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WARNING: Oscar Prat Basses

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#61
benjobass said:
Received an email from Oscar letting me know he can refund my money, in small monthly installments, beginning in 4 or 5 months from now...really?...not convinced I'll see any of this money but we'll see if he can keep his word this time.
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Look, FWIW, I would bet this guy is not going to keep his word, okay. For my money it would take the most radical response on your part or your over seas surrogate (you do live in NYC) to pry any cash from him. Even then, you can't compel him to return something he in all likelihood doesn't have, and this kind of response could and probably would lead to problems far worse than you have now. I'm truly sorry this happened to you. You are not alone. Thank you for making us aware of the situation. I commend you for it.
 
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#64
ENDEENDEA said:
I Think It's Safe To Say That He Career As A Luthier Is Over,,,!!!!!
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To be clear, I am not wishing him to go out of business. We all need to pay bills, support families, etc.

I simply want to be treated like a paying/supporting customer (it's not an insignificant amount of money of mine he's got). A critical component of this includes clear communication and fulfilling a contract. I don't think what I am asking for, and should expect, from a situation like this is uncalled for.

As things progressively got worse, and as a paying/supporting member of this community, I felt it was time to share my story here in hopes it would a) gather others who might also be experiencing the same treatment in solidarity and b) provide a documented, real, interaction with Oscar and his business. There is no "Yelp for Luthiers" (yet - steal my idea!) so TalkBass becomes the stand-in platform for voicing concern, etc.

Thank you all who have commented, shared your stories, and provided support so far. It's very much appreciated.
 
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#65
ENDEENDEA said:
I Think It's Safe To Say That He Career As A Luthier Is Over,,,!!!!!
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I'd say he needs to give up on the idea of being a business owner. Building guitars is one thing; running a business responsibly and profitably is a completely different skill set. This guy needs to realize that he doesn't have those skills and consider going to work for someone else.

We're not all cut out to be our own boss; some of us are best when we work under someone else's direction.

As far as Mr. Pratt taking out a loan or drawing on credit cards to pay off his debt to @benjobass , I would be pretty surprised if Mr. Pratt hasn't ruined his credit as well. If you can stiff a paying customer, doing the same to a bank is no big deal.
 
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#69
nonohmic said:
Posts all over instagram this morning of a 10-string Prat bass from a guy called 'subcontrabassist'

Maybe he was just finishing that monstrosity?
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I don’t know that bass player, but Curtis Rielley just received a Prat ERB that had to completed by someone else. I think Prat had several basses that were near complete that he had completed by others here in the US.
 
#72
For anyone interested, and in case my unfinished bass surfaces eventually, here are the specs:
  • Custom Prat M-BSV 6 bolt on
  • 33" scale
  • Ebony Gabon fingerboard, 28 frets (side dots), flat
  • Curly maple neck
  • Mahogany body
  • Curly redwood top
  • Curly redwood ramp
  • Custom Nordstrand DC pickups (2) - for 16mm string spacing, under ramp - Mike Pope Flexcore preamp
  • Curly redwood knobs, matching body
  • Hipshot A type (3D) bridge (16mm string spacing, black)
  • Hipshot Ultralite tuners (black)
  • Ebony nut
  • Oil finish
  • Case
 
#73
Some commenters here are joining in with the 'he is and always was corrupt' anger without knowing the history.
From 2004 onwards i followed the Extended Range Bass community very closely. Up until a few years ago Prat Basses was considered one of the best luthiers for ERB and within the small, trustworthy and close ERB community i never saw any complaints.
It seems something has happened and he has 'lost it' somewhat, sad to see this happen to someone who was once highly regarded.
 
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#74
UDPATE: This one is a little strange...I heard from Oscar (finally) and he asked me to send him an invoice for the 1st of 5 refund installments to a different email address than I'd been using for payment/communication. The physical address attached to the payment he sent is also different than the one I'd had on file for him. Moving around...
 
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#80
MD Stingray said:
Just curious.
How came you across / why did you end up ordering a bass / with this guy?

Hope in the end you’ll get your money back.
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I had seen some of his basses for sale here, liked the way they looked/sounded, dug around and found some endorsers (in particular someone I respected) and gave it a shot. At the time I placed my order there were no red flag posts about Oscar here.
 
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