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Atkinson Owners Club

#101
Reynoldbot said:
So it's been roughly a year and a half since I received my Atkinson Pea, and I wanted to share my experience thus far:

To make a long story short, my Atkinson is simply the best bass I have ever owned or played, period. The sound is excellent, its feel is perfect, it plays like a dream, and its looks get better by the day. It's perfectly balanced and is by far the lightest bass I've ever owned. Here are some examples of what a year and a half of consistent gigging has done for the Atkinson's mojo:

IMG_0519.jpg


Note the subtle checking on the body and the discoloration on the back of the neck. Beautiful! So I've thoroughly enjoyed my time with my Atkinson, and I eagerly await the years of fun to come!
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Glad you are putting it to good use. That's what I want to see. :bassist:
 
#106
Wow.. looks like he copied the same die used on the Alleva Coppolo '66 tuners.

spiritbass said:
Dan finished my Jay and sent some pics to share. The grain doesn't show in the pic showing the body, but it is transparent white. Now I just have to be patient while it is in transit. :cool:

pics002.jpg


pics004.jpg
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#109
gjbassist said:
Great looking bass!
Just curious, Dan's website says he is no longer in business. How did you get a bass from him?
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]

FROM DAN's SITE


Why are you shutting down?

This was a very difficult decision. The vast majority of my customers have been great, and a true pleasure to work with. However, like any business that deals with the public, Atkinson Basses has had its fair share of...bad apples.

This has always been a side business for me. I have a day job in IT that pays me quite well, so Atkinson Basses has never existed as a big profit generator. Most of you would laugh if you saw my profit margins. I might as well be running a charity. Consider this: If you were to build your own custom bass using Warmoth parts, and the premium components that I use, your cost would be about $1,325 and you would do all the assembly, shielding, wiring, and setup work yourself. That is, if you know how. Lately I have charged about $1,500 per bass. So for only $175, I will handle everything for you. You simply open a box with a gorgeous, well-built bass ready to play.

The low profits have never been an issue for me. I'm not in this for the money. I honestly enjoy building quality instruments for people who might not be able to afford the $2,500 (and up) boutique basses out there. That's what has kept me in the game.

The problem is, about 1 out of every 5 customers is a nightmare. These people completely ruin the experience for me. They turn what should be enjoyable and rewarding into a mess of frustration. And if there's no fun in it, there's no point in it.

If you're in the market for a custom bass, I highly recommend Valenti and Birdsong. Definitely give them your consideration. Unfortunately there is nobody, that I know of, producing the caliber of bass I did for so affordable a price.

Peace,

Dan
 
#116
RS said:
I'd be curious to know as to what he considers as nightmare customers.
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We could guess when a search to find posts bashing Ernie Ball, Sadowsky, Fender, Ibanez, Carvin..with complaints, some possibly warranted, some just stupid. Those companies have Customer Service departments to absorb and diffuse. He's just one guy.

I was in contact with him a while back when I was considering a bass..this is sad news.
 
#117
Back when there was still some decent $$ in it, I had a decent little side business building hi end gaming computers and rock solid daily use desktops. I totally understand his comment about nightmare customers.

Ya wanna suck the life out of something fun, involve the world at large, it gets old after a while.

Take care Dan, you made a great product and it was really fun watching you grow your product line and read your posts.
 
#119
RS said:
I'd be curious to know as to what he considers as nightmare customers.
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Start a company these days and see. No one gives you good reviews online (very few anyways) however when you cannot provide a service an out of bounds customer wants (E.g. A taxi in the next two minutes on Friday at 5pm or a three block pre reservation for a Friday at 5pm) you get slain over and over on yelp, yahoo, google local and a slew of other locations where the user can remain anonymous signing in as "wrestler593".

This is not counting the general out of bounds-ness they give you live over the phone.

I commend Dan for producing a good product at a great price as long as he did!
 
#120
On this dark occasion, I am at least glad to be able to bestow spiirtbass with club member #10. Congratulations on a freaking fantastic looking bass, and if it is Dan's final build, then he's definitely going out with a bang. I get the slightly less honorable distinction of having owned the only lefty Atkinson ever made (to my knowledge anyway).

Dan, I'm sad to see you exiting the business, but judging by your explanation its hard to argue with your logic. I second Josh Pelican's idea of continuing builds for people you liked dealing with.

But just because Dan's exiting the business, that doesn't mean the Atkinson Owners Club is done. I'm sure there are plenty more Atkinson owners out there roaming the infranets, and if you're out there, just post a picture of your lovely Atkinson bass and you're in!
 

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