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Stambaugh Designs still in business?

rockosocko

rockosocko

Supporting Member
Sep 14, 2008
927
391
#1
In a nutshell, I ordered a bass from Chris Stambaugh back in early 2016. At the time, he had told me it would take about a year for it to be built and sent to me. To date, I've neither gotten my bass nor have I heard from him. I called him a couple of times, but got his voice mail and no return call after leaving him a message. In addition to this, it doesn't look like he's updated his website in quite a long while. Has anybody else had similar dealings with him as of late? Any word if he's still in business? I'd hate to think that I won't get my bass or lost my deposit.
 
#5
Amazing the dichotomy between builders in terms of communication. That would surely be a close second behind the bass itself in terms of choosing a builder - hell it might even be top priority. Case in point, I have a second hand Tom Clement - didn't even pay the man himself - and he has answered my emails within a day, and even responded to a question here via PM. That's the way to do business!
 
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#8
rockosocko said:
In a nutshell, I ordered a bass from Chris Stambaugh back in early 2016. At the time, he had told me it would take about a year for it to be built and sent to me. To date, I've neither gotten my bass nor have I heard from him. I called him a couple of times, but got his voice mail and no return call after leaving him a message. In addition to this, it doesn't look like he's updated his website in quite a long while. Has anybody else had similar dealings with him as of late? Any word if he's still in business? I'd hate to think that I won't get my bass or lost my deposit.
Click to expand...

I was in talks with him about a year ago and his site was old then. I would always e-mail and would get responses within days. I think somebody would have mentioned him closing shop, if that was the case. Hopefully everything gets sorted out.
 
#10
Chris's website is usually dated. Jared has created a gallery and
worked with Chris to build his site. He moved last year but is still in NH
IIRC.
He made a bass for me several years ago and the build date went over by 3 months, total 9 months.
Everything went well with the deal.
 
#11
His work is truly amazing, and he doesn't strike me as the type to take someone's money and run with it. Still, I'm growing concerned.

I tried getting in touch with Jared, but apparently his mailbox is full and I can PM him.
 
#12
rockosocko said:
His work is truly amazing, and he doesn't strike me as the type to take someone's money and run with it. Still, I'm growing concerned.

I tried getting in touch with Jared, but apparently his mailbox is full and I can PM him.
Click to expand...

I've had the same experience with Chris, and Jared help let him know I was trying to get in contact with him. Since that time (about 3 months ago), he's been good with answering my emails and giving me updates. So, just to make it clear:
1. Yes, he's still in business, he just goes about things kind of slowly and has had stuff in his personal life slowing down his output.
2. He hasn't updated his website or his gallery in a while but plans to soon.
3. Get in touch with Jared to indicate that you are trying to get in touch with Chris, that's what allowed me to get back in touch with him.
 
#13
I haven't talked to him in awhile but he always answered the phone when I called, even answered emails.... eventually. I would imagine if there is stuff going on at home that its probably taking up more of his time, I always got the impression he was a stand up dude and I'm sure he will get you taken care of in due course.
 
#14
Hi @rockosocko. Apparently I let my supporting membership lapse which reduced my inbox size so I didn't see your PM. I'll renew that next.

I'll drop Chris a line but keep in mind that I don't have any special relationship with him beyond being a repeat customer and getting to know him through all the communication through the years. I did create an online gallery but I don't work on the Stambaugh website at all.

My recent builds seem to have started a bit before yours and are just now getting finished. This has been the longest I've waited for a build from Chris. There's some good reasons for some of that but I don't want to be in the business of making excuses for Chris. He knows that he's behind on builds and I think when that's the case he tries to spend more time in the shop and less on email. Not ideal as a customer waiting on a response but better than the reverse in my opinion. And now that he builds the Wing Basses in addition to custom builds he seems more overloaded than before.

He's always been slow to respond to email (and even slower to update his website) - he seems to do emails in batches so you may get a response in a day or two weeks later. I would recommend trying calling him again - that's generally the most effective way to reach him. And Chris is absolutely a stand up guy even if he's slow to respond. I've only ever had one real issue with a bass and he went above and beyond to make it right.

He's definitely still in business. I'll drop him a line and see if that helps. Sorry you've had to wait so long but hopefully the finished bass is worth it for you. For me, that's why he's who I go to even though there are other great builders with better customer service - because Chris builds amazing basses that are perfect for me. I know I get slightly annoyed at not hearing back from him for a while and then last Friday he sent me this and I'm happy again:

j1.jpg
 
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#15
Thanks Jared, I appreciate that. For the most part, I trust Chris but would just like to know where I stand. I've got four of his basses, so I'm sure that whenever I do get it, it will most certainly be worth the wait.
 
#16
I've had 3 custom J style (more-or-less) 5ers built by Chris over the last 10 years or so.
A few things I have observed about his operation.

1) he builds excellent basses, and can build whatever you want
2) for the quality of #1, his prices are extremely fair
3) he tends to be slow...all 3 basses took much longe than he said they would
4) he's not great at timely communication

Chris is one of those "it is what it is" type situations, it can be frustrating but I would not hesitate to commission Chris for another build, were I so inclined. I just sit have to put my patience hat on....after the first build I noticed that if I just doubled whatever time estimate he gave me, it would pretty accurate.
 
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#18
I also have a bass that will eventually be built by Chris. I put a downpayment around January or February of last year. Haven't heard from him in over a year but I did understand from reading the posts in here to double the wait time he would give. He originally said about a year wait but I'm still waiting but I'm in no big hurry as I just told him in a email. But I did say when he's ready to start the build I'll be ready. I appreciate the posts in here, it has reassured my confidence that my bass will eventually be built by a great luthier. Patiently waiting, DJ
 
#20
That's reassuring. I emailed Chris a couple of weeks ago about where I was in the build lineup. He actually emailed me back saying I was next inline. I resubmitted my build guidelines with some changes and I'm just waiting on his confirmation and any changes to the overall cost.
 
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