2020 Happenings! (BOSS Strikes Back)

[manymanyhaha]

Regarding CBA: All good points though still don't quite understand the concept that these limited runs are fueled by greed. These limited runs might not be well thought out but fueled by greed, just don't see the financial incentive in selling a limited number. They would still be charging the same amount, wouldn't they? Or maybe 1000 wouldn't fly the first day or even the first month or so, if it weren't a limited run?

And also, frankly, just so much more to worry about, music gear is just kind of silly. Although, having said that, I will say my 7 year anniversary for my EGC order is coming up. They contacted me in May, saying it was going to ship in about a week and wanted my updated information. Almost 6 months later and they are back to not responding to my emails. I know what they really want. They want me to cancel my order and pay me back my deposit so they can sell it on the open market for a lot more money. But what they don't understand is they don't get to take my deposit, use it to run their business and then pay it back to me with no interest or return on my investment. So if they did pay me back my deposit, I am the one who should get the profits from the investment, not them. And also, I want the fucking guitar.

Sorry, EGC rant . Carry on!

[Gone Fission]

I thought CBA was Canadian.

Minnesotan. Most can’t really tell the difference.

[Sentient Twig]

Korte over on The Gear Page pointed out that some of his entire lines of pedals barely sold 1k of them, so selling 1k in an hour wasn't even on his radar.

Plus, you gotta wonder how much ZVex wants a product out there that's directly competing with their flagship model (despite whatever cut they're getting). Not surprised it was limited.

[jirodreamsofdank]

And also, frankly, just so much more to worry about, music gear is just kind of silly. Although, having said that, I will say my 7 year anniversary for my EGC order is coming up. They contacted me in May, saying it was going to ship in about a week and wanted my updated information. Almost 6 months later and they are back to not responding to my emails. I know what they really want. They want me to cancel my order and pay me back my deposit so they can sell it on the open market for a lot more money. But what they don't understand is they don't get to take my deposit, use it to run their business and then pay it back to me with no interest or return on my investment. So if they did pay me back my deposit, I am the one who should get the profits from the investment, not them. And also, I want the fucking guitar.

Sorry, EGC rant . Carry on!

Jesus, what the fuck.

I ordered a Satellite Coronet a couple of years ago - 18 weeks became over a year, then it was just about to ship, nope almost there this time, one more week now, etc. until I just got a refund (which had to be sent via Paypal, which meant I lost 3.5% on my 50% deposit). I haven't seen any other new ones posted anywhere - I really have no idea if they've ever produced one for sale after the first batch.

I am cured of backing or pre-ordering or paying deposits well in advance to small gear companies.

[Muse FTW]

Korte over on The Gear Page pointed out that some of his entire lines of pedals barely sold 1k of them, so selling 1k in an hour wasn't even on his radar.

Plus, you gotta wonder how much ZVex wants a product out there that's directly competing with their flagship model (despite whatever cut they're getting). Not surprised it was limited.

I think Joel is a good guy, so I'm not trying to disparage him or the business. Most of my board is CBA.

That being said, their standing in the industry is definitely among the most popular within the boutique pedal sphere.
MOOD moved 5k units in a year. They sell out of their limited runs very quickly. Yeah, the super pricey Automatone's aren't going to move as much (similarly, the super noisy Spectre probably didn't sell well) but they've been on a pretty big string of hits. Besides Mood, Warped Vinyl Hifi, Thermae, Dark World, and Blooper are probably doing well.

ZVEX definitely don't want a competitor out there - that's probably the best point against making more - but I still think the approach is wrong. I already own a FF and would want this Bliss Factory as well. I think there's a lot of potential for both companies to make an even bigger killing off of this.

[D.o.S.]

I think market gouging is a gross behaviour, but I'm not going to complain about a builder making a limited run of pedals.

Some people just want to do a certain amount of work, make a specific amount of money, and use the rest of their time not doing more work. I know a few tattoo artists who could make loads more money if they opened their books more often, but they're happy working on 50 clients a year, charging $600 a session, and making 40-50k (or some such equivalent set of numbers). I know software folks in offices who work Tuesday-Friday for 80% of the salary that the position had available, and so on and so forth. Thinking everyone (or every company) inherently needs to scale up to demand isn't really a reasonable ask.

Do I wish more builders would go the Mutable route and make shit open source if there's a limited quantity? Sure. But being upset that someone builds a specific number of pedals seems kind of silly. Blame the dickheads who gobble shit up as speculative commercial investments.

[Sentient Twig]

Honestly, I'm surprised it did so well, which doesn't mean anything because wtf do I know about the pedal industry. But who hasn't owned an FF at this point? Why do you need one in a Chase Bliss enclosure? Having said that, I bought one. So...not sure what my point is.

[manymanyhaha]

And also, frankly, just so much more to worry about, music gear is just kind of silly. Although, having said that, I will say my 7 year anniversary for my EGC order is coming up. They contacted me in May, saying it was going to ship in about a week and wanted my updated information. Almost 6 months later and they are back to not responding to my emails. I know what they really want. They want me to cancel my order and pay me back my deposit so they can sell it on the open market for a lot more money. But what they don't understand is they don't get to take my deposit, use it to run their business and then pay it back to me with no interest or return on my investment. So if they did pay me back my deposit, I am the one who should get the profits from the investment, not them. And also, I want the fucking guitar.

Sorry, EGC rant . Carry on!

Jesus, what the fuck.

I ordered a Satellite Coronet a couple of years ago - 18 weeks became over a year, then it was just about to ship, nope almost there this time, one more week now, etc. until I just got a refund (which had to be sent via Paypal, which meant I lost 3.5% on my 50% deposit). I haven't seen any other new ones posted anywhere - I really have no idea if they've ever produced one for sale after the first batch.

I am cured of backing or pre-ordering or paying deposits well in advance to small gear companies.

Yeah, you and me both brother. I'm kind of an idiot for letting it go on this long, I get that. But it's a little bit like having an old pet, or an old car. You invest $100 to fix something, then its $200, then on and on until you are a thousand in and not blinking an eye at $2000. I have friends who spent thousands of dollars on their dogs for end of life care, because, well, a) they love their dogs but also b) it's a gradual descent. If it had started at $10000 or whatever, they might have made a different decision.

If I had known five or six years ago that seven years later I still would not have a guitar and they would still be jerking me around, I would have asked for my money back.

At this point, I don't know what to do other other take them to court or, I do have their address. It's five hours away but I could show up and let them see I'm a real human being, guilt them into stop being dicks. If they have a human heart. Probably don't, who the fuck takes somebody's money and then seven years later still does not deliver? EGC, that's who.

Anyway, sorry y'all, don't mean to hijack. Point being, whatever can be said about these limited run pedals, at least they made them and are going to deliver them! Carry on with 2020 new shit!

[cantremember]

I'm not surprised they sold that many so quickly. I wonder if they came out a week in advance and told everyone what it was and had a demo or some form of sound sample to go with it, would they still have sold out as quick? or maybe not saying anything and just dropping them randomly might slow it down. IDK but I have a feeling most of them were bought because of FOMO and in the back of their mind thinking, oh yeah I can at least flip this if it sucks.

I think it is a little weird for them to come out and say they didn't expect it to sell out so fast when they randomly dropped those ayahauscha pedals, albeit in a smaller quantity, but those sold out in minutes.

[weebles]

I almost bought the EQD/DBA pedal just because I knew they were going to sell out and didn't want to decide two weeks from now that I really loved the sound, but now the price has jumped to $350 on the used market. I also knew if I didn't get along with it, I would just be able to sell it at cost, but I wound up not doing that.

All of that being said, I wonder if sellers moving away from Reverb because of the price increase will curb some of the price-gouging in the future?

And yeah, I am incredibly skeptical of the "aw shucks we didn't expect to sell out" bit, but he might not have expected the number of conversations like this or negative feedback he's getting from the artificial scarcity of a one-off version of a pedal that's the flagship of a guy who he probably feels - at the very least - some debt of gratitude toward.

[The Eristic]

I ordered a Satellite Coronet a couple of years ago - 18 weeks became over a year, then it was just about to ship, nope almost there this time, one more week now, etc. until I just got a refund (which had to be sent via Paypal, which meant I lost 3.5% on my 50% deposit). I haven't seen any other new ones posted anywhere - I really have no idea if they've ever produced one for sale after the first batch.

I think the Gibson lawsuit fucked them over, even if spurious (which was probably Gibson's intent as much as anything).

[Sentient Twig]

I'm not surprised they sold that many so quickly. I wonder if they came out a week in advance and told everyone what it was and had a demo or some form of sound sample to go with it, would they still have sold out as quick? or maybe not saying anything and just dropping them randomly might slow it down. IDK but I have a feeling most of them were bought because of FOMO and in the back of their mind thinking, oh yeah I can at least flip this if it sucks.

I think it is a little weird for them to come out and say they didn't expect it to sell out so fast when they randomly dropped those ayahauscha pedals, albeit in a smaller quantity, but those sold out in minutes.

Honestly, while I probably would have purchased it anyway, the idea that I could quickly get my money back or even sell it for more if necessary made me pull the trigger more quickly and with less concern. I mean, normally I'd be asking myself "uh, do I really need a $400 fuzz factory?"

[cantremember]

All of that being said, I wonder if sellers moving away from Reverb because of the price increase will curb some of the price-gouging in the future?

I figured that prices would keep going up because of this

[jirodreamsofdank]

The Reverb price increase was so minimal no one's leaving. What are you going to do, give the dweebs at The Gear Page money for a sponsored membership and then deal with the tire kickers?

[jirodreamsofdank]

I ordered a Satellite Coronet a couple of years ago - 18 weeks became over a year, then it was just about to ship, nope almost there this time, one more week now, etc. until I just got a refund (which had to be sent via Paypal, which meant I lost 3.5% on my 50% deposit). I haven't seen any other new ones posted anywhere - I really have no idea if they've ever produced one for sale after the first batch.

I think the Gibson lawsuit fucked them over, even if spurious (which was probably Gibson's intent as much as anything).

This was well before the new ownership and IP threats started going out.

The builder/finisher they were using (Protocaster) makes awesome guitars but there are a lot of stories out there about not meeting deadlines. I chalked it up to that (but I was annoyed that 14 months in, their website was still specifying 18 weeks).