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REED JAMES - Hard time with him.

#81
I'm a little put off by the prices. They have a set of 70's Jazz bass pickups on ebay for over $200, yet their website is down. I know, I read the update from him posted here but that was months ago. You could have gotten that domain issue resolved by now.. The company I work for can set you up in a matter of minutes.
 
#82
I'm sorry to say that I now give up... He promised to send me a new set 12 January. Still nothing. After that he's giving me the silent treatment again. Now I have waited 7 months (!) and I am reclaiming my money. I just bought a pair of Jazz pickups instead. I guess I'll have to make me a pickup cover that suits the bass (Aria Pro II SB) Too bad though. I was curious about the NEO pickups...
 
#84
The pickups are here! I just ordered a new set from another builder (hope I can cancel my order). When they showed up. The stamp on the package clearly states that it was sent 12 januari. Very strange.

According to Jim, he didn't reply to my messages because he didn't have any new information. (I informed him about the value of feedback) I installed them yesterday together with a new Artec se-2 preamp. (cheap but very pleasant sounding preamp)

And now you're wondering, Did it give me the sound I had in mind?..
Hell yeah! Everything is true about those pickups; Transparent and very "open" and "wide range" lots of treble but not the harsh ice pick type. Lots off bass, works excellent together with a preamp for shaping the sound.

I had switches already for coilsplittting and the single coil sound is also very pleasing and dead silent.

My bass is a 2 humbucker Aria Pro II SB-900 from 1981. I've always loved this bass but was never pleased with the original pickups. Now I have a bass that not even the super expensive basses kan hold a candle to :-)
 
#85
Well, looks like many people besides me got shafted by this guy. I am a person who has ordered MANY custom instruments. My problem is, when you say "no problem I have a set here I will get out to you tomorrow" and about 4 weeks later you're telling me you're waiting for the epoxy to cure, then you are suspect. Then he kept asking me for my address, that I sent him about six times. Then even after that, I didn't get the pickups til about two weeks later. I had to threaten legal action because he had said the post office must've lost them, still, no tracking number no nothing, post office had no idea what he was talking about....all in all, this guy takes money and doesn't keep his word. I don't give a rats a** what the reputation is, this is wrong.
 
#86
Two sets ordered, $500, I've heard several "ships next week" stories but still have no pickups. I know he had some health issues and I've tried to be patient, but at some point I'm just getting screwed. Maybe they'll show up one day, but it's looking like slim hope.
 
#87
#89
Okay, several promises to ship, the pickups are in stock, and I've seen nothing. It seems that he's gone from lengthy delays in shipping to just not shipping. Has anyone received anything from him recently? It would at least be good to know that someone is getting something.
 
#90
I had a very good experience with RJ pickups. 5 months, and this after his hospital stay. Quality of work is excellent, he wired a
different impedance for bridge and neck position. Can't wait to get these installed and have the Sadowsky
onboard preamp do it's magic
 

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#94
This thread is a good thing. RJ might be a alright guy, but his back and forth here and blanket insults pretty much guarantee no business from me and sure don't get me excited about recommending his stuff either.

Also, it's not the obligation of people receiving their late pickups to come come back to TB to post about it, but it certainly is RJ's obligation to make sure they get those pups in the first place. Perhaps the folks are not coming back to post beacause they're so enamored with the quality of the pickups and are now embarrassed to do so, but I doubt that's the case. It pays to be at least a little humble. You're not selling the cure for cancer.
 
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#96
Okay, I didn't give a full review because if I gave a full review I would have to be honest. I received my pickups last week after a ten month wait for one and a six month wait on the others. I originally ordered a P/MM set, but Jim allowed me to switch to a Jazz set after I bought a different set of P/MM for the bass that I was waiting to get back into service. The other set was a 5 string Neobucker. That was purchased with the hope that one of my favorite builders was getting back into the game and I wanted to have the hardware ready in case he was ready to build again.

The pickups are very well made, and sound great. Well, I haven't tried the Neobuckers yet, but I have no hesitation that they will sound great.

These pickups are among the top tier. If you get a set, you'll love them. But getting them is a hassle.

If he has the pickups in stock that you're looking for, buy them with PayPal (not family and friends) and if you don't get them within the agreed timeframe, file a PayPal dispute.

If the pickups you want are custom and you have up to a year to wait, go for it. You'll like them.

Mr Reed makes great pickups, had some health issues and is getting back on his feet and building up a stock of pickups again. He's a little crusty around the edges and probably someone that desperately needs someone to handle customer issues for him. I hope he can build the business to get to that point. Let him do his magic building pickups and have someone else handling email / phone / shipping.
 
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#97
My company is doing very well yes there has bean some long wait time and took longer to get over illness then expected, but making progress by the end of the year should have things ready to go for selling on Amazon and other web sites i have some great supporters that have backed me up all the way some havey hitter that have my back in the bass world, there is only life here no cancer my company is moving forward and getting stronger every day . Not a fan of talk bass due to my initial introduction and have very little supporters of my cutting edge product here, the only saving grace is my product ,that's what do, seams a lot can judge but few could step in some ones shoes, This year will be at the NAMM hall C My company is growing moving forward more and more innovative products coming like the ANEO JAZZ. But i got my start out side of talk bass. we all have to learn as we go. The reason the lead time has bean so long is not do to failure but due to success of my product . Now teaming up with a systems engineer to ramp up production time for me to start thinking like a big company. working hard to make what was made to order on the shelf items, its a huge undertaking to do something like this I am sure some of you may grow to under stand the sacrifice i made when its all said an done ,
 
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