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Kalium strings and great CS
- Thread starter ampeg82
- Start date
I ordered two sets from their website on a Thursday and I'm used to having a response with shipping/tracking info within one business day. On the Monday following my order date, I called and left a message and Skip returned my call within hours. We worked out an error on my end when ordering and he made some suggestions. I received the strings on Friday of the same week and I've never been happier with a set of strings in my 30 years playing bass. Side note--if you have a floppy low B, go with a balanced set with a 143B for tension. It made all five strings sound the same up and down the fretboard and crystal clear piano-like tone resulted.
I hope to not have any of the service issues I've read about here in the future with them because they've earned a brand advocate and a extremely happy customer for life!!
I hope to not have any of the service issues I've read about here in the future with them because they've earned a brand advocate and a extremely happy customer for life!!
Nobody ever complained about string quality.
They have a great product.
They have a great product.
Glad to hear you got a hold of Skip...that gives me hope that he's not dead ;-) I just have to catch him at the right time apparently.
I'm about to enter my third week of waiting for my strings to show up. After the first couple days, I noticed that I never received any sort of shipping information from Kalium, so I reached out to their customer service department and told them my order number and all that jive, and the next day they sent me an email saying that my order was complete and that I could track it. The "Track" hyperlink in the email was just the word "Track" underlined. Couldn't even click on the link. So, I have been cut and pasting the tracking number into the USPS tracking site, and it just says something to the effect of "shipping label created" in California. I emailed them again today to see what the deal was. I told them, that in this time frame, I could have driven from NJ to CA and back to get the strings, and that I would like to know what their shipping time table actually is. Unless something happens where the reason for this delay is anything other than they're terrible at what they do, this will be my first and last order from them. The amount of love I see for these strings online really confuses me. They could be the best strings in the world, but if you can't get them, are they really that great? I'm annoyed because i'm waiting for these strings to show up, so I can drop my new bass VI off with my tech so he can do some work for me, but he's also leaving for tour shortly and if these don't show up soon, I'm stuck waiting around for him to come back to do this. Sorry for the rant, but I'm annoyed.
@tmcg81, although it doesn't help solve your issue with tracking apparently being broken or just wrong, I can tell you I spoke with Skip Fantry this past Friday 1/31, so he's alive and answering calls. It's not always easy to catch him, but I've been successful a handful of times in the last 6 months. Give it a try if only as a last resort. He/they are -3 hours off us on the East coast.
Rather than start a new thread I figured that I would just reply to this one, since my recent experience was a very positive one.
I was concerned about ordering again due to all the negative threads here on TB but I have yet to find another string that matches theirs for longevity and tone. That said, about three weeks ago I attempted order 3 sets of strings and was stopped by the site because of low inventory. I called their # and Skip himself answered. He said that they were expecting a shipment of inventory in soon and that all should be well the following week. We proceeded to have a great time talking shop; his new fanned fret basses, amplification, etc. - it was a great chat.
So after the call I went on my merry way and waited a week to place my order. Had a similar issue - web site stated no inventory. Called Kalium, Skip answered again. I alerted him to the issues on his site and he resolved it while on the phone with me and I placed my order. Again, we had a great conversation, this time about gauges, their limitations, scale length, woods, etc. - very educational, and very personable.
A week later (last Friday) no strings. My last order (was a few years ago) was shipped quickly so I called for tracking info. Skip answered (again) and found my order, said that I'll get an email and that I should have my strings by the middle of this week. They arrived today
so that was pretty quick. Not sure why the delay; I'm just glad I have them.
Maybe that was an oversight, who knows. All I know is that every time I've called Skip answered, was very professional and got my strings out to me. Forgot to mention - during my first conversation with him his phones cut out. HE CALLED ME BACK! I really appreciated that.
All of that said - I'm not here to defend his honor or to refute anyone else's bad experience in the past. This is just to chronicle what I recently experienced and hope that everyone else's is equally positive.
Now if you'll excuse me I have to go change some strings...
Eric
I was concerned about ordering again due to all the negative threads here on TB but I have yet to find another string that matches theirs for longevity and tone. That said, about three weeks ago I attempted order 3 sets of strings and was stopped by the site because of low inventory. I called their # and Skip himself answered. He said that they were expecting a shipment of inventory in soon and that all should be well the following week. We proceeded to have a great time talking shop; his new fanned fret basses, amplification, etc. - it was a great chat.
So after the call I went on my merry way and waited a week to place my order. Had a similar issue - web site stated no inventory. Called Kalium, Skip answered again. I alerted him to the issues on his site and he resolved it while on the phone with me and I placed my order. Again, we had a great conversation, this time about gauges, their limitations, scale length, woods, etc. - very educational, and very personable.
A week later (last Friday) no strings. My last order (was a few years ago) was shipped quickly so I called for tracking info. Skip answered (again) and found my order, said that I'll get an email and that I should have my strings by the middle of this week. They arrived today
so that was pretty quick. Not sure why the delay; I'm just glad I have them.Maybe that was an oversight, who knows. All I know is that every time I've called Skip answered, was very professional and got my strings out to me. Forgot to mention - during my first conversation with him his phones cut out. HE CALLED ME BACK! I really appreciated that.
All of that said - I'm not here to defend his honor or to refute anyone else's bad experience in the past. This is just to chronicle what I recently experienced and hope that everyone else's is equally positive.
Now if you'll excuse me I have to go change some strings...
Eric
