Scott at Birdsong is definitely more rigid and less accomodating than Landing. After about three emails with Scott regarding a Birdsong I had in mind, Scott stopped answering my emails. I felt that was not very courteous of him. Before I outlay $2000 for a bass I am going to ask some questions. When that happened I realized he is not the builder I want to work with. I am also not enthused about the Birdsong pickup choice, but I guess its his baby. I chose something else.
Was just informed of this and given a link, I don't get on here much but hello from Scott at Birdsong. If "BASSIST" is Torin, hi - the last email from you I got after tallying up the requests of yours I could accomodate and explaining the rest I wouldn't (wenge neck, controls mounted invisibly - no holes - inside the rear cavity, etc. etc.), was that the bass would have been (in 2008) almost $3000 Canadian and that would take some serious thought.
This was after many emails through '07 - '08 and a custom thumbrest I made you for your Jazz bass (something I don't normally do)...
After the "I'll think about it" email I responded with some ideas that could bring the price down for you and THAT was our last communication. I do not generally "stop communicating with" people.
Though often times it takes a few days to get back to an email and occasionally one gets swallowed by SPAM filters (inboxes of public companies get swamped by this stuff), and sometimes folks are less than pleased when I won't modify everything I do to suit their every desire, please give all of us independent builders the courtesy of a re-send or even a phone call (we're all easy to find) if you think we haven't answered your questions or responded fully. I spend
hours on the phone & answering emails when I'm not butt deep in woodchips.
On behalf of all independent builders, thank you for your support - to the thread poster, I am sure you'll be happy with the work of all builders mentioned. Just please read their site and understand what they do - that's
your part of this all. If any seem unwilling or unaccomodating, it might just be that, like chefs, we have our recipes that we know work, like to cook a consistent and refined dish, and thus we offer our best to you rather than experimenting & redesigning something every time.
You can be sure for any independent luthier this is a labor of love - there are much easier paths to take in life & luthiery than this and I doubt any of us go out of our way to be unaccomodating, blow you off, or just be difficult. I know I can speak for other too when I say you DO mean a lot to we builders as individuals, as players with needs we may be able to help with, but please understand there are dozens of you and one of us.
I would further encourage anyone with questions for
any builder to contact them directly for the most accurate answers and a first-hand feel for their demeanor and customer service (while factoring in what I said above, please).
Ok, back to work for me.
Thank you for this forum where I can occasionally respond to the rare post of this sort. BASSIST I am glad you found your bass, play in peace brother. And the same love & peace to all of you.
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