My terrible Mike Arnopol experience

[exiii]

It sure sounds like Mike went far beyond the call of duty in trying to solve this problem - after a year of the cab being used. I can positively say that I would never have even expected him to be so generous in trying to solve the problem had I been the customer. No luck in fixing it, of course. But given the understanding of the OP in such matters, respecfully, I'm not fully convinced that it was the driver. It would be interesting to see if a new driver actually fixes the problem for the new owner, but it would be even more interesting to see if it fixes it for Monster.

From this account and at least one other one I've seen in the past, it seems there were some disagreements between Greenboy and Mike. I thought there was going to be a split a long while back actually - now it seems it's happened. I'm not going to fault Greenboy for spec'ing hard to find parts in his AB designs. And I can't fault Mike for having his own ideas. There's give and take in every choice we make. Seeing as demos of these specific cabs lead to so many orders though, it's hard to say that Greenboy should change anything in the design. They are still some of the best cabs on the market, and hard to order parts aren't the customer's problem - it's the ABs problem.

In any case, hats off to both Mike and Greenboy in trying to solve this problem. Not the greatest outcome, but it's obvious that you both care an awful lot about your work.

Monster, I'm sorry you didn't get what you hoped for, but in my view, you should have tried to get the issue solved when you first noted the problem.

 

[nostatic]

Sorry about my melodrama.

Only melodrama if you attach

I have yet to find any person or company who has a perfect track record. The military have a saying, "Murphy goes out on every mission."

I too believe in the "cursed" [insert product here] phenomenon. Sometimes things just happen. I had a cabinet from Duke that was cantankerous due to various Fedex abuse but in the end it worked out. That said, would have been easy for either one of us to say, "this has not been a good experience" but we didn't. I've dealt with Mike multiple times and he's a good guy. I've exchanged messages with Monster and he seems to be a good guy. Sometimes circumstances just get in the way of things. Plus the advent of myriad digital communication avenues (cell, PM, email, TB, etc) have in some ways made things more difficult to communicate due to expectations and assumptions. I actually did a TEDx talk on this last year (shameless plug https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2rl0SNt3oM).

Here's to moving forward...

 

[exiii]

Because it was tolerable though annoying. I fully expected to pay for the repair needed when it discussed a year later. Mike and I talked it through and figured it would be a quick and easy repair.

Well then, I can't blame you for taking advantage of a great deal that was offered to you.

But this only makes me think Mike is an even more outstanding guy than I thought before.

 

[Hellbastard]

I don't wanna take sides, but it seems like mr. Arnopol went beyond his duty to satisfy you. Sorry but you as a customer should have complained the first time you got the cab and heard the buzz.

 

[monsterthompson]

I had said I wouldn't comment any more but I'd like to end my comments with one thing. My FAVORITE thing about Talkbass is the many wonderful friendships I've developed. I used to think that music was the most important thing in my life. As I've grown older I realize it's the relationships we have with other human beings.

While I haven't met most of my customers in person, I consider them friends. When someone likes my cabinets of course my ego is fed but more importantly I'm happy about the possibiity that I could have added just a wee bit of joy to someone's life.

I'll tell you guys---Monster is one of my personal heroes. What he has overcome and his attitude toward life are truly inspirational.

My biggest sadness over this is in hurting a relationship that while being maybe small and incidental in the bigger scheme of things actually means something.

Sorry about my melodrama.

Mike, I agree that this has all been terribly unfortuante for each of us. I'm sorry it worked out this way. I know you took it personally, and hard, and I can appreciate that.

 

[monsterthompson]

Only melodrama if you attach

I have yet to find any person or company who has a perfect track record. The military have a saying, "Murphy goes out on every mission."

I too believe in the "cursed" [insert product here] phenomenon. Sometimes things just happen. I had a cabinet from Duke that was cantankerous due to various Fedex abuse but in the end it worked out. That said, would have been easy for either one of us to say, "this has not been a good experience" but we didn't. I've dealt with Mike multiple times and he's a good guy. I've exchanged messages with Monster and he seems to be a good guy. Sometimes circumstances just get in the way of things. Plus the advent of myriad digital communication avenues (cell, PM, email, TB, etc) have in some ways made things more difficult to communicate due to expectations and assumptions. I actually did a TEDx talk on this last year (shameless plug https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2rl0SNt3oM).

Here's to moving forward...

nostatic wins the thread

 

[smeet]

I don't wanna take sides, but it seems like mr. Arnopol went beyond his duty to satisfy you. Sorry but you as a customer should have complained the first time you got the cab and heard the buzz.

It certainly seems that you are taking sides. Did you read the OP? He DID contact Mike about the buzz when he first got the cabinet.

April 2012 – The cab arrives. It has an odd buzzing noise around the E-string 5th fret A notes. I contacted Mike, and he was bummed. We brainstormed, ...

 

[Stealth Fighter]

It certainly seems that you are taking sides. Did you read the OP? He DID contact Mike about the buzz when he first got the cabinet.

April 2012 – The cab arrives. It has an odd buzzing noise around the E-string 5th fret A notes. I contacted Mike, and he was bummed. We brainstormed, thinking it might be a mechanical rubbing. The reality is that the noise was only audible at low volumes and did not get louder as the volume was cranked, so I opted to live with the nuisance rather than ship the cab back for repairs. It sounded fine otherwise.

Nice cherry pick.

 

[monsterthompson]

It certainly seems that you are taking sides. Did you read the OP? He DID contact Mike about the buzz when he first got the cabinet.

tl;dr

 

[monsterthompson]

lots of folks missing the point here. i had no issue with the handling of the initial build. it was how the repair work and subsequent events have gone.

not to throw him too far under the bus, but greenboy has seen pics of the cab (inside and out) and been involved in the discussions about this. his statements have given me the impression that my experience and the current F115 were not what he would consider "top notch AB quality." based on that, i'm not feeling like i've gone way out on a limb here.

 

[Joe Louvar]

lots of folks missing the point here. i had no issue with the handling of the initial build. it was how the repair work and subsequent events have gone.

not to throw him too far under the bus, but greenboy has seen pics of the cab (inside and out) and been involved in the discussions about this. his statements have given me the impression that my experience and the current F115 were not what he would consider "top notch AB quality." based on that, i'm not feeling like i've gone way out on a limb here.

Hmm. what exactly did greenboy say?

 

[Mike Arnopol]

Ok--I have to say one thing. I haven't seen my wife (of 37 years-she's up for canonization as a saint) all day---she had business meetings. She asked what was up with me not sleeping last night. I told her the title of this thread.

She said "do I have to be a bass player to post? I think I have a lot to add on that topic."

 

[esa372]

I'll tell you guys---Monster is one of my personal heroes. What he has overcome and his attitude toward life are truly inspirational.

+1

 

[Tractorr]

Ok--I have to say one thing. I haven't seen my wife (of 37 years-she's up for canonization as a saint) all day---she had business meetings. She asked what was up with me not sleeping last night. I told her the title of this thread.

She said "do I have to be a bass player to post? I think I have a lot to add on that topic."

Mike, I have no way of knowing anything about your cab building skills as I have never so much as seen one of your cabs in person, but from this post I can tell you and the Mrs. have a great sense of humor.

 

[Downunderwonder]

About the only person I'd rather hear less from than Mrs Arnopol would be Monster's Momma.

I feel for both parties.

I wonder if composite's ability to take a massive bounce works against shipping damage being apparent.

 

[dkelley]

So i'm still confused.... is it true that mike has offered further help and it has been refused? Or was that just a would have could have thing that i misread here?


Only asking because this "finished" deal sounded like mike was still willing to try and resolve it further.

I know that i would never leave a deal like this if i had such emotional conscience troubles from lack of resolution....

 

[GK Breivik]

Let me tell my story with Mike.

A couple of years ago, I contacted Mike with the intent to buy one or two of his cabs after a truly horrific experience with another builder specializing in composite. Nothing AT ALL like I read this story, let me tell you… I won’t go into the details here, as this is water under the bridge, and the builder is long since taken off the Greenboy authorized list of builders. But I digress…

After a long phone call, where I explained my needs and tonal preferences, Mike suggested that I try a new technology that he was involved with. The Big Es of course. I ordered a 2X6 from him that week.

When I first got the cab, it had a small resonance or buzz problem. Together we brainstormed a bit, and came up with a few improvements to the mounting of the grille among other things. Off course this didn’t hurt, but a tiny buzz still was present at a specific frequency.

Mike then paid for the shipping both ways (FROM NORWAY!!) eating up his entire income from that cab. When I got it back, not only was the buzz gone, but the crossover also was updated to the latest revision.

I ordered a 4X6 too, that very next day.
That cab was flawless.

After I had used the cabs for a few months I called up Mike again with a few questions and some suggestions for the future cabs. I had some issues with the cabs being better suited for some things than others. They worked great for many situations, but weren’t the silver bullet I’d hoped for. Bear in mind these were some of the first cabs to ship. Mike felt that the technology had evolved massively since the first version, and understood exactly what my problems were.

He then graciously offered to build me whatever I needed at the cost of parts alone. He suggested I go with the 110 Flex, and the 4x5 (for upright especially). These are also flawless, and the best speakers I’ve ever played. And I’ve played a few. I’ll be buying the 110 sub too. Not because I need it, but because it’s fun ;-)

Now, the first cabinets already fulfilled all of the promises you’ve read here. The 46 is the size of a 210, but is as loud as a 410. It has crazy good extension, and insane dispersion. I can’t think of any other builder that would feel that I deserved new cabs. Even I didn’t feel I did!

Now for the icing on the cake. I still have the 46 and 26. Mike wanted me to keep them.
I’ve placed the 46 on the other side of the country where I play a bit, and the 26 is my "leave in the theatre pit rig".

Mike is a real stand up guy. About the only thing I could complain about is that he sometimes takes a while to answer emails. I can always reach him by phone though, and I just wasted a half hour of his time this Thursday. He never pushes to sell anything, but is very interested in user feedback and suggestions in my experience.

 

[sratas]

to be honest....

i red all the posts.

I've got the impression (following my instinct) that mike has been as honest as a man could be, even with monster.

some deals sometimes do born in a bad way, sometimes they continue to go badly despite every effort to end in a positive way

I think that both monster and mike took a bad turn this time

myself, I have never been interested in Mike's work, but reading this thread did put some curiosity in my mind.
as far as I can think, I'm prone to buy from him without any hesitation, if some day I will like his proposals

 

[monsterthompson]

Mike made all the right offers to try to make this right. Very generous things that I'm sure cost him a lot of cash and time and energy. I'm very appreciative of the gestures and efforts.

The failure was the inability to get a functioning product to my door. It didn't help that he blew past delivery dates without communicating with me. It didn't help that he was distracted from giving me timely responses. He often had an excuse about a supplier or a personal issue causing the delays.

I accept that I have closed the door on this. I initiated the repair work in May of 2013 and since then have seen three versions of a cabinet, one as a 90% rebuild, and none of them have been useable. I'm done trying Mike as an option for my success. I'd like to believe all cabinets were in working order when he sent them to me. However, I don't understand how the gremlins damaged them in shipping.

 

[monsterthompson]

...I am an amateur player and a gear whore with disposable income. I can deal with this and chalk it up to "life." If I were a gigging pro on a budget, I'd view this differently.