This kinda makes me a little pissed off

[Spence]

Difficult situation. If you can't repair certain brands of pickups then you need to tell your customers that. how else can you do it other than to list the ones you can't repair? OK so wasn't impressed by the way he's named other makes as if they are somehow inferior and would feel offended too. However, what he now says is perhaps even more offensive because if your company name's not on the list perhaps your customer should sell his pickups a bit quick on Craiglist etc....

Well, my company name's not on there and I'm happy to stand my products against Don's all day long. No fear!

[Mark Hammer]

1) Some folks are better at expressing their frustration in a diplomatic fashion than others. Some folks are better at second-guessing how their website appears to others. Don has to work on both of those, but I will give him full marks for facing up to the consequences here, and at least attempting to right a wrong. Exasperating, yes, but in the world of small 1-3 person businesses with larger web-based presences, people goof up on a very regular basis when it comes to customer and industry/competitor relations. I've seen worse on e-bay.

2) No company, no matter what their reputation or legendary status can survive very long if their quality control drops below certain acceptable limits. Perhaps Don does get in pickups of the brands/sources he notes with precisely the shortcomings he notes. Precisely what percentage of the complete production of those products is he seeing, and to what extent does his "clinical practice" reflect how often something like that comes off the line? I'm mystified. I refer one and all to the much-esteemed Sigmund Freud whose own theory development was perhaps too strongly influenced by the fact that his clientele were largely upper middle-class Viennese. In other words, theories reflecting whom he saw, and not human beings in general.

In the pedal-related forums, I've heard all sorts of scowling about stompswitch quality and failure rate, and none of the kvetching seems to map well onto what sorts of quality control are absolute requisite to sinking that kind of money into manufacturing. I don't know how anyone like Mouser or Jameco or whomever would carry (and suffer damage to their own reputation) a product line with a 1-in-10 failure rate, or why the investors in that company would put up with it. Makes absolutely no sense. How the devil could Jason Lollar or Joe Barden pay their rent/mortgage if their products were that consistently shoddy?

In the case of stompswitches, I experienced a bit of a switch-failure problem myself, and since I'm a cheap bastard I took one apart to see if it could be rehabilitated. What I found was that, during manufacture, a dab of grease is used to hold part of the switch contacts in place for speedier assembly. When rank amateurs like myself apply too much soldering iron heat for too long, the grease flows and coats the contacts, creating switch failure. Under industrial assembly conditions, when the solderer gets in and out quick, the switches work like a dream, but people have a tendency to not conform to industrial assembly conditions. In other words, the switches are great, but neither are the hobbyists reporting high failure rate lying. What was required was use of the product under the conditions for which it was meant/designed to be used.

I mention that because few stock instruments actually come with the various pickups that Don so hastily lambasted. They are pretty much all, with the possible exception of Joe Bardens, after-market products that the owners installed or someone else installed. I'm wondering if the shortcomings that Don believes he sees are what comes out of those respective shops, or what happens when somebody gets their hands on them after the point of sale. In other words, like the switch failure thing, the pickups ARE high quality when they leave the maker's hands, but neither is Don lying or ill-informed about what he sees. Mix in a couple of ounces of Freud's selective clinical population, and Don ends up seeing pickups that purchasers have perhaps jeopardized in some manner. With vintage pickups going for decades and decades without any need of rewinding, how exactly was it that something made maybe a mere 2-3 years ago needs to be rewound? Just exactly what did the purchaser do during installation that resulted in that pickup malfunction and tearing? Cripes, if a doofus like ME can wind my own pickups and have them last 20 years without any problems, how is it that pickups made under far more professional conditions don't last longer than a magazine subscription?

I'm gonna give Don the benefit of the doubt here, and suggest the crime is not so much making the claims that were made about the specific pickup problems. I'm sure he sees what he sees and reports what he sees. Rather, the crime is in too quickly assuming the problems were necessarily the handiwork of the original manufacturers, and rushing to a far-too-public judgment about it. Obviously, he has done harm to his relationship with others.

[Norcal_GIT_r]

I have never met anyone SO full of themselves.

To the other winders here, forget this guy. 5 years from now he won't even be around. No one lasts in this industry with an attitude this Mare guy has. It doesnt even matter if his pups are good or not. His attitude and business practices will be the downfall of his company. Just have to look for him poping up under a new name.

[Spence]

Check out what I cut and pasted from Mr. Don Mares website. To what ends will he go to make himself look good Sheesh!!!!!!


This From his site

NOTE: The following Brands BELOW:
"Are $105.00" ea
to rewind or service here ,

*OC DUFF
*SD DESIGNS
*FRALIN
*TRUE TONE
*LOLLAR
This is only because of "one" or more,
of the following past reasons occured while servicing them here,
* magnet slots are too loose in bobbins,
*weak flexable bobbins ,
*poor magnet quality or incorrect specs and sizes.
*altered specs from vintage, chassis/bobbin specs...etc
*Non Vintage style Base Plates

What has happened is that in the past we end up,
rebuilding them, totally from scratch,Usally with all new parts,
and we like to call that a "NEW PICKUP", not a rewind LOL! new pickups are $105.00 each

So the countless hours Jason lollar spent educating Don over the phone was a waste of Don's phone bills especially as Jason also sometimes uses non vintage style baseplates. (That's a puzzler why that's an issue BTW.) I would imagine Jason will be quite pissed about all that free time he gave Don.
Also should we assume that Don's use of the word 'we' suggests that he's now employing people? Perhaps Don really has become the new force and industry standard in pickup making. Perhaps we could all learn something from his meteoric rise.
What do you reckon guys?

[madialex]

For that matter

I have never made the claim any of my pickups are vintage correct, so POO POO... As far as warping, any pickup with forbon will warp at the ends with extreme winding tension, I have had a mare pickup and listened to it and wound until I got that tone and beleive me, it takes a ton of tension to get them like his, so I guess if you use a million tons of tension, yes it will warp... Not sure what other type of forbon is out there that wont warp. Maybe some special secret stuff ehh.... And as well, I think I have made the statement I have not perfected my Tele winds and dont push them for just that reason. In 4 years I have sold maybe 4 tele pickups?

[kevinT]

Don,

I give you credit for fessing up to your mistake, because IMO, i think the blurb on your web site was meant to be hurtful to the folks you named.

I'm sorry, but I don't believe for one moment that the makers you mentioned would ever let something leave their shop half ass.

It just seems strange that you're encountering the same types of problems, across the board, with pickups from those folks you named.

Since we all get some or most of our supplies from the same vendors, did you think that it could be a materials issue rather than a manufacturing issue. Maybe there was a bad batch of forbon. Maybe it's the age of the pickup and the environmental conditions that it was under. All things break down and decompose over time. Glue/varnish becomes brittle and flakes off, forbon dries out, contraction and expansion with change in the season, etc......my point is that it is a natural process and perhaps an inherent flaw in the material make-up/design of Fender-style pickups that the bobbins warp and break down sooner and short out sooner than a pickup using plastic bobbins or other harder materials.

a word of advice FWIW... That blurb made you look bad IMO. Anyone with brains would of thought that it was childish and under-handed. I personally would NOT have bought a pickup from you because of that statement.

I strongly believe in free speech and a free market. If you have scientific data that proves your point that was acquired from unbiased research that you conducted, there are ways to communicate your results without hurting yourself and others.

I'm just quickly throwing this on the table.....

You could have said: "our pickup rewinding services rebuilds and improves upon the materials and designs of pickups from leading boutique pickup makers"

....that way your focusing on your business and putting yourself in a positive light.

[madialex]

Just think of how many people saw that stuff

I saw it because of all the scuttle but on the TDPRI page. A lot of people there are talking about his pickups and posted links to his site so i thought I would go look around and thats the first thing i found on the rewind page.

That site has about 30,000 members now. Wonder how much damage has been done?? People should be really careful what they put on the net these days, it can make you and break you all in a matter of seconds. That dam BD guy went to Harmony central and put a bad reveiw under every make of pickup I sell, even if he didnt buy one, he put a shitty reveiw about it. Well as luck would have it, I have not had but about 4 emails in 3 months even asking about pickups and ran several on ebay and didnt make but 1 or 2 sales at lowball prices. THATS WHAT CRAP LIKE THAT CAN DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At this point I am just getting old orders done and will call it quits when I am done. No point in trying to re-but that. I'm through all thanks to an asshole that set out to ruin me. Good Job by the way if you are lurking here........

[madialex]

ANd another thing

If it weren't for Jason Lollar a lot of us wouldn't even be here talking about pickups. Especially you!!! Jason of all people I would think would use the correct parts.

I know Lindy Fralin and he would not intentionally use shit parts either. I may have got some crap stuff but he gets all his stuff custom made to his exacting specs. I have been to his shop and know what he puts out. He sends out more pickups a day than most people on this board together does in a month. Kinda hard to knock his product when a whole lot of people love his work.......

And guys, thats not a stab at how much you do, just stating how much product he puts out and the volume of people who have no complaints.

[kevinT]

At this point I am just getting old orders done and will call it quits when I am done. No point in trying to re-but that. I'm through all thanks to an asshole that set out to ruin me. Good Job by the way if you are lurking here........

Ben,

Don't let that mother-f***er win! If you believe in your product that is all that matters.

Yeah, it might take a little time for damage control...but it is not hopeless.

There are things that you can do.

Put up a personal letter on your web site explaining what this guy did.
Re-emphasize and/or beef up your warranty/return policy
Get customers to do testimonials about your products
Get endorsees
etc....

[madialex]

Hi Kevin

Well I did email the webmaster at harmony central demanding they remove the said posts, either that or remove everything about all my stuff period and remove me completely from the whole site, we'll see i guess.

[pupoholic]

So the countless hours Jason lollar spent educating Don over the phone was a waste of Don's phone bills especially as Jason

Lets don't spead DIS INFORMATION -- I hate that BS!@


Jason is not and never was my GODFATHER to pickups... or did he educate me, don't mistake me for others that have been accused of doing that to jason.. it was not I..
Lets not forget were my history started, Duncan, then to Lace.. 7 years of education.

With Jason we talked about how he could get me to ROY BUCHANAN's sound. that was it, , and about things we thought we of intreast to us both in the industry...

While I worked at Lace and designed pickup models and made Lace 2 million dollars..

lastly
I'm really sorry.. I don't know how to do this.. I'm dammed if I do and dammed if I don't..

so maybe I'll just blank it out,,,take it all ff..

do you guys want me to explain over the phone after some poor guys sent a pickup here, that he needs to buy a new one..etc.. thats what I'm trying to get away from..

NOT all products are universally servicable at anothers factory..

a

[Norcal_GIT_r]

I bet this guy is Ed Roman's Cousin.
Most certainly the Roman of pickups.

[Ruel]

OOPS!!!!

You've really done it this time, Don. If you haven't got anything good to say about other people (especially your fellow pickup winders) keep your mouth shut!"

[corduroyew]

I bet this guy is Ed Roman's Cousin.
Most certainly the Roman of pickups.

I thought of Ed Roman as I read this thread too.

[pupoholic]

OPPS.. I"M HERE.. I am DON MARE

I bet this guy is Ed Roman's Cousin.
Most certainly the Roman of pickups.

So Ed's fair game hugh? its ok to slander big ed.. ???



Look.. like I said I did nothing intentionally -- so don't start in with the
frigging Lables mean dudes..OK...

I'm a nice guy... I hate A-holes as much as you do..

I did nothing to harm or hurt or interfear.. it was up for a day or two. and done without much thought,

I was trying to stop the influx of things that I do not want to DEAL with here any longer..

If your IN FEAR YOUR QUALITY is not great, thats your own problem.. not others or especially MINE!

AND SO YOUR ALL HAPPY.. I AM NO LONGER TAKING REWINDS PERIOD!!!
DON MARE