Ok
The reason I didn't post right away was I was so upset and saddened by this I had to wait until morning. I didn't sleep at all. I just took an hour walk in the cold to try to center myself before posting.
I personally don't mind the title. He has every right to post whatever he pleases
Monster is a really good guy. Even if he trash talked I would still choose to view him in a positive light.
I appreciate compliments but what I really listen to and take seriously is criticism. I make mistakes. I do my best to learn from them.
This has been one of the most frustrating and saddening things I've ever gone through.
One thing that keeps me from sinking into depression over this is my track record and reputation. I've made over 60 composite cabs.I have taken back 5 for repair that were due to problems in construction.All of them were the earliest cabs. Except for Monster's I never saw them a second time. I even checked in to insure that everything was cool. I had 4 where I had to replace a defective tweeter. Greenboy insisted on using an Eminence APT80 tweeter. It's cheap. Around $20. But it's a threaded plastic horn with a 1 1/2# driver hanging on it. An accident waiting to happen. They break. I know that there are many out there that haven't but I know at least one authorized buider that has had them break. I begged Greenboy to switch it but he wouldn't. I paid shipping back from Korea to replace one damaged in shipping. Most that were returned were damaged in shipping. It got to the point where I wouldn't take an order for a cab that used it.
Ken Jung had a problem with a very early composite cab. Just a wire vibrating against something. I fixed it and it worked perfectly. I then learned that with composite cabs different rules applied. EVERY wire had to be isolated and affixed. Never had that problem again.
As far as wood cabinets I have had one of about 70 come back. Unfortunately it was from Norway! It was a simple fix.
I have had two people of all I have dealt with that just thought my work sucked. (Monster being one)
I have taken one cabinet back where it just didn't suit the buyer's needs.I refunded his money.
This is just one of those "haunted cabs" situations for me. I really did my best to try to rectify the situation. I've never been as frustrated.
His was one of my first composite cabs. As I stated---it was a learning experience. I refined and improved with every cab I made. And was determined to learn from and never make the same mistake a second time.
Here's one of the weirdest things. His cab was used to demo for local guys when it was here. Before the first one shipped. Again after repairs were made. And the last one with the "blown" driver----it was demoed an hour before I packed it to ship. I did delay in shipping then for 2 days so the guy could check it out. He loved it. The guys that tried the original cab at various times it was here loved it. That cab has generated 5 local cabinet sales. These are all top professional players. None of them witnessed a blown driver. Neither did I. Maybe we were all mistaken and it was blown. I am known for having a really good ear. I couldn't hear it. Checking for a blown driver is the first thing I do. Replacing a blown driver is an easy thing---it doesn't cost me any money. I deal with the top guys at Eminence all the time. If I called them they would ship me a replacement that day. I'd ship them the driver. They would determine whether it was damaged by material defect or abuse. Material defect---they pay. Abuse---the customer pays. No skin off my nose either way. My deliveries from Eminence are two days.
I'm not saying Monster is lying---I don't think he's that kind of guy.
The first time it was sent back I played it. I had to play it really loud to hear any problem. At a volume that no one would play in their house and wouldn't notice anything on a gig I heard a slight buzz coming from a crossover component. At the time I had just used wire ties to secure capacitors. I then used hot melt and wire ties. Never had that problem again. I also did some repairs to a few places that were minorly bashed. I had to redo the red Duratex on the whole cab. No charge.I had a guy stop over and try it He ordered one.
The next time was the Fedex fiasco. I rebuilt the entire cab. The good thing about the composites is that when you do a repair it's actually stronger than the original cab. I redid the entire crossover. I had used typical grill clamps originally. To try to make up for Monster's inconvenience I did some upgrades. I filled in the holes (with epoxy) from the original clamps. I ordered new Penn Elcom grills---much better looking than the waffle grills---and installed them with a new integral mounting system. I wanted to do everything I could to make this unpleasant experience better. I shook the cab. I tossed it in the air. I took it outside and ran it to full volume to insure that there were no problems. I had a list of locals wanting to try a Fearful 15/6. One came by, loved it, and ordered one.
I had by then improved my boxing and packing. Everything was double boxed with double thickness carboard. The eqivalent of 4 thicknesses. I make custom packing corners of 2" polyethelene foam.
Monster received it and said there were problems. I was beside myself. I said that I'd make him a new fEarless 115 at no charge. I used Okume plywood ($100 upcharge). His original cab didn't have the tweeter. I included the better tweeter and horn (Faital---I wouldn't use the APT80)
It did take too long. I was really sick from fiberglass. Also, Greenboy had spec'd a certain Faital mid. Faital had discontinued this mid (12 ohm) and replaced it with an 8 ohm mid. I begged Greenboy to redo the crossover for the over-the-counter mid. Instead, they talked Faital into bringing some of the 12 ohm drivers back into the country. It was stupid. It would have been simple to redo the crossover. I had to order directly from Faital as Speaker Hardware had none in stock. (and would likely be unable to get them in the future) Faital is great if you're buying a box of drivers. You don't want to buy singles. They throw it in the box and hope for the best. Literally. I buy a lot of drivers directly from Faital. The first 5" mid they sent had the terminals broken off. They sent a second one that had a hole in the cone. I talked to the rep complaining. He said they were unaccustomed to shipping individual drivers. The third one they sent had a small dent in the dust cap.I talked to Leland and was able to use a small needle to pop it back out. Tested it and it was fine. This took a frustrating month back and forth. Wouldn't have happened if we just switched to the 8 ohm mid.
I finished the cab and was very proud of it. Shook it, tossed it, cranked it. It sounded great. I must have missed the fact that it was blown as did the top pro that was over and tried it.
My next communication from Monster was that it sounded like crap and don't contact him unless it was for a full refund. To be honest---at this point I wasn't willing to issue a full refund. He had the cab. Had a problem. I fixed it. (after an afternoon trying to locate it). I did not hear back from him that there was a problem. So at the time I assumed it was fixed. It was a while where he communicated that the problem was back. At this point it ---in my book--changed from an originally shipped defect to warranty problem. For warranty problems typically it's fixed for free but the customer pays shipping. I paid all shipping myself, Over $400 total. I offered and built a new cab----with options beyond the first cab.
To be honest---I have no idea what was happening. Ultimatums were issued and communication shut down. It was a total nightmare for me. At this point I would have paid shipping and had the cab returned and fixed it. I was not offered that option.
Every time I shipped back to him I confirmed with objective sources that the cab functioned well. I'm not accusing Monster of anything. This is the only cab out of about 150 that has ever had problems like this. The only repair that ever came back. Any builder or repairman can diss some one else's work.
Fortunately, my reputation speaks for itself. While since I'm a one-man shop sometimes communication may have slipped---I've taken great pains to rectify that. Fortunately (or unfortunately) my orders are increasing as is my customer satisfaction.
Although this is a single isolated incident--it impacts me stronger in an emotional way then what has been almost exclusively successes. I tried my best. I think that Monster is a good guy and wish him the best.
I will not post on this topic again.
