Author Topic: Side LEDs are too dim (Read 1494 times)

the_jester · « **Reply #60 on:** March 08, 2010, 09:17:05 AM »

I don't see the relationship between the two Jacko.

Far as I know, I don't believe Austin's bass WAS delivered to him yet... right?

So if that's true, (and I believe it is...) then it's already obvious that the matters are between him and Alembic. If Alembic delivers Austin bass or not... It has no effect on me, no more than a stumped toe next door, inside my neighbor's house... (Unless he needs my aid...).

I am still consistent with this idea today.

Furthermore, I don't believe statements from anyone here, are pretexts to a magical formula rule for issues to be of -- 'what' is private or 'what' is public.

Anyway...

On a thread Shoji authored, he asked a general question, and members offered him advise...

From there, the problem snowballed... and I receive my bass 3 months later over a faulty LED which was found faultiness, or issues were never duplicated at HQ.

Shoji's matter had implicated (directly and indirectly) halted the progress of my bass being ready by November 09.

I been really quiet about this problem, and I probably would had remained silent, if it was not for this issue turning out so ugly...

Like I said, I was cool with my (3) months late bass, and I dealt with the delay coolly, and in a silent way, and I didn't sound off and blast anyone on my FTC when my bass was delayed...

But to blast Mica over something so trivial, and could had been understood earlier, and something like this, halting production to repair a LED (which was not proven defective), was a hard pill to swallow Bro.

I am a human being, with a soul (contrary what you might think...)

Peace and Love,

Hal-

(Message edited by the_jester on March 08, 2010)

keith_h · « **Reply #61 on:** March 08, 2010, 11:36:24 AM »

Hal,
You are one of the people that made it ugly.

To all,
The fact is this is between Shoji and Alembic and they are the only ones that have the full picture of what is going on. The rest of us need to keep our opinions on what should and what should not be done to ourselves. I am sure if this was one of us in the same situation we would wish the same.

Keith

the_jester · « **Reply #62 on:** March 08, 2010, 12:33:26 PM »

LOL!!!!

Keith, I don't care what you think.

I said my piece, and I made my peace, and this is not a question of how you feel about what I said. There's nothing you can do about the situation anyway, and you had not said nothing but called me ugly. You had proved nothing, nor do you understand the dynamics of this discussion.

Therefore, you are in position to speak to us all as if we can't offer a comment as people deem fit.

Are you going to give me the (3) months I lost over this LED issue?

LOL!!!

Peace and Love,

Hal-

(Message edited by the_jester on March 08, 2010)

keith_h · « **Reply #63 on:** March 08, 2010, 12:43:05 PM »

Hal,
You are the one that does not understand the discussion nor does appear that you understand English very well. You stated that the thread had gotten ugly. I merely stated that you were one of the folks that way. That has nothing to do with my personal opinion of you (which is basically that of pity).

As usual you try to turn everything back to you. I personally don't care about your 3 months. That is nothing. I still am awaiting delivery of my bass and the order was placed in December of 2007. I know of other folks that have been waiting just as long or longer. The fact is if I have a problem and need to return the bass under warranty I sure hope it gets priority to be fixed.

Keith

(Message edited by keith_h on March 08, 2010)

mica · « **Reply #64 on:** March 08, 2010, 05:46:14 PM »

An update: We submitted a request to UPS/Customs to revalue the shipment - it's worth a try! They are supposed to get back with me by 5:00pm eastern time tomorrow. I'll post again when I know more.

I respectfully request that the remainder of communication on this thread is between Shoji and me. Thanks in advance for your understanding.

the_jester · « **Reply #65 on:** March 08, 2010, 05:54:14 PM »

[moderator's note: as indicated moments ago in a post made to the Alembic Basses & Guitars section, this type of discourse will no longer be tolerated]

(Message edited by davehouck on March 08, 2010)

JimmyJ · « **Reply #66 on:** March 08, 2010, 06:22:51 PM »

Since I was in on this thread early on I feel compelled to add a word or two.

The first thing I must ask is that everybody take a deep breath and stop posting anything that might be misconstrued as personal attacks on each other. Please don't let the OP's frustration and anger spread among us and contaminate the premises! This forum only exists at Alembic's whim and if things get unfriendly I wouldn't blame them for closing it all down. I'm sure Mica wouldn't miss the extra work (hey, would it effect delivery times??)... I personally like it in here and would be sad to loose the outlet.

This has indeed been a painful series of events to read about here and I feel for all sides. I'm sorry for Shoji because the repair of his instrument's LEDs (something I consider and auxiliary feature not even necessary to play music) has turned into a terrible 6-month long goose-chase which has yet to be concluded. But I think we can agree that he's entitled to expedited factory service just as we would hope for should our own instruments need help. If I understand correctly, this is Shoji's second series bass after the original Red Tiger? If so, I am happy that he has another instrument to play while waiting.

Regarding why this has been played out here in the forum, I suspect that Shoji thought making his case in public would get a quicker response... I am also guessing that English may not be his primary language and he may not be aware of how angry and demanding his posts appear. With that in mind, arguing with Mica here in the Alembic forum is a bit like an Orix Buffaloes fan complaining loudly in the Seibu Tigers fan forum... (baseball teams) You should expect some of us fans to jump in and defend our team. That's why several here have posted in support of Alembic's efforts in this situation. And I agree that Mica and all appear to have done their usual best to resolve the issue including accepting the customer's word about the defect and making every effort to fix it. That's the support we all know and love.

Just a couple more things... The factory always has several instruments in various stages of build and repair. For instance I don't think there is ever just one instrument in the spray booth, more like 6 or 12 at a time. It's not a one-at-a-time assembly line thing so an expedited warranty repair can't really be pointed to as causing the delay of another instrument. Otherwise us bass players would get mad at the guitar players for gumming up the works!

If we've learned anything here it's that those who live outside of the US and need warranty repair work must carefully research how customs views the export / re-import situation. Dealing with customs of any country is like trying to reason with the Internal Revenue Service over here - they lay down the rules and it's up to you to comply... I am curious as to the $ amount the Tokyo Customs Office is expecting Shoji to pay. Paying double import duty is a serious pain in the ass.

Finally (sorry for the long-winded post), I urge Shoji to be patient, this will soon be resolved and you will have your bass back. As all of us who deal with Alembic know, good things come to those who wait. Hang in there.

Jimmy J

David Houck · « **Reply #67 on:** March 08, 2010, 06:28:33 PM »

Thank you Jimmy!!!

3rd_ray · « **Reply #68 on:** March 08, 2010, 07:47:15 PM »

For what it's worth... we all know that necks move depending on temperature and humidity. I'm sure Shoji wasn't dreaming when he saw a problem with his LED's. Why would anyone send an Alembic away unless it's absolutely necessary? The problem had to be an intermittent short, open, or some other electrical path that wasn't supposed to be there. The neck could have moved to a position that caused the problem, and it moved out of that position when it was sent back. When the fingerboard was removed it stayed out of that position. You can jiggle and tug on the wires and connections and maybe you'll get it happen again and maybe you won't. The fact that you can't get it to go bad again does not mean that there's no problem. If this bass was sent back as is, it might have worked good for a few years and then gone bad. Who wants to take that chance? The problem was unfortunate, but the repair seems necessary to me. It's good that this doesn't happen very often.

slawie · « **Reply #69 on:** March 08, 2010, 07:59:42 PM »

The word Intermittent is a cause of misery for anyone. Particularly so with those who are charged
with the responsibility to find and repair a fault occurring only when most inconvenient.
Having been in the technology service industry for about 32 years I feel for the folks at Alembic. After you get the repair right some other snaffu comes along and bites you.

I hope you get your Bass back soon.

slawie

lbpesq · « **Reply #70 on:** March 09, 2010, 07:27:55 AM »

The LED on the 7th or 9th fret of my '77 Series I 12 string is intermittent. Sometimes during the year it shorts out whenever that fret is played, at other times it doesn't. I live with it. No problem. As for the above, chill out. I wish my Custom Further had been only three months delayed. I would have had it almost two years sooner than I did.

Bill, tgo