<<This is a repost so I could edit, I hope this is ok>> Hello fellow bassists, over the last 10 years or so I have experienced a few setbacks by being scammed by luthiers that claimed to build me my dream basses. Since then I have seen many reports online about other musicians scammed the same way, I thought I'd write my experiences here so other musicians can learn from mine.
This story is about the latest experience that I had with a luthier Jon Hill of Bootleg Guitars.
End of 2018 I found an article on Premier Guitar about this new brand, Bootleg Guitars by Jon Hill. The bass looked interesting to me so I took a look at the website. I found that this guy builds basses for famous players like Stefan Lessard of Dave Matthews Band and Tom Araya of Slayer. It seemed legit because of the Premier Guitar article and these roster of famous players.
I contacted Jon over email about a long list of my ideas of the bass, neck dimension, pickup combinations, type of bridge, wood, colors etc. He seemed excited and said "Yes, I can build this no problem" He also told me that the cost would be $2200, which seemed like a very good deal for a custom bass like this.
He told me he requires a deposit, 1/4 of the whole cost. and the bass would be built in 3-4month. I said ok.
A few months passed by and he sent me pictures of his design and he said he would start to build this bass then his communication started to shift. He started to ask questions that had already been discussed over and over again, and he asked for another deposit. I sadly paid him again because I was excited about the bass.
Another couple of months passed by and he sent me a picture of a cut out body, at this time the deadline had already passed.
After this, it's just me messaging him every week if he has made any progress. More questions from him asking "hey what do you think about roasted maple necks?" or "How about this bridge instead of this one?" Answering questions with questions... very frustrating and also alarming behavior.
Almost 6 month passed, and he sent a picture of the neck, which had a big crack on the head stock, I asked him what it was and he said "look, I'm not proud of it. I'll glue it" I said absolutely not. He has to remake the neck. He replied that he has another neck that's on an already built bass that he can use. At this point I just wanted to be done with this project so I said ok.
Now, he asked for full payment before the bass was completed, what?
Over a year later, I finally received the bass, and I was shocked! Off the bat, I've never seen such an awful finish in my life. My student's Squier looks better than this. There were hairs and dust under the finish in many spots (gross!), tool marks were everywhere on the body and neck. Tuners looked used and had scratches on them already. Oh and one of the face dots were misaligned! How elementary! How did he think any customer would be happy to receive this? It looked like some kid's garage project
As I tested out this bass, I realized that electronics were not wired right. At this point, I decided to bring it to the local luthier for further investigation.
My local go to luthier Mike Lull (RIP) took a look at the bass, he took a few minutes and said "oh, boy..." He found a pool of solder in the switch which was shortening out the circuit and needed to be replaced, Neck was warped and the truss rod maxed out. Nut was slanted that needed to be simed. Several high frets. Neck dimension is not what I asked for. Oh, and the pickups and the bridge were not what I wanted either.
I was sad, disappointed and furious, so I wrote JH. Told him about it. At this point, I thought of sending it back and trying to get a full refund but I was afraid that he wouldn't pay me back and would lose the instrument in my hand. He had excuses after excuses but he agreed on building me a replacement neck.
Another year passed and I finally received that new neck (again tool marks everywhere, fingerprints under the finish...) but I had to pay another local luthier to install it for me (different heel size...)
I just have to say you get what you pay for, maybe.... $2200 is not a lot for custom instruments. That's why guys like Fodera cost you $8000 and up. I think my search for custom basses are over, it just is not worth it for me. I was burnt twice, the first time was by Marco Schoots of Windmill Guitars.
I thought by seeing famous players using it or publications like Premier Guitar having a write up, the luthier is legit but it's not true at all. I have seen many horror stories online since then. I thought I needed to speak up. I really wish famous musicians or publications would do more research, so little guys like us won't get burnt.
I hope you guys are well and healthy, take care.
Here are some photos
This story is about the latest experience that I had with a luthier Jon Hill of Bootleg Guitars.
End of 2018 I found an article on Premier Guitar about this new brand, Bootleg Guitars by Jon Hill. The bass looked interesting to me so I took a look at the website. I found that this guy builds basses for famous players like Stefan Lessard of Dave Matthews Band and Tom Araya of Slayer. It seemed legit because of the Premier Guitar article and these roster of famous players.
I contacted Jon over email about a long list of my ideas of the bass, neck dimension, pickup combinations, type of bridge, wood, colors etc. He seemed excited and said "Yes, I can build this no problem" He also told me that the cost would be $2200, which seemed like a very good deal for a custom bass like this.
He told me he requires a deposit, 1/4 of the whole cost. and the bass would be built in 3-4month. I said ok.
A few months passed by and he sent me pictures of his design and he said he would start to build this bass then his communication started to shift. He started to ask questions that had already been discussed over and over again, and he asked for another deposit. I sadly paid him again because I was excited about the bass.
Another couple of months passed by and he sent me a picture of a cut out body, at this time the deadline had already passed.
After this, it's just me messaging him every week if he has made any progress. More questions from him asking "hey what do you think about roasted maple necks?" or "How about this bridge instead of this one?" Answering questions with questions... very frustrating and also alarming behavior.
Almost 6 month passed, and he sent a picture of the neck, which had a big crack on the head stock, I asked him what it was and he said "look, I'm not proud of it. I'll glue it" I said absolutely not. He has to remake the neck. He replied that he has another neck that's on an already built bass that he can use. At this point I just wanted to be done with this project so I said ok.
Now, he asked for full payment before the bass was completed, what?
Over a year later, I finally received the bass, and I was shocked! Off the bat, I've never seen such an awful finish in my life. My student's Squier looks better than this. There were hairs and dust under the finish in many spots (gross!), tool marks were everywhere on the body and neck. Tuners looked used and had scratches on them already. Oh and one of the face dots were misaligned! How elementary! How did he think any customer would be happy to receive this? It looked like some kid's garage project
As I tested out this bass, I realized that electronics were not wired right. At this point, I decided to bring it to the local luthier for further investigation.
My local go to luthier Mike Lull (RIP) took a look at the bass, he took a few minutes and said "oh, boy..." He found a pool of solder in the switch which was shortening out the circuit and needed to be replaced, Neck was warped and the truss rod maxed out. Nut was slanted that needed to be simed. Several high frets. Neck dimension is not what I asked for. Oh, and the pickups and the bridge were not what I wanted either.
I was sad, disappointed and furious, so I wrote JH. Told him about it. At this point, I thought of sending it back and trying to get a full refund but I was afraid that he wouldn't pay me back and would lose the instrument in my hand. He had excuses after excuses but he agreed on building me a replacement neck.
Another year passed and I finally received that new neck (again tool marks everywhere, fingerprints under the finish...) but I had to pay another local luthier to install it for me (different heel size...)
I just have to say you get what you pay for, maybe.... $2200 is not a lot for custom instruments. That's why guys like Fodera cost you $8000 and up. I think my search for custom basses are over, it just is not worth it for me. I was burnt twice, the first time was by Marco Schoots of Windmill Guitars.
I thought by seeing famous players using it or publications like Premier Guitar having a write up, the luthier is legit but it's not true at all. I have seen many horror stories online since then. I thought I needed to speak up. I really wish famous musicians or publications would do more research, so little guys like us won't get burnt.
I hope you guys are well and healthy, take care.
Here are some photos
