Problem with selling amps is...

[dorrisant]

I feel for you. Seems to happen when you do repairs too. I can't tell you how many times I get calls from people who don't have a basic grip on the effects loop in their own amp. I can understand if someone just picked it up and had it serviced before they play it. Usually I can get them to figure out most problems in five minutes or so. Not always though. Some people just have little to no communication skills. Sorry you have to deal with one of those, Miles.

I gotta ask, did you charge him for his repair request? You should anyway. Someone should teach them to not be so stupid or prepare to pay for stupidity, their option. Money out of their pocket teaches a point sometimes.

I try to remind customers that the symptoms and how they communicate them to me will directly affect their labor bill. I have had guys just stare at me when I've said that... Weird, I can't tell if they pissed or are just processing. I can usually read the body language enough to understand that I will have to figure it out before they say it. Oh well, I'm on their clock.

I have been building and selling quite a few lately... been fortunate there for the most part. Seems like I have a better chance of trouble when modding an amp more than with builds. It would be nice to just build... Less schematics to keep track of, less unfamiliar problems, less parts space. Repairing is learning though, and I am in no way close to done learning anyway.

Or the guys that spend $2500 on guitars, $3500 on name brand amps but offer me $500 for my custom amp.

Exactly!! I've had a few customers play 10+ hours on one of my amps only to go buy a Mesa a week later. I sometimes see that guilty look on their face later, like they've made a mistake... you know that "I bought a three channel amp but only play one of them" look. or the "My $$$$ new amp still doesn't have the good cleans like yours" look. I had an argument with a guy once. He told me that I needed to put cheaper parts in my amps so I could keep the price down. I should add that he plays a $3500 guitar through a Roland cube knock-off. He wouldn't know tone if it bit him the ass.

Miles, one last thought... Could you maybe try to record one of those phone calls and post it here? I'm sure quite a few of us would get a good laugh out of it.

[Reeltarded]

It's not just amps. I built this guy two guitars. Guitar calls go like this..

Hey.

Hey.

What's up...

Hey, you know the bridge on my strat?

Yes. I know that bridge. Please give in my regards.

It's not floating now.

Right. What happened.

It's not floating.

Ok, do we have any idea what has changed since it was floating?

I was changing strings and noticed it was sitting flat and I pushed it to where it used to be but it pulls back.

[dorrisant]

You can inform the ignorant but you just can't fix stupid.

[roberto]

That remembers me about a man in his 50s that started doing the DJ.
He came something like six times telling me his system was broken, but it never was.
He was just unable to manage a mixer. I've explained it free of charge all the time, except the last one, when I charged all the previous wasted time multiplied by two. It worked: he never came back again.

[Reeltarded]

hahahaha

I am a theoretical aritmetician. I am pretty sure we can get a 5 out of two 3s if someone stands on the first.

[ER]

I'm an artist, anything I build is an elaborate sculpture that's only meant to be looked at and appreciated as the fine work of art that it is.

If the person that buys it wants to touch it, plug it in, or try and make music with it, that's on them. I bet there's some bronze sculptures that would sound pretty cool if you smacked them with a baseball bat or light up neat if you plugged them into the wall, but if doing that burns their house down, puts a dent in it, or it topples off the pedestal and crushes them, that's not the problem of the artist.

If they want to return it for whatever reason, tell them that's very generous of them to donate it back to be part of the original artist's collection, and thank them for being a true patron of the arts.

If they don't want to give it back, tell them to wait till you're dead to see if increases in value...

[ChopSauce]

I'm an artist, anything I build is an elaborate sculpture that's only meant to be looked at and appreciated as the fine work of art that it is.

...

I thought about that too

[Reeltarded]

I wish someone would steal the amp then feature it in a video on youtube where it's been dropped from a tall building.

[Rockwell666]

Or the guys that spend $2500 on guitars, $3500 on name brand amps but offer me $500 for my custom amp.

This!! 100% this.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Or the guys that spend $2500 on guitars, $3500 on name brand amps but offer me $500 for my custom amp.

This!! 100% this.

Agree. What I'd like to do, is take that chump's $500, drop a pile of parts in his lap, there you go! Thanks for your business.

[Phil_S]

Agree. What I'd like to do, is take that chump's $500, drop a pile of parts in his lap, there you go! Thanks for your business.

Yeah. I'm reminded that some people don't understand that you pay 80% for what someone knows how to do and 20% for the doing of that thing and not the other way around. Knowledge is hard sought and won and has lasting value; labor is cheap.

There's some old joke out there about some mechanic/trades person who has a cranky customer who asks for an itemized bill. The guy writes up the bill: Bolt 50¢. Knowing where to put the bolt, $99.50.

[pompeiisneaks]

Agree. What I'd like to do, is take that chump's $500, drop a pile of parts in his lap, there you go! Thanks for your business.

Yeah. I'm reminded that some people don't understand that you pay 80% for what someone knows how to do and 20% for the doing of that thing and not the other way around. Knowledge is hard sought and won and has lasting value; labor is cheap.

There's some old joke out there about some mechanic/trades person who has a cranky customer who asks for an itemized bill. The guy writes up the bill: Bolt 50¢. Knowing where to put the bolt, $99.50.

That quote is a paraphrase from something that happened to Henry Ford on his assembly line. Something had gone wrong and he brought in GE to repair it. The original quote was a bill that Henry Ford didn't want to pay for 10,000 to GE. The engineer was Charles Steinmetz. Ford asked for an itemized bill. This was that itemized bill:

"Making chalk mark on generator, $1. Knowing where to make mark, $9,999."

He immediately paid the bill

~Phil

[M Fowler]

I never thought my Fender Princeton Reverb builds would ever sell but I've built and sold those combo's for $1100 each.

Those owners know tone though and that makes all the difference.

I'm stopping while I ahead though because those re-issue PR's used are $800 and are going to be around $200 to $300 in the near future. Ripe for us builders to strip down and tone up!

Mark

[Cathode Ray]

I don't build/sell amps, but this was an entertaining read because so much of it relates to my 10 years in Information Technology.

Tryna help people who, half the time broke the equipment themselves and then turn it into a guessing game to figure out what they did.

The other half of the time, there was a legitimate problem, but they had zero verbal communication skills coupled with a really bad attitude.

[Reeltarded]

but they had zero verbal communication skills coupled with a really bad attitude.

That is exactly what I do to end all conversations. Intelligent Design.

"Oops.. do I smell a bridge on fire?"