SGD Lutherie - Customer experience poll

[cassius987]

I voted "OK" not "Good" but should have voted "Good" considering the tone of this thread. For me "OK" meant less than perfect but still good, basically, but most people seem to interpret it as being on the fence about David which I am not. Let me be clear, I stand totally behind him, he is a great guy, and he did tell me I would need to be patient about my custom order. The fact that he followed up with me months later to see how things were going is "above and beyond" for sure.

[DaSnowman]

Dave was most helpful to me although i havent committed yet.He was fast with answering questions and very Pleasant to communicate with.Answered every question i had and i like people like him.

[ericmknight1906]

I purchased a pair of 6 string soapbar pups (emg dimensions) from him a couple of years ago. At that time the turnaround rate was about 5-6 weeks. I finally received the pups and installed w/ no problem. The wires were soldered on the wrong side of the pups which caused the SGD logos to be upside down after install. (I actually took photos and posted them in the SGD thread as part of a discussion that we were having.) It was kind of annoying to look at but I didn't make a big deal about it. On a good note, the Sound of these pups were awesome. They had a dark, beefy, smooth tube amp tone with a lot of clarity in the highs and lows. The next closest sound would probably be a high-end set of barts.

The customer service was decent considering the fact that this was a one man business at the time. A contact phone # instead of just email communication probably could have made customer service a little better.

I would probably rate my overall expericence an 8.5/10

[jp8848]

Ordered a set of ND3 pups from David a few weeks ago! Of course in business, life happens and David has been "Johnny on the spot" in staying on communication with me! He has apparently moved his shop and trying to most likely get in a better atmosphere for building his business. It's like a few on here have said, the bad votes did not leave a reason! Well if I had a bad reason, you can bet your ass I will tell why!! David, keep on doing what you are doing buddy!! GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT AND ARE PATIENT!! I vote GOOD!!!! Looking at buidling a Jbass soon and SGD Jazz Bass Pickups WILL BE installed in it!!

[ethanbowen666]

Originally Posted by jp8848

Ordered a set of ND3 pups from David a few weeks ago! Of course in business, life happens and David has been "Johnny on the spot" in staying on communication with me! He has apparently moved his shop and trying to most likely get in a better atmosphere for building his business. It's like a few on here have said, the bad votes did not leave a reason! Well if I had a bad reason, you can bet your ass I will tell why!! David, keep on doing what you are doing buddy!! GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT AND ARE PATIENT!! I vote GOOD!!!! Looking at buidling a Jbass soon and SGD Jazz Bass Pickups WILL BE installed in it!!

wait... have you recived your order?! Cause I'm still waiting on mine

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by ethanbowen666

wait... have you recived your order?! Cause I'm still waiting on mine

Ethan, you know I just moved. I told you that in email last week. But I'm up and running now. It took a week longer than anticipated. My shop was in the same location for the last six or seven years.

I'm finishing up yours, and a bunch of other orders. Just hang tight, because they will be finished this week.

His order was before yours, and before my move.

[ethanbowen666]

awe I know I'm sorry I wasn't meaning to complain . I thought that maybe his was in the same batch as mine and they where getting sent out. I'm just weird like that.

I was gunna ask. I'm going to get some tiny switches to put in my control cavity for series/parallel/split. I was at radio shack and noticed all their switches had amp and voltage ratings... Would their be something specific I should be looking for? maybe I should PM this.

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by ethanbowen666

awe I know I'm sorry I wasn't meaning to complain . I thought that maybe his was in the same batch as mine and they where getting sent out. I'm just weird like that.

No, I have about 10 orders that I got as far as I could before packing up. Yours are in those. So now I'm getting them all ready for epoxy. The move was a royal PITA, and took two weeks to just get everything here, since I was moving most of the stuff myself, with the help of a friend. Then I had to get all set up again. And it wasn't just the shop, I moved myself also.

I was gunna ask. I'm going to get some tiny switches to put in my control cavity for series/parallel/split. I was at radio shack and noticed all their switches had amp and voltage ratings... Would their be something specific I should be looking for? maybe I should PM this.

It doesn't matter as far as voltage and amp ratings. Radio Shack doesn't have the best quality switches, but they work fine. They feel very stiff however. Also, they only sell DPDT on-on or on-off-on. You need an on-on-on switch to do the split mode, which they don't sell.

PM or email me and I'll help you out with that.

[bassmandudeguy]

I have a set of ND3 Neo's in my Schecter and they sound totally killer! Exactly the tone I was going after. Of course I upgraded the OEM preamp to a an EMG BQC as well so I understand that's a huge factor in my new tone.

One of the reasons I chose the SGD pickups though was because I had seen David posting on TB helping many many people and he seemed like a good dude so I pretty much just wanted to support his craft. He answered ALL of my sometimes probably stupid questions and offered plenty of advice. To me it was an effort to join in and support the TB community here and although it may be cheesy, it made me feel good to buy from a small business rather then a corporation. Not to mention it's 100% made in the USA!

Now to be totally honest it did take a bit longer then quoted to get my order. But I went in with the expectation that it would probably take awhile since I knew SGD Lutherie was a one man show. I was ok with that. I did start to get a little impatient towards the end but that was due to my own excitement and lack of patience more then anything! David communicated often and quickly throughout all phases of my order and that greatly helped calm my nerves lol.

Overall it was a excellent experience and I learned a lot. I will probably buy from him again down the road when I have need of new pickups. Thanks man!

[wcriley]

Originally Posted by bassmandudeguy

...One of the reasons I chose the SGD pickups though was because I had seen David posting on TB helping many many people and he seemed like a good dude so I pretty much just wanted to support his craft. He answered ALL of my sometimes probably stupid questions and offered plenty of advice. To me it was an effort to join in and support the TB community here and although it may be cheesy, it made me feel good to buy from a small business rather then a corporation. Not to mention it's 100% made in the USA!...

Everytime I think about changing pickups, I have the same thoughts and SGD tops my list.

Unfortunately for David (but fortunately for me ), the urge to change just for the sake of change quickly passes.

[SGD Lutherie]

Originally Posted by wcriley

Everytime I think about changing pickups, I have the same thoughts and SGD tops my list.

Unfortunately for David (but fortunately for me ), the urge to change just for the sake of change quickly passes.

Urges come and go, but pickups are forever.

(Hey we need to do some TalkBass greeting cards...)

[QuintrKD]

Originally Posted by bassguitarthund

I did not vote because I have never bought anything from him. However, from reading his posts on here I have come to really respect the man. If I ever buy custom pickups, I guarantee it will be from him!!

+1. In my opinion, any negative votes that weren't accompanied by a post regarding their own efforts at resolving the issue within this thread should be taken with a grain of salt. I'd hate to see such a valued contributer suffer because a number of his customers had unrealistic expectations.

[Coldmilk]

Jesus, hearing those soundclips on the SGD website induce GAS more than seeing pictures of basses.

[cassius987]

Originally Posted by Coldmilk

Jesus, hearing those soundclips on the SGD website induce GAS more than seeing pictures of basses.

That's a great compliment if I've ever heard one.

[jp8848]

JUST GOT MY ND3's!!!! All I can say is WOW!!!! The quality of craftsmanship is unreal!! You can tell he really puts in some time building these things! Cannot wait to get them in my bass tomorrow!!!! I will without a doubt be doing business again with SGD!!! Great products for sure!

[Oblique]

Hi, New member here. One reason I signed up finally is to give props to David. I bought one of his sidewinders to install in an Ibanez GWB1 and it really sounds great, much better than the original Bart.
His communication was great and shipping was slightly faster than stated turnaround time.
I'll definitely be back for more.

[tylerwylie]

Well, not sure what rating I'll give I'll just state what my experience has been so far.

Ordered pickup March 18th, quoted a lead time of 2 weeks.

Asked for a status update on April 9th via email, no response to that. Asked again on April 14th via email, April 15th I got a response from David stating it'd be going out later this week.

April 29th, no pickup yet. Sent an email asking for an update. David on April 30th via email said that he had just finished moving so things were delayed. Stated he should have my pickup out that week, just needs the epoxy put in. I also asked for possibility for another order in having a custom shell made for one of my basses, and he responded with information regarding that.

May 18th, no pickup yet. Sent an email asking for an update, no update sent.

May 21st, no pickup yet. Sent an email asking for an update. No reply yet. Today I also sent a PM to him via the TalkBass forums. I'm hoping he will reply, but it's been 2 months now and still no pickup. With this kind of wait time and lack of communication I am not sure if I will place another order, though I am confident that the pickup I ordered will sound great (when I finally get it).

[BassikLee]

I will gladly vote, once I get my order. I am not complaining. David was very good about ansering the few questions I had prior to my order. The "should ship by" time is fast approaching, and I look forward to having the goodies in my hot little hands soon.


Lee

[SGD Lutherie]

Hey everyone, I'm still just running behind because of my move. I have parts of some of my power tools missing and stuff. It's a real nuisance.

But all the outstanding orders are getting finished up.

Tyler, your pickup is on the bench right now getting finished up. Your set too Lee. I should be shipping them in the next couple of days.

[ethanbowen666]

So here is my experience so far...

Order Date: Apr 13, 2012

PM sent April/19
"Hi David,
Sorry to bug you on TB but I can't use email here. JW if you got my order and if you would happen to know when the pickups will ship out.
Thanks"

Immediate Respose same day
"Hi, yes I got your order.
But now that I look at this message, you were asking if I had some jazzbuckers in stock. Those are jazz bass size pickups. I call them ND3-J4. Those I have a set of made already.
However, your order was for ND3-35 narrow aperture pickups. While they are the same type of pickup, I didn't have those in stock. I didn't see until now that you asked about "ND3-35 Jazzbuckers." They are two different pickup shapes.
So I'm working on your order right now. They should be going out on Monday or Tuesday.
David"

Email sent 4/30 (9 days after "tuesday")
"Hi, Its Ethan,
Just wondering what the status of my pickups are...
All I have to reference the order is my payment transaction from paypall which is: *************
Thanks"

Immediate response (same day)
"Hi Ethan,
Your order is 95% done. I just moved this week, so I got as many pickups ready for epoxy as I could before having to pack up the shop. So I will be doing the epoxy step in the next couple of days, as soon as I have a few things unpacked.
David"

around the same time sgd-lutherie.com states that he just moved and that outstanding orders will ship the second week of may.

May/13 (as you can see the conversation above on this page)

Originally Posted by SGD Lutherie

Ethan, you know I just moved. I told you that in email last week. But I'm up and running now. It took a week longer than anticipated. My shop was in the same location for the last six or seven years.

I'm finishing up yours, and a bunch of other orders. Just hang tight, because they will be finished this week.

His order was before yours, and before my move.

Email sent May/21 (3rd week of may)
"Just wondering when my pickups will ship out..."

immediate response (same day)
"Hi, should be going out tomorrow or Wednesday.
Sorry for the delay.
David"

Email sent may/24 (the following Thursday, a week ago)
Sorry to bug you, I'm just wondering if I'm getting my order any time soon. I've had my custom bass completly finished for almost two weeks now save the pickups. I'm getting really anxious to play it..."

about 5 hours later the same day i get my shipping confirmation from paypal.
Tracking number "9107150134711379949236"

I immediately send this email:
"Hey David, I just got my shipment confirmation from paypal. Thanks for your service, and I'll be sure to let you know what I think of my new pickups!
Cheers"


Yesterday may/30
tracking has no updates, I call the post office they tell me the label has been created but they have not recived the package from the shipper yet

I send this email...
"So the Post Office says that the label for that tracking number (9107150134711379949236 ) has been created online but they have not received the package from you yet.
Whats going on?
THanks"


So that being said I've been pretty patient with the whole ordeal I understand the moving, having to do the epoxy in groups ext... Until yesterday when I called the post office and they told me that they have not received the package from the shipper. It makes me wonder if he just created the label to make me think that he shipped them. I'm just really sick of dealing with this. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm ever going to get my pickups. I'm debating asking for a refund or doing a charge back.

I still haven't received a response for my last email that I sent yesterday, hopefully I can get one from this. I actually voted "good" in this pole because he responded to my emails so quickly and always answered all of my tech questions. But now... idk I'm a pretty unhappy customer =(... I'm sure the pickups will be amazing though ... if I ever get them