Official Luthiers Forum!

I've participated in similar events myself, albeit unrelated to lutherie. In my experience, reporting this person's behavior to the event organizers would have resulted in a swift and satisfactory response. Without vendors they have no show, so they want happy vendors. On the flip side, anyone renting a table should be ready, willing and able to effectively defend their product or service when challenged--and you will likely be challenged in some way because there are a lot of weirdos out there! It's a shame this happened, Spyder, but you're wiser for it and thanks to some very interesting and insightful comments in this thread, you (and the rest of us) will be better prepared should this kind of interaction occur in the future.

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George :-)

Well played sir!

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.

Someone like that would tempt me to introduce him to the chromatic ELBOW.

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Guitar Maker and Purveyor of the World's Finest Tonewoods
http://www.aaronhixguitars.com/
http://stores.ebay.com/A-Hix-Tonewood-a ... r-Supplies

Simply awesome.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

I think I should add that the guitar was originally promised to be delivered in June of 2012. So it's almost a year late.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

hahahahah yes!

oooopsie wrong thread?

Someone like that is "out of tune" themself, the elbow would correct his tune pretty quickly, and accurately.

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Guitar Maker and Purveyor of the World's Finest Tonewoods
http://www.aaronhixguitars.com/
http://stores.ebay.com/A-Hix-Tonewood-a ... r-Supplies

Fire hydrant watering aside, yes, my fat fingers hit the wrong thread and I replied without looking where I was.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Sorry for my mix-up. Here is a sexy goat to get things back on track:


Awww yeeeaaaahhh!!!
There. All better now.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Goat.
Another word for "YUM!".
(love me some BBQ goat)

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

As much as we'd all like to have punched this guy out, such provocateurs are typically all too familiar with the legal system and welcome any opportunity to parlay a black eye into a bag full of cash. Better to keep your hands at your sides and whup him with your smarts.

Nice goat.

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George :-)

This one is stuffed and ready grill!

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

only if he lives to go to the courts.......

Violence is not the answer. Grilled goat is the answer.

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http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Ignorace and ego are a terrible combination. I remember thinking at the time that anything I told him he would then use to show off his increased knowledge to his friends (or listeners, whichever the case may be.) and further elevate his status, even if in his own mind. I wasn't so sure it would be wise to lessen the ignorance, if you know what I mean.

But I believe that after all this feedback, if it happens again, it will be time for a lesson, including an analysis of an instrument he considers fine.

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Phil

http://www.oleninstruments.com

"Those who tilt at windmills are only considered insane by those who can't see the dragon."

Did the guy with the Chromatic tuner actually try the instrument? I've yet to see a seriously good player use any tuner to check an instrument. I've been in the game over 30 years. The only players I've seen reach for a tuner are those who are unsure of their own abilities. They are usually poor players or half decent players but with a poorly trained ear. Next time stop him before he starts fiddling with the tuner and tell him to PLAY it. Put the pressure on him. I'll guarantee that he'll shy away and scurry off because serious players don't go around checking intonation with a chromatic tuner. They don't need to.
It's partly why the maker who can play to a decent level is at an advantage in such a situation. It's pretty difficult to argue with someone who is playing the instrument and leaving the audience open mouthed, people quickly forget about technology then.

I will place the Chromatic Tuner in the proper spot , then with a good elbow to the chin we should be able to tell if he is in tune or not. Some how I suspect the elbow to the head will only produce a hollow dull sound .

Actually I hope he's a Lurker here and has seen all this . Maybe he will jump in and expound upon us the wisdumb that comes from someone of his Caliper !

Who would have guessed that the " Doofus Move Of the Year" would be someone we don't even know !

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The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

On the first dulcimers I made I simply copied the fretboard from the cheap kit that I'd gotten (this was 1971). People started to complain that they didn't sound right when played along with a guitar. It turns out the kit was 'mean tone' fretted, not 'equally tempered'. It sounded really nice by itself, and, in fact, to this day the equal tempered ones sound 'out' to me.

I'd bet that you could set up nut and saddle compensation on your dulcimers pretty easily. It's still possible to play them out of tune, of course, but it's harder. Eventually, if you keep going back, folks will catch on to the scam this guy is pulling, and you'll end up smelling like a rose. I've run into those guys before: they're all gone and I'm still here.

I can see the point of not taking anything to a show that's not the best you can do, but:
a) we're all learning (or so it is to be hoped), and
b) you do need to have things at different price points.

Once in a while I see an instrument that I made twenty or thirty years ago. Back then it was my best work, now.... All you can do is hope that folks will take the learning curve into account, and not hold some of the early 'flaws' (that you didn't know where flaws at the time) against you.

It's hard to make something that you can sell for half the price of your 'standard' model and make money on. Basically you have to cut the time by more than half, since it's hard to save a lot on materials. If the plastic nut and saddle can save that amount of time, then that's what you have to do.

'The customer is always right' is just another version of the Golden Rule: "He who has the gold makes the rule"

This guy wasn't a customer, though, was he. He was running down some ones work, with no intention to buy, so he has no right to being "right".

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Alex, I believe you are RIGHT to WRITE this guy off as an instigator with out the RIGHT to have RIGHTS or be RIGHT.