged into the board for over a week.
> 
> First off, thanks @Thesius for posting this update.
> 
> ...


What I could gather from the Facebook group is that Indiegogo goes through some sort of middle man in certain countries and that middle man is not giving them their money, I assume because they don't have the guitars ready. And because of that, that's why they went through with a 2nd run of their guitars, this time getting money from a more direct form of payment.


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## mechanyx (Jun 9, 2022)

FancyFish said:


> What I could gather from the Facebook group is that Indiegogo goes through some sort of middle man in certain countries and that middle man is not giving them their money, I assume because they don't have the guitars ready. And because of that, that's why they went through with a 2nd run of their guitars, this time getting money from a more direct form of payment.



Ahh, yeah, I don't know anything about Indiegogo let alone an international campaign on the site (Indiegogo is US based) but that sounds both plausible and unfortunate.


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## Thesius (Jul 11, 2022)

Facebook update

ROADMAP UPDATE #6
Hello guys!
FIRST! THANKS FOR THE PETS!
Now as you may have noticed, on the outside the communication has been a little more sporadic than before. This is all due to the fact that Andy is now handling most of the Badstroke communication within a very limited time frame (few hours a week at most) Please be mindful of this. Ondřej and Sádlo are fully focused on finishing up the builds and getting them into your hands asap! With this being said, it sucks, but you just need to be patient.

PHOTOS?
There have been some questions as to why we can't just post photos continuously all the time, it takes like 2 seconds, type a sentence, done, right? Well since we haven't moved to a bigger workshop it's all a little bit more difficult space-wise. We have to assemble the parts that correspond to the build, arrange it up and send it to you - with 150 something guitars - very time consuming. All this while stopping doing whatever we are doing as we are often working on stuff that's not really photo-friendly and losing focus. It's been hard but we got THIS FAR! You just have to believe us at this point! Well, actually even if you don't you'll just get the finished piece eventually!

COMMUNICATION
With this being said. We are switching to 1on1 communication regarding the builds as things are finishing up pretty nicely. At this point just wait your turn, we'll contact you and figure out details of your build - check if your backplate design is okay, poplar tops will get to choose if they want the pickguard on the side in the package, installed or not at all, and any small things we may have discussed before as there were multiple things we may have talked about individually. Just be patient as you were, thank you for this! And anyone asking the frequency of up to 7 builds a shipment mini-batch with priority for guitars that can be shipped the soonest and in bigger quantity. If any of you have come to an agreenment that you want yours to be shipped together, we ask kindly both parties to send us an email with the other party in open copy to [email protected]. Together with the address you agreed upon 

PICKUPS
What were we working on the last month and a half? We spent some extra effort on perfecting the pickups so you guys are as happy with the "replacement" for BKPs as possible and those who chose to go with ours from the start, even more satisfied. And we are really proud of the results. As Rony posted here some days ago, you can have fun with his random noodling and get a grip of the final BDS pickups sound, ENJOY!
Badstroke_Leyak_random_noodling - Dropbox
LAWSUIT
We are proceeding nicely, we don't want to make any accusations but a lot of professionals actually pointed out that there may have been some kind of criminal activity going on with the financial operator. We have come to an agreement which we'll be signing by the end of the month when the first big installment is supposed to be paid off.

BACKPLATES
Please, the backplate designs are officially closed but we would like your builds to be perfect so we are potentially open to give it a go one more time. The .ai file needs to be exported from a graphic program like illustrator for example and the file is usually no smaller than 1MB, if it is let's say 60kB it's probably not gonna work. 

WHAT NOW?
Just wait your turn, we'll hit you up  We also had a lot of questions about Batch#2 reasonably so. Whole batch is in the body sanded stage - from there with all the cavities done it's a lot of the tedious and time consuming work out of the way. We added some of the photos of the torsos we recently updated some of the guys with  ALSO! Enjoy the backstage photos from today's photoshooting before sending first pieces out into the world to shred their way to some famous hands!


Thank you for sticking with us and being patient,
we really appreciate this and please remember, we are in this together,
With love,
Andy & Badstroke Team


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## Lemonbaby (Jul 12, 2022)

Constant delays, even more excuses, no pictures - here we go again. Did I understand correctly that they received advance payments for "150 something guitars"? I really hope someone receives a finished instrument one fine day.


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## tian (Jul 12, 2022)

What was the original price for these? Someone said $1150 earlier in the thread and they were supposed to come with BKPs, which brings the supposed cost to $850 -$900ish build for a custom guitar? And what currency would this be moving in, because the Euro has pretty much hit parity with USD and I assume causing issues with preordered international goods. Wouldn't they have to eat that loss?



Thesius said:


> we really appreciate this and please remember, we are in this together,
> With love,
> Andy & Badstroke Team


Jumping to the end real quick, this is the reddest of flags lmao.



Thesius said:


> PHOTOS?
> There have been some questions as to why we can't just post photos continuously all the time, it takes like 2 seconds, type a sentence, done, right? Well since we haven't moved to a bigger workshop it's all a little bit more difficult space-wise. We have to assemble the parts that correspond to the build, arrange it up and send it to you - with 150 something guitars - very time consuming. All this while stopping doing whatever we are doing as we are often working on stuff that's not really photo-friendly and losing focus. It's been hard but we got THIS FAR! You just have to believe us at this point! Well, actually even if you don't you'll just get the finished piece eventually!


Huh? Are they saying they won't post pictures of anything because of some made-up requirement they can only give pictures of completed guitars? Even BRJ was able to give an awkward thumbs up image standing around some random unfinished bodies.



Thesius said:


> COMMUNICATION
> With this being said. We are switching to 1on1 communication regarding the builds as things are finishing up pretty nicely. At this point just wait your turn...


Facebook group is already private and now trying to eliminate any collective knowledge of what the heck is going on.



Thesius said:


> PICKUPS
> What were we working on the last month and a half? We spent some extra effort on perfecting the pickups so you guys are as happy with the "replacement" for BKPs as possible and those who chose to go with ours from the start, even more satisfied. And we are really proud of the results.


Six weeks seems both too long to be spending on something like this considering people just want guitars but also too short to actually fine tune a pickup that actually competes with BKPs. Just feel like Bareknuckle wouldn't be able to charge the premium they do if anyone can come along and pump the same product with such rapid turnaround.



Thesius said:


> LAWSUIT
> We are proceeding nicely, we don't want to make any accusations but a lot of professionals actually pointed out that there may have been some kind of criminal activity going on with the financial operator. We have come to an agreement which we'll be signing by the end of the month when the first big installment is supposed to be paid off.


This is still my favorite part. Everyone knows it's not an accusation as long as you say it isn't before making said accusation. Also "a lot professionals actually pointed out" that whatever legal advice they're getting is coming from Facebook lawyers which, sure fine whatever, but considering all the money that is tied up in this and the slowdown it's causing on the production of the guitars, you'd assume they'd have hired real legal representation of some kind by now. Squirrelly financials is pretty par for the course of these sort of operations but this situation is especially dizzying in which direction money is supposed to be changing hands.


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## Jahnboy9000 (Jul 17, 2022)

This reads dangerously close to this dumpster fire I've been watching for a decade. If you've got a couple hours to kill might be worth a read. 









WARNING: Darrin Huff Basses / Zeller Guitars


12/16/15 UPDATE/WARNING: Over nine years after this initial post, the vast majority of us are still waiting for our basses After some delays due to...




www.talkbass.com


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## mechanyx (Jul 21, 2022)

Wow, yikes! 252 pages is a lot. My buddy yesterday told me he wanted to start a guitar company and I told him that there are easier ways to lose all your money.


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## Jahnboy9000 (Jul 21, 2022)

mechanyx said:


> Wow, yikes! 252 pages is a lot. My buddy yesterday told me he wanted to start a guitar company and I told him that there are easier ways to lose all your money.


19+ years of excuses, changing brand names, stringing along customers, asking for more money/different support, selling "side project" instruments, etc. and more stuff that seems to be happening here.
Started with a price point way too low for no-boundaries custom basses and then got buried by orders and just scammed his way out of ever delivering.


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## Infini (Jul 25, 2022)

Man, this sounds like a near 1to1 of the experience I had with GOC guitars, down to the promised pickups being refunded and their own brand installed "at no extra cost"
They were total garbage, of course.


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## Mura (Jul 25, 2022)

There is a demonstration video on youtube about Badstroke's PU, and I also received DI data for the PU when I exchanged emails with Ondrej.

I cannot judge whether it is superior or inferior to bare knuckle, but I felt that it is not of low quality and at least as good as kiesel lithium PU.
Of course, all of this is just speculation since I don't have the actual product on hand.


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## Mura (Sep 13, 2022)

Hey guys.

There has been no activity at all on the various social networking sites for bad stroke, and I have also been emailing them to inquire about the progress of the build and funding, but after a week, I have not received a response.

Does anyone know what's going on with badstroke?
Or has anyone received a completed guitar?


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## mechanyx (Sep 13, 2022)

I haven't been following the situation aside from this thread but that doesn't seem like a great sign.


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## FancyFish (Sep 13, 2022)

Mura said:


> Hey guys.
> 
> There has been no activity at all on the various social networking sites for bad stroke, and I have also been emailing them to inquire about the progress of the build and funding, but after a week, I have not received a response.
> 
> ...


From what I've seen in the Facebook group, only 1 person has posted that they received their guitar. And that was about a month ago.


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## tian (Sep 13, 2022)

FancyFish said:


> I would love to look into the chargeback option, but I don't really know where to start. I get that guitars are hard to build (especially during covid), but it's not like it was some super custom guitar, it's just a semi-custom. And barely even that.


Call your credit card company or bank and go from there. This is a shit show and unless you don't mind losing everything you've spent instead of doing a pretty typical financial procedure, you should really get started on the chargeback process. You're money though.


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## Mura (Sep 13, 2022)

FancyFish said:


> From what I've seen in the Facebook group, only 1 person has posted that they received their guitar. And that was about a month ago.


Hmmm...

Thanks for letting me know.

Even you, who ordered earlier than me, haven't received your guitar yet.

I'm still inclined to trust badstroke if I can, but the reality is that I may have to start looking into how to apply for a refund from my credit card company.


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## oracles (Sep 13, 2022)

Mura said:


> Hmmm...
> 
> Thanks for letting me know.
> 
> ...


Read through the BRJ, ViK, Sherman, Roter, Invictus, Brutalizer, Sabre, Siggery and Daemoness threads and tell me if you still want to trust Badstroke. 

Get your money back now while you still can, you're not going to get a guitar, you'll just be out money and time. Cut your losses.


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## olejason (Sep 14, 2022)

lol They're 1000000% not going to be sending guitars to anyone. Get your money back now and move on.


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## Wucan (Sep 15, 2022)

At this rate it sounds like they're in deeper shit than not delivering to customers lol


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## Thesius (Sep 22, 2022)

Seems like Badstroke is delivering guitars again


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## Hollowway (Sep 22, 2022)

Thesius said:


> Seems like Badstroke is delivering guitars again


Based on what evidence? I’m not in the FB group, but curious.


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## Thesius (Sep 22, 2022)

Hollowway said:


> Based on what evidence? I’m not in the FB group, but curious.


3 people got guitars this month in the FB group


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## Mura (Sep 22, 2022)

Thanks for letting me know.

This was big news for me as I was thinking of going through the refund process with my credit card company at the end of the week.

However, I don't know why they limit their information dissemination to Facebook groups.
And I have submitted an application to join the group but have not received permission yet.


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## Hollowway (Sep 23, 2022)

i


Mura said:


> Thanks for letting me know.
> 
> This was big news for me as I was thinking of going through the refund process with my credit card company at the end of the week.
> 
> ...


i don’t think the company has actually said anything yet. They’d probably do that on their own page. But it’s still a promising sign if there are some NGDs.


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## Kalsten (Sep 28, 2022)

Hi there. I am also in this Badstroke shitshow, but it is true that they are finishing and sending guitars to people finally. And so far, everyone seems to be quite happy with the quality of the guitars. These are some of the photos from users that have received their guitar:


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## wheresthefbomb (Sep 29, 2022)

wow I hate those 

glad people are getting their guitars tho


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## CanserDYI (Sep 29, 2022)

The bottom one is coolish.


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## wheresthefbomb (Sep 29, 2022)

CanserDYI said:


> The bottom one is coolish.



The color scheme gets a yes from me, for sure.


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## CanserDYI (Sep 29, 2022)

The middle one has voids in the burl that just look like big gouges out of the top.


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## Albake21 (Sep 29, 2022)

CanserDYI said:


> The middle one has voids in the burl that just look like big gouges out of the top.


Man, I'd be pretty upset with that top. Hopefully it's what the customer wanted.


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## Ben Pinkus (Sep 30, 2022)

I like the neck on the 2nd one tbf


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## cwhitey2 (Sep 30, 2022)

CanserDYI said:


> The middle one has voids in the burl that just look like big gouges out of the top.


Give the the shittiest top you have, sir.


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## aWoodenShip (Sep 30, 2022)

It truly is a shame that all this has happened. I really did want an emerald wendigo 8 at one point.


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## Thesius (Nov 9, 2022)

Looks like two more have been delivered. Not sure how far behind they are in batches but they are getting some guitars out


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## Mura (Nov 9, 2022)

I have also been able to join the Badstroke FB group so I know what is going on.
(It took a long time from the time I submitted my application to the time I was allowed to do so...)

Gradually the guitars seem to be getting completed, shipped and arriving.
This is a very good sign. I hope all will continue to go well.

I also emailed Badstroke to confirm the delivery date for the build and received a reply that it would be around the end of the year or the beginning of the new year.


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