This one on reverb is a work in progress but ships in 14 days:
WyRd XL fretless 4 string bass guitar by Jon Letts 27” -2023- Padauk | Reverb
WyRd XL fretless 4 string bass guitar by Jon Letts 27” -2023- Padauk | Reverb
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WARNING: Jon Letts/Letts Basses
- Thread starter EddieG
- Start date
I find it almost amusing that in the aftermath of all his "life", he has time make YouTube videos, but can't find time to get his work done.
after reading this whole thread, I think that if it was me with a newly purchased Lett bass, I’d have to offload it before the price drops significantly. Good product or not, when word gets out about dirty deals, product quality and business success suffers tremendously. After that, any resale value diminishes significantly.
here's the thing. i'm a small business owner, and if i owned someone money i couldn't pay, i'd get a part-time side job and work both my own business and the job to pay it back. in this case, the builder is failing to pay a meager 50 per month, and you could literally make that panhandling or mowing a couple neighbors' lawns. the builder isn't even paying 5 pounds per month to try and very very slowly pay down the total.
since the builder spends so much time marketing and can't spend 4 hours a week or even 4 hours a month working for someone else and handing over those earnings, it's obvious that he's not concerned that he took someone's money and isn't concerned about paying it back. i'd feel bad for him somewhat if he was trying, but he isn't. not at all. that's what i got out of his post. this has been going on for over 8 years. he could take just 1% of each sale and give it to the buyer, but that's not something he's interested in doing.
btw, if over 10 years you're still losing money on your business, it seems to me it's not really working out for you. of course, if you keep making basses that weren't what paying customers ordered and you agreed to, it seems you'll hurt your finances and your reputation. maybe make a checklist for each instrument, get it agreed to by the buyer, and follow that checklist to the tee.
since the builder spends so much time marketing and can't spend 4 hours a week or even 4 hours a month working for someone else and handing over those earnings, it's obvious that he's not concerned that he took someone's money and isn't concerned about paying it back. i'd feel bad for him somewhat if he was trying, but he isn't. not at all. that's what i got out of his post. this has been going on for over 8 years. he could take just 1% of each sale and give it to the buyer, but that's not something he's interested in doing.
btw, if over 10 years you're still losing money on your business, it seems to me it's not really working out for you. of course, if you keep making basses that weren't what paying customers ordered and you agreed to, it seems you'll hurt your finances and your reputation. maybe make a checklist for each instrument, get it agreed to by the buyer, and follow that checklist to the tee.
British people are so polite even when arguing. This dude woulda gotten kneecapped after the 25th week here
drumvsbass
Commercial User
- Aug 20, 2011
- 1,980
- 4,322
- Disclosures
- I work for Long and McQuade Musical Instruments Canada in Sales.
Sigh... I wish I didn't know this feeling intimately. 3+ grand Canadian dumped into a guy 24 years ago. Wrote it, and the offending luthier off. Bought 2 Zons instead. Win.
Wow, what a journey! Getting ripped off feels awful.
Not to discount your experience or hijack the thread, but there are good, trustworthy luthiers out there. As another person mentioned, Stambaugh is a stand-up dude who isn't a big name but delivers big time. I totally understand not everyone is comfortable with that kind of custom order, or trusting a unknown stranger with a lot of your cash, but there are guys who do it right and one jerk doesn't spoil the good ones.
Of this whole tale, the thing I really don't understand is the request to have him build a second instrument. Once he screwed up the build his time/money was gone and he doesn't have the margins or volume to eat a total instrument loss. It seems extremely unlikely at this point that he is capable and motivated, or can even afford, to build the instrument as ordered.
I know hindsight is 20/20 and I'm not criticizing the OP, but I am genuinely curious why at this point it wasn't a time to pull the ripcord and find a way out from this arrangement. Even if a full refund is unlikely, why not ask for a partial refund and take the bass as-is? I can't imagine watching a guy screw up a boutique custom build and then saying "Well let's give him another crack at it."
I do hope you find resolution, and that Letts figures his crap out and makes his customers whole so he can focus on getting his own life right.
Not to discount your experience or hijack the thread, but there are good, trustworthy luthiers out there. As another person mentioned, Stambaugh is a stand-up dude who isn't a big name but delivers big time. I totally understand not everyone is comfortable with that kind of custom order, or trusting a unknown stranger with a lot of your cash, but there are guys who do it right and one jerk doesn't spoil the good ones.
Of this whole tale, the thing I really don't understand is the request to have him build a second instrument. Once he screwed up the build his time/money was gone and he doesn't have the margins or volume to eat a total instrument loss. It seems extremely unlikely at this point that he is capable and motivated, or can even afford, to build the instrument as ordered.
I know hindsight is 20/20 and I'm not criticizing the OP, but I am genuinely curious why at this point it wasn't a time to pull the ripcord and find a way out from this arrangement. Even if a full refund is unlikely, why not ask for a partial refund and take the bass as-is? I can't imagine watching a guy screw up a boutique custom build and then saying "Well let's give him another crack at it."
I do hope you find resolution, and that Letts figures his crap out and makes his customers whole so he can focus on getting his own life right.
That's a disturbed individual. And you have the patience of a saint.
I'm not familiar with either country's judgment (judgement in that neck of the woods). Here a court's judgment just a piece of paper. The plaintiff then needs to jump through hoops to try and enforce the piece of paper, as you have done. Total mess! Whatever you decide to do (if anything), best of luck.
And to Mr. Letts, c"mon man...you know this is no bueno.
I'm not familiar with either country's judgment (judgement in that neck of the woods). Here a court's judgment just a piece of paper. The plaintiff then needs to jump through hoops to try and enforce the piece of paper, as you have done. Total mess! Whatever you decide to do (if anything), best of luck.
And to Mr. Letts, c"mon man...you know this is no bueno.
I salute and thank the OP for this. And for taking court action, etc.
Too patient and too late maybe, but for understandable reasons and still a giant leap beyond the similar threads that amount to endless whinge fests while enabling continued ripoffs without repercussion.
And is it just me… I see the thread title and immediately have Queensryche and Joan Jett in my head. I do believe it’s valuable to find humor in situations - like those in which people actually try to excuse obvious drawn-out ripoffs for *any* reason - however I am not making light of it nor am I kidding. I hope that doesn’t offend you, OP. Much respect and empathy for you fighting this fight still today and in this way! Godspeed.
Great cautionary tale, unfortunately.
Too patient and too late maybe, but for understandable reasons and still a giant leap beyond the similar threads that amount to endless whinge fests while enabling continued ripoffs without repercussion.
And is it just me… I see the thread title and immediately have Queensryche and Joan Jett in my head. I do believe it’s valuable to find humor in situations - like those in which people actually try to excuse obvious drawn-out ripoffs for *any* reason - however I am not making light of it nor am I kidding. I hope that doesn’t offend you, OP. Much respect and empathy for you fighting this fight still today and in this way! Godspeed.
Great cautionary tale, unfortunately.
There are very simple and obvious reasons for that, but since neutral facts could sound to some like a form of “victim blaming” I’ll leave it at that.
Similarly, a subsequent post suggested it’s a valuable life lesson, but what’s the lesson?
Valuable points to consider. A discussion worth having some other thread some other time.
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Wow! That's incredible. Sorry for the loss of your Mom and Dad. I believe after year 2 of delays I would round up the old crew and pay this bloke a personal visit. Maybe do a tune up at his shop? 
Thank you for taking the time to "out" this persons horrible business practice.
Thank you for taking the time to "out" this persons horrible business practice.
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Well - this is international!
From someone across the pond: @Jon letts do the right thing, eh...
From someone across the pond: @Jon letts do the right thing, eh...
Well, to be fair, mine was more of a rhetorical question.
To expound on that, I really feel that a lot of one man operations and small luthiers undervalue and underprice their work.
It's fairly simple business acumen that some people just lack, and there is nothing wrong with that.
There has to be enough margin to cover errors, omissions, and losses. In this case, it does really feel to me that Letts got his proverbial financial ass handed to him when he had to eat a build and couldn't figure a way out. Running on a shoe string budget and razor thin margins doesn't work. I tried it once with my own business and failed.
Does it suck having to wind down a business and lose your ass? Yup. Am I still alive? Obviously. Did I eventually recover financially and am I in a much better position than before? Absolutely. Is owning and operating a small business for me? Obviously not.
What my experience did teach me, however, is where my strengths truly are and how to leverage them in the field I work in now.
To cut my rambling short...Letts is obviously a talented builder, but lacks the discipline and knowledge to run a small business. I get it. However, it does appear to be a similar case with a lot of aspiring luthiers out there.
Oh my word. You really think that threatening a person with violence is the answer?Wow! That's incredible. Sorry for the loss of your Mom and Dad. I believe after year 2 of delays I would round up the old crew and pay this bloke a personal visit. Maybe do a tune up at his shop?
You have some fair points. I have also had my fair share of mental health and family issues to overcome. I am trying to rebuild and no I do not get the prices I need for my work. People hounding me over what is more or less an isolated incidident and also talking about “paying me a visit at my shop” is not helping matters one bit either.
Yes. I hope to clear things up with Eddie as soon as possible. I cut contact with him after I offered him a replacement and he just refused and I didn’t/don’t have the income to offer him the money right now. I’m working really hard to add extra revenue to my business but it isn’t easy. I do have to fight streams of unhelpful comments atm.
