Anybody here recently receive their SGD Lutherie pickups order?

fourstringbliss · #1 03-25-2011, 06:50 PM

Apparently Dave at SGD Lutherie pickups recently received a bad batch of epoxy and had to remake a bunch of orders, pushing other orders back. He got them wound, assembled, and epoxy potted only to find that the epoxy wouldn't cure correctly. What a nightmare, right?

Have any of you recently received your order? I ordered a set a while ago, and I know that mine was one of the orders to be pushed back - I'm just wondering if people are starting to get their orders.

line6man · #2 03-25-2011, 09:45 PM

On a side note, I haven't seen David around here or on Facebook for a while now. The last I heard, he's been really busy with his job at Sony, so he's had less and less time to get going on pickup orders.

FuzzBoxVoodoo · #3 03-25-2011, 10:17 PM

I have a outstanding order with him and he told me that he was waiting on the new Logo style covers.
I am not in a huge hurry so its not a big deal but it would be nice to get them.

fourstringbliss · #4 03-25-2011, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FuzzBoxVoodoo

I have a outstanding order with him and he told me that he was waiting on the new Logo style covers.
I am not in a huge hurry so its not a big deal but it would be nice to get them.

I'm a bit frustrated because I asked him two weeks ago Monday if they'd be going out that week and he said yes. They didn't ship. I asked him this past Monday and he said they'd be finished Tuesday and go out Wednesday. They didn't ship. I'm not in a huge hurry, but if you say they're going to ship on a particular day they should that day or you should let they guy know why, or something like that.

fourstringbliss · #5 03-25-2011, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by line6man

On a side note, I haven't seen David around here or on Facebook for a while now. The last I heard, he's been really busy with his job at Sony, so he's had less and less time to get going on pickup orders.

The epoxy thing couldn't have helped the situation either, huh?

bongomania · #6 03-25-2011, 10:51 PM

I placed an order several months ago... maybe 8 or 9? I might be exaggerating, but it was long enough ago that I couldn't say for sure. I knew in advance that there was no ETA promised or expected. But of course I'd love to hear good news!

bgartist · #7 03-26-2011, 02:36 PM

I made an order in June of last year. I received them about a month ago. They are great pickups.

prokfrog · #8 03-26-2011, 03:03 PM

I ordered a set of sidewinders in early Dec. I got them a couple of weeks ago. They are fantastic, and worth the wait. Be patient. David is going through some growing pains...

fourstringbliss · #9 03-26-2011, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prokfrog

I ordered a set of sidewinders in early Dec. I got them a couple of weeks ago. They are fantastic, and worth the wait. Be patient. David is going through some growing pains...

Yup. I'm going to be patient. I just got a bit nervous since he's no longer responding to my emails - but I'll bet he's getting a lot of those, huh?

I'm pairing a set of Sidewinders with a Nordstrand MM. I'm going to post pics and sound clips in the Frankenbass Club thread when it's finished.

Ibanez BTB1005
Audere 3ZB
Nordstrand MM5.2 (with series/single-coil/parallel switch)
SGD Sidwinders (with pickup selector switch)

Jim C · #10 03-26-2011, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prokfrog

David is going through some growing pains...

I like the guy alot, think he is very smart and innovative; that's not enough as a botique parts/service industry; Bill Lawrence is all of the above and many won't do business with him as his word about delivery dates is consistently innacurate. Hope David turns his business around quickly before the good name is tarnished.
Under promise / over deliver = repeat buisiness

fourstringbliss · #11 03-27-2011, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim C

I like the guy alot, think he is very smart and innovative; that's not enough as a botique parts/service industry; Bill Lawrence is all of the above and many won't do business with him as his word about delivery dates is consistently innacurate. Hope David turns his business around quickly before the good name is tarnished.
Under promise / over deliver = repeat buisiness

+1.

I like supporting new businesses and I don't mind waiting a while if it's a good product (and I'm sure the Sidewinders are). I appreciate how I can completely customize my order and every pickup size is the same price (which is good for me, since I need longer pickups). I understand when a one-man manufacturer runs into issues, especially when I hear about the epoxy thing which was out of his control.

My issue here has been with communication. It would have been good to get an email about the epoxy thing - even a group email to all of the folks who placed orders. I didn't know about the epoxy thing until I checked back on his website. It looks like it happened about three weeks ago and at the time he said my pickups would be ready soon. Apparently mine were ordered after the ones that had to be remade because the epoxy issue but I had to put two and to together about that. Until I learned about the epoxy thing I was getting frustrated but then I completely understood. Al little communication goes a long way.

line6man · #12 03-27-2011, 10:40 AM

Have you read this thread?
...

fourstringbliss · #13 03-27-2011, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by line6man

Have you read this thread?
...

Nope - I didn't see that. I'm sure I'm going to be getting my pickups at some point. I just hope this guy doesn't go the way of so many other startups who fail because people are disappointed. Communication is the key!

fourstringbliss · #14 03-27-2011, 10:55 AM

Okay, so I read through that thread you posted and from his responses I'm hearing a man who is trying desperately to keep up with orders. Not a bad problem to have, huh? It's better to have too much work than not enough. I'll bet he has to decide between working on pickups and answering emails - I'd rather have him working on the pickups.

fourstringbliss · #15 03-29-2011, 10:43 AM

I emailed David about the communication issue and business and he responded telling me that he agreed and then relating all he's been dealing with lately. What a bunch of dumb luck! I'll give more details later, but he's been in over his head lately, which explains the lack of communication.

fourstringbliss · #16 03-30-2011, 10:14 AM

Here's a short list of what David's been dealing with:

He got bunch of orders and had made most of the pickups only to find that the epoxy order he received wouldn't fully cure - ruining all of the pickups he made with that epoxy. He had to remake the lot of them, but also had to buy new wire, magnets, bobbins, pickup covers, and epoxy in addition to issuing a number of refunds. To generate the funds necessary to recover from the loss he took on some side work for Sony Corp. which took up his daylight hours, so all of his pickup work had to be done at night. Finally, the transmission on his '07 Nissan went out, so he's been riding the bus. It's Murphy's Law in the flesh! I wrote him about the communication issue, saying that we all want to support his business but we need better communication, and he agreed.

captainhaddock · #17 03-30-2011, 10:45 AM

David seemed like a really nice guy on the few times I contacted him when I was deciding on what pickups to order.
I would like to wish him all the best and hopes it all works out for him in the end

fourstringbliss · #18 03-30-2011, 10:51 AM

Agreed.

SGD Lutherie · #19 03-30-2011, 11:19 AM

Hi everyone. I'm still alive.

As was noted here... I had this issue:

Around the same time I was doing a very large OEM order for a builder well known on TB for the NAMM show. These are private label pickups, so I'm not at liberty to tell who he is. Some of these pickups are made in rubber molds. This epoxy ruined several molds, on top of not curing. So I had to make the molds over. This really pushed me behind, and on top of that I haven't even finished his entire order! I have one remaining set to finish.

I run on a small budget, so I took on some freelance graphics work at Sony to help pay the bills. Just making the new molds required $100 worth of rubber. Unfortunately the freelance job is using up valuable time to make pickups. So I'm up at 7, work on pickups until 2:30, head into work. Work from 4 to 11pm, and then get home at 12:30, and sometimes work omn pickups until 2 am, and then start over again.

I'm sleep deprived and getting pretty burnt.

The good news is that I'm getting about 4 sets done a week. Here's some 6 string sidewinders waiting for epoxy:

I'm now getting those ready to ship out. The other good news is my freelance assignment should be ending this week, so I can get things running smoothly again.

But some bad news is I'm all out of every style of pickup cover except the 5-string EMG and Bart style soaps. My supplier isn't answering my emails, so I need to find a new one.

Being a small business sucks sometimes.

Oh and the car is now fixed.

But that took a whole paycheck.

If you have questions, send me a message and I'll try and get back to you ASAP. I'm just trying to not be on the computer any more than I need to.

David

MPU · #20 03-30-2011, 11:19 AM

David sure is one of the nicest TB'ers I've been in contact. He was very, very helpful with my 8-coil pickup project.
Marko