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Brian Cornwell and Buzzards Bass Shop

#61
Ignorant, intolerant and confrontational emails from him when I contacted him about parts availability a month and a half ago. I'm not interested in spending my time/money in developing a relationship with him so that someday I will be treated with decency and respect. There are too many other suppliers out there. Whatever his legal troubles are, that's his problem. Not surprised that a person with his attitude lands himself in trouble with the law resulting in incarceration.
 
#62
I ordered a pickguard a week ago with no response to any of my emails. CCNow immediately refunded me the full price of my purchase however. I hope that things are ok with Brian, but I just cant afford to have money in limbo.
 
#63
Update. Received from Brian earlier this week. I'm assuming this note was sent out to many, so will post here (as he wouldn't mind the news going out):

I apologize for not getting back to you sooner. I was in an auto accident on
June 10th and have been laid up there until August 4th. If you're still
interested in the items mentioned below, please let me know. I am contacting
many, many customers who have been put off due to my accident so I ask you
for your patience. But I am replying to every email as fast as possible and
new emails are getting priority so your response will not get ignored.

Again, sorry for the lack of communication on my part.

Sincerely,
Brian W. Cornwell

BuzzardsBass.com
Invalid Link Removed
 
#67
on Oct 8th I ordered a substantial amount of hardware from Mr. Cromwell. On Oct 14th, I received an email stating that the order had shipped to me, and that i should receive the order in 2-3 days. Today (Oct 17) I received my order, along with extra capacitors and a note saying that he had shipped the extra orange drops because the metal caps i ordered had very short metal leads that might be difficult to solder correctly.

I was hesitant after reading so many scathing reviews of Mr. Cromwells business practices, and came close to canceling my order. I am glad i did not, and will be ordering from him again.
 
#68
I'm really confused about Mr. Cornwell. After several days of exchanging photos and ideas via email, I thought we had an understanding of what I wanted him to build me (an unusual wiring harness for an old Russian electric bass I was restoring). He sent me a diagram/schematic which was exactly what I wanted, and I told him so, and asked him to invoice me without even asking the price.

Several days later he sends me an angry email saying he doesn't want to deal with me since I waited too long to respond to him. When I wrote back that I had already agreed to his terms days before, and that I was expecting him to move forward on building the harness, he called the whole thing off.

With an attitude like that toward a willing customer, it's no wonder he's having problems. Thankfully, I never sent him any money...I was about to!

My advice: Think twice before you do business with this guy or his company.
 
#73
Do NOT ever shop with this idiot. I ordered my parts, took 2 weeks for them to come in... I get the box, and it smells like smoke. Also, he sent me 4 treble side tuners, NOT bass side tuners. This was the reply I received:

Awww poor little boy . . .
*
Reread your emails . . . YOU ORDERED TREBLE SIDE and the hangup on your order was from EMG which you were informed of from the start.
Next time you go elsewhere and order your parts sepewrately and see how much you save in parts and shipping.
*
As far as something smelling like smoke. KISS MY ASS~! I don't smoke~!
*
You are no longer welcome here.



To which I received another email 5 minutes later:

And I am sick to death of you whiney ****ing jerks who do nothing but complain even after I did everything possible to fulfill an order at LESS COST all around~!
*
You've shown you don't even read your emails.




Yep, what GREAT customer service... No one ever order from this scumbag again
 
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#75
Not to beat a dead horse, but I found this thread after having a mildly unpleasant exchange with Mr. Cornwell. This is my first post here and probably not the best way to introduce myself, but I want to share my email correspondence with Brian in entirety to reiterate what other people have said about this guy.

I'm just getting back into playing bass a decade after selling all my music equipment. I only recently discovered that medium scale basses even existed so I bought an SX Gypsy Rose and figured Buzzards Bass was the place to send it from my Google-fu.

Here's the exchange:
_________________________________________________

"Hi Brian,
I recently acquired an SX Gypsy Rose bass that I want to build into a decent medium scale bass. I am going to do a lot of the work myself, but specifically want you to make the fretboard and nut the best they can be.

I plan on making many changes to the bass, but there are only a couple that may have an impact on the services I want you to perform:
1. Strip and repaint the body and neck.
2. Replace the bridge with an 80s Washburn brass string through body bridge I have. The Washburn bridge is higher than the stock bridge, so I'm either going to angle the neck pocket or rout a recessed cavity into the body.

Should I have you optimize the neck before or after I make these mods? I also want to replace the tuning machines with lighter ones to reduce the neck dive. Do you have any recommendations?

Thanks
Jeff"
_________________________________________________

"Hi Jeffrey,
I'm not interested in your bass project. Sorry."
_________________________________________________

"Brian,
I was a self-employed designer for 7 years and I've turned down my share of work that wasn't worth taking on. So, I can appreciate the many reasons you aren't interested in working for me. But when I turned down work I would offer some explanation so I wouldn't alienate a potential future customer.
I'm the kind of customer that will pay more from someone that I have a good relationship with. Quite simply, good customer service is worth paying for (or charging for). But its obvious from your reply that you ARE NOT customer service oriented so I will gladly take my business elsewhere."
_________________________________________________

"Try communicating with dozens of customers a day and your replies become short too. However, your replay makes me very happy NOT to have accepted the work. You're ther kind that rubs salt into wounds that didn't exist.

Is it a crime to simply state what I stated? That I am not interested in doing your bass? NO, it is not . . . thanks for wasting more of my time.

You have NO IDEA what it takes to do ALL THE WORK I do. Try maintaining, ordering, and shipping over 10,000 products at the same time I service bass guitars. And then running the business. You have NO IDEA~!

It's jerks like you that make me reply the way I did now."
_________________________________________________

"Wow dude, you just so validated my point.
So we're both happy not to have to work with each other. Yay!

I did a little research on the BBB site, because I figured somebody who communicates with such venom must have pissed some people off. And lo and behold you have!
Whew, did I dodge a bullet (Thanks of course to you, Mr. D**chebag.)"
_________________________________________________

I was thrown off by these statements on his site "Service with a smile" and "The bottom line is . . . if I can't do the work for you, I can put you in touch with someone who can. I've got a list of hundereds of luthiers, bass techs, and specialists. You'd think, "This guy is cutting his own throat." Maybe so, but the most important thing is your satisfaction."

I know what its like to be a one-man operation and the stress it can cause, but I always did my best to be as helpful as possible even if I didn't want to work with someone. Many times I developed a great relationship with someone I was leery of working with initially.

I've been soaking up a lot info on TB over the last few months, but haven't had much to say or ask since most of it has been said and asked before. And I know some people will call me a troll for posting this, but I think people should know the kind of correspondence they can expect from Brian.

I suspect that he does great work though, because most of the people I've worked with that have an "artist's temperament" also have meticulous craftsmanship. But, I'm not willing to deal with poor customer service to get a great product. YMMV.
 
#76
I feel your pain bro and I'll avoid that guy totally and completely.

However what I really wanted to say is that you can buy one of the newer model Squires (Jag, Mustang) in shortscale 30". They play like a dream, sound great and really dont require any mods (maybe lighter tuners). Best part is they are really cheap... like about $150. Definitely stiff competition for SX as the newer Squires are better in everyway.

Maybe go down to your local GC and check one out. However, if you enjoy modding the SX is good for that.
 
#77
::::BASSIST:::: said:
However what I really wanted to say is that you can buy one of the newer model Squires (Jag, Mustang) in shortscale 30". They play like a dream, sound great and really dont require any mods (maybe lighter tuners). Best part is they are really cheap... like about $150. Definitely stiff competition for SX as the newer Squires are better in everyway.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input.
I'll check them out the next time I visit GC.
I dismissed short scale because of everything I've read, but I really need to play one to form my own opinion.
I did play a Squier Duo Sonic at GC and was pleasantly surprised by the quality.
 
#78
mroddjob said:
Not to beat a dead horse, but I found this thread after having a mildly unpleasant exchange with Mr. Cornwell. This is my first post here and probably not the best way to introduce myself, but I want to share my email correspondence with Brian in entirety to reiterate what other people have said about this guy.

I'm just getting back into playing bass a decade after selling all my music equipment. I only recently discovered that medium scale basses even existed so I bought an SX Gypsy Rose and figured Buzzards Bass was the place to send it from my Google-fu.

Here's the exchange:
_________________________________________________

"Hi Brian,
I recently acquired an SX Gypsy Rose bass that I want to build into a decent medium scale bass. I am going to do a lot of the work myself, but specifically want you to make the fretboard and nut the best they can be.

I plan on making many changes to the bass, but there are only a couple that may have an impact on the services I want you to perform:
1. Strip and repaint the body and neck.
2. Replace the bridge with an 80s Washburn brass string through body bridge I have. The Washburn bridge is higher than the stock bridge, so I'm either going to angle the neck pocket or rout a recessed cavity into the body.

Should I have you optimize the neck before or after I make these mods? I also want to replace the tuning machines with lighter ones to reduce the neck dive. Do you have any recommendations?

Thanks
Jeff"
_________________________________________________

"Hi Jeffrey,
I'm not interested in your bass project. Sorry."
_________________________________________________

"Brian,
I was a self-employed designer for 7 years and I've turned down my share of work that wasn't worth taking on. So, I can appreciate the many reasons you aren't interested in working for me. But when I turned down work I would offer some explanation so I wouldn't alienate a potential future customer.
I'm the kind of customer that will pay more from someone that I have a good relationship with. Quite simply, good customer service is worth paying for (or charging for). But its obvious from your reply that you ARE NOT customer service oriented so I will gladly take my business elsewhere."
_________________________________________________

"Try communicating with dozens of customers a day and your replies become short too. However, your replay makes me very happy NOT to have accepted the work. You're ther kind that rubs salt into wounds that didn't exist.

Is it a crime to simply state what I stated? That I am not interested in doing your bass? NO, it is not . . . thanks for wasting more of my time.

You have NO IDEA what it takes to do ALL THE WORK I do. Try maintaining, ordering, and shipping over 10,000 products at the same time I service bass guitars. And then running the business. You have NO IDEA~!

It's jerks like you that make me reply the way I did now."
_________________________________________________

"Wow dude, you just so validated my point.
So we're both happy not to have to work with each other. Yay!

I did a little research on the BBB site, because I figured somebody who communicates with such venom must have pissed some people off. And lo and behold you have!
Whew, did I dodge a bullet (Thanks of course to you, Mr. D**chebag.)"
_________________________________________________

I was thrown off by these statements on his site "Service with a smile" and "The bottom line is . . . if I can't do the work for you, I can put you in touch with someone who can. I've got a list of hundereds of luthiers, bass techs, and specialists. You'd think, "This guy is cutting his own throat." Maybe so, but the most important thing is your satisfaction."

I know what its like to be a one-man operation and the stress it can cause, but I always did my best to be as helpful as possible even if I didn't want to work with someone. Many times I developed a great relationship with someone I was leery of working with initially.

I've been soaking up a lot info on TB over the last few months, but haven't had much to say or ask since most of it has been said and asked before. And I know some people will call me a troll for posting this, but I think people should know the kind of correspondence they can expect from Brian.

I suspect that he does great work though, because most of the people I've worked with that have an "artist's temperament" also have meticulous craftsmanship. But, I'm not willing to deal with poor customer service to get a great product. YMMV.
Click to expand...

I don't see why you took it past his initial refusal. In this case you were actually the one (it seems to me) who turned this into a confrontational thing. He just said he wasn't interested, and then you jumped down his throat. I'm not a fan of his, and this doesn't undo any of the past incidents involving him, but I don't see what he did wrong before you provoked him.
 
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#79
CnB77 said:
I don't see why you took it past his initial refusal. In this case you were actually the one (it seems to me) who turned this into a confrontational thing. He just said he wasn't interested, and then you jumped down his throat. I'm not a fan of his, and this doesn't undo any of the past incidents involving him, but I don't see what he did wrong before you provoked him.
Click to expand...

I hate to, but I agree with you. I don't understand how buzzard is still in business, but in this case I saw nothing wrong with his initial response. I like short emails, myself...less room for confusion. He wasn't interested, short and sweet.
 
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