I just ordered my first Custom bass.....ahhh GAS relief.Music 

  • Thread starter Pako
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Kylehnat
Does that mess up the open-string tuning, or does the string always rest on the fret?
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Now that I look at it, it looks like the strings rest on the fret. The strings are touching the zero fret on my guitar, but then the nut is fubar, as you can see in the pic.
 
Thanks for posting that pic. Maybe I should send the part in the wiki page where it says "normally used in cheaper guitars" to try and get a discount.... :D
 
I'll take the one on the left :).

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The word on the hold up is he's still waiting on the wood pickups. Everyone with wood pickups on order got moved to the third batch. It's that little extra something that makes the wait worth it.
 
At least he's keeping you updated on how it's coming and why there are delays. In the end, like you said, it'll be worth the wait.

We ordered something from a furniture store, called repeatedly to see if it was in yet and never got an answer. After a few weeks and getting completely pissed off, they finally told us that the company making the furniture closed and they were looking for somewhere else to get it. If they would have just said that up front, I would have been thanking them for the extra work instead of getting mad.
 
I have to give Pete nothing but praises on customer service and communication. If I send an email, I can expect a phone call back that day, even if he could just as easily replied to the simple email. Really easy to talk to and he makes a killer product. It's no wonder his production doubles with orders every year....
 
Well, the pickups appear to be out of customs now:
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Not sure how much longer until completion. Shouldn't be much longer but I know he is/was/will be moving where he is relocating his shop.
 
*update*

Just got an email from Pete. He's thinking within the next 3 weeks or so, it should be ready for shipping. He's getting the pickups lasered with the Skjold logo now and is planning on working on the batch my bass is included in this weekend. :D
 
The.

Longest.

Three.

Weeks.

Ever!

Nice to see you finally have a date, at least. Not that I want anything bad to happen, but how long would it take to reorder the pickups if something went wrong with the laser etching? Sounds like that was the holdup.
 
TB
Not that I want anything bad to happen, but how long would it take to reorder the pickups if something went wrong with the laser etching? Sounds like that was the holdup.
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What if the delivery truck crashes? :scared:
 
Yeah, I hope he doesn't screw up the pickups either. I don't think extra were made. I've been pretty blessed with a lot of things that have gone right in my life, but this week's been hell. I'm sure it will be fine, he does exceptional work. Civil engineer by day, laser engraver by night, he doesn't get to make mistakes. :)
 
Shhhhhh...... I am projecting positive thinking. Please don't interrupt.
 
I would be rather upset if I were in your position. I understand that you have to respect the artisan and the fact that he has a lot of work, but he keeps postponing the due date time after time. Making world-class basses is no doubt a good business, but a good businessman also knows what a deadline is. If he can't make it, then he shouldn't promise a product so soon. You put up a serious cash investment, you deserve the same respect you've given him in return.

He's doubled his production time from 6 months to a year (to the day, at the moment) and seems to be pretty loose when he updates you with specific completion dates. He's lucky he isn't getting an earful from you. I don't doubt others are rather upset.

It's upsetting me, and it isn't even my money on the line. I'm surprised you've held your sanity all this time :P
 
It's frustrating but I also understand his situation. By all rights, he didn't have room for any other customs in this batch but he made an exception to take care of me. He's not even starting his second batch until late this summer. Not sure if I shared this information or not, but he bought his partner out at the beginning of this batch. There were some re-tooling of templates and processes that took unforeseen effort which caused additional delays. On a plus side, I never wanted Pete to compromise his build quality just to get the product out. In that respect, the extra wait is worth is. Some of the basic models have been out for months, but this last batch are all the special basses with all the extra mojo. As a sign of good faith, he's paying for next day shipping on the bass, along with a few extra's. The engraving on the inlays for example were way beyond what was to be expected. The pickup covers are solid wood whereas all the pickups to follow will be a composite material with a wood veneer top. The logo will have actual shell inlay, versus plastic, plus he discounted this bass an additional $700 from what they will be going for with the options I have selected. At 70 basses in this batch, he said that they are all coming out very consistent which is miles apart from the extra tweaking that needed to be done on a individual basis with the old way the basses were being made. This is a good thing. Not sure if I would have still bought one knowing it was going to take this long.... I thought 6 months was barely doable, but 14 months would have been beyond my expectation of reasonable. How long have we been waiting and will continue to wait for GT5? I have a sizable investment in gear to play that particular game. :D If anything, the extra wait will give me a better appreciation for the instrument.
 
I love how when you break things down to nuts and bolts, a seemingly bad situation really isn't all that bad.
 
TB
I love how when you break things down to nuts and bolts, a seemingly bad situation really isn't all that bad.
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Well, throwing a fit and raising hell to get my bass sooner wouldn't have done anything positive. The way it's working out, I'll have a luthier in my corner if I need any repairs or tweaks done to the bass, and should I need a Fretless Skjold Custom down the road (already thinking about it), I'll already have that relationship established. Buying a custom instrument isn't like going to the local music shop and ordering a bass out of a catalog, it's a long process of planning to come up with the right combination of materials to achieve the desired result in terms of looks, sound, and playability. Next, each piece of the instrument is hand build with exception to some of the stock hardware such as tuners, ect. Custom electronics, wood selections, finishes, and any other extra's that pop up. :)

It's all good.
 
This one is NOT mine, but it's one more out of the shop allowing more attention on my bass. :)

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Update:

Well it's 3 weeks today from when he said it would be three weeks or so. It looks like it'll be done "or so", and not in the three week estimate. He's got all the hardware on the body, electronics installed, but he's waiting on the pickup blend switch which is expect any day now.... What's left is some minor electronics assembly and some fret finish work on the neck. Besides that, it's basically done. There's 9 other basses in this batch that he's working on so even if there's only 4 hours of work left, just times that by 10, and there's another 40 hours of work to do. With July just a week away, he's shooting for a delivery date of July 4th. Just have to hurry up and wait. :)
 

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