Premier guitar Bill Finnegan article

[GrindCustoms]

I'm really glad that he pulled out that product out... no matter how he was involved in it....seems like all he had where soldering skills... but it sounds great, cool design... i like it.

It's a shame for is own convictions/ambitions that he've never been able to get is fingers out of is a** and move on...

I hardly can respect the professional profile of that individual.

[atreidesheir]

I enjoyed the article.  I thought Bill Finnegan was an urban legend.

[artstomp]

...oh how i love you guys...with all these intelligent & informative discussions and remarks...

..back in the '80s ive only seen & used BOSS products...and some vesta fire chorus...some Pearl products...and a Maestro FUZZ...not even heard of the Big Muff or the RAT then...by the way im located from the other side of the pond...and what was it everyone is talking 'bout?...oh i remember!...the Klown!....

...sorry guys to butt in...i just enjoyed reading the forum...

[atreidesheir]

Saw this post on TGP (poster id removed):
"Holy Crap at the posts being deleted this morning. I've refreshed 3 separate threads and watched whole conversations disappear. It's like the rapture."
__________________

[chromesphere]

Steve Jobs would have killed for the sort of hype and emotion this guy can muster.  Bill should realise that this is the most valuable thing a business owner can have.  He could establish a successful lucrative business on this sort of hype alone.  He's doing now it!  Where all discussing it! He has a skill for it.  Instead he moans about 'clones'.  Some people would kill for the goldmine he is (still) sitting on.

[alanp]

It still amazes me that after several years, people don't just go "f--- it, no pedal is worth this kind of bullshit, money, and time."

This toan thing really is a religion for some.

[hoodoo]

Hey Rej, Bill called, said he'd like a hundred pack of Chimaera boards, from the group buy 

[chromesphere]

lol

So does the pedal community know what the unicorn diodes are?  Im out of touch with this....um....bs...

[raulduke]

I can't say there was anything in the article that really made my blood boil.

The whole Klon saga has kind of become a bit tedious to be honest.

Maybe he feels the same way  ?

People slag him and his product off to no end (including me in the past I have to say).

However when you look at it, many of us build, and some even sell, the very product he brought to fruition 

I think it may be time to give the guy a break and let it lie...

[Fastocker]

Wow, a lot of judgment here -- didn't realize how many geniuses and big business moguls resided here.  All you self-made pedal-building millionaires, please raise your hands . . .

I don't know Bill personally but I've talked to a friend of his -- he described him as a most humble and almost shy individual who really wants no part of all the "ridiculous hype that . . . is not of his making".  Also described as a genuinely nice guy who just happens to be very fussy and particular about his product.

Remember, too, that the internet basically wasn't around when he started doing that pedal . . . so the wealth of readily available information that so many take for granted right now just wasn't there at the time.  Just for fun, try to quantify all of your circuit or pedal building knowledge.  Now imagine subtracting everything you've gleaned from the internet.  What do you have left?

BTW, I'm a licensed engineer and project/discipline manager -- you'd be surprised how many decent engineers can't put a coherent sentence together or organize their work.  Smart as whips with the calculations and such . . . but common sense often eludes them (i.e., can't see the forest through the trees).  A good PM is essential in most cases to bring a project to fruition and ensure budgets are met.  So if the guy realized what he wanted but was incapable of doing all of the circuit design himself, what is so bad about reaching out to others?  And try hand building 8000 of anything . . . day after day, week after week . . . I know I'd get sick of it after awhile for sure.

Just trying to look at it from a different angle.

[pickdropper]

Wow, a lot of judgment here -- didn't realize how many geniuses and big business moguls resided here.  All you self-made pedal-building millionaires, please raise your hands . . .

I don't know Bill personally but I've talked to a friend of his -- he described him as a most humble and almost shy individual who really wants no part of all the "ridiculous hype that . . . is not of his making".  Also described as a genuinely nice guy who just happens to be very fussy and particular about his product.

Remember, too, that the internet basically wasn't around when he started doing that pedal . . . so the wealth of readily available information that so many take for granted right now just wasn't there at the time.  Just for fun, try to quantify all of your circuit or pedal building knowledge.  Now imagine subtracting everything you've gleaned from the internet.  What do you have left?

BTW, I'm a licensed engineer and project/discipline manager -- you'd be surprised how many decent engineers can't put a coherent sentence together or organize their work.  Smart as whips with the calculations and such . . . but common sense often eludes them (i.e., can't see the forest through the trees).  A good PM is essential in most cases to bring a project to fruition and ensure budgets are met.  So if the guy realized what he wanted but was incapable of doing all of the circuit design himself, what is so bad about reaching out to others?  And try hand building 8000 of anything . . . day after day, week after week . . . I know I'd get sick of it after awhile for sure.

Just trying to look at it from a different angle.

Actually, that's not all that different than what I was trying to say.  There is nothing wrong with having an idea and hiring people to help you implement it.  That's the basis of a lot of business.  I am also an engineer/project manager, so I can see it from that side. 

While some begrudge Bill for whatever reason, I don't feel the thread has been entirely negative; the exchange of ideas has been more level-headed here than some of the threads I've seen elsewhere.

I think what rubs some folks wrong is when he portrays himself as a victim.  He clearly loves the Klon and has spent much of his life building them (I know I'd be sick of building them long before 8,000).  But he has some culpability in the current state of things.  As was stated earlier in the thread, he created a vacuum in the industry by not meeting demand.  As happens in a free market, somebody was bound to fill that gap.  If people can't find what they want from the original maker, they will find somebody else who will make it for them (assuming it is desirable enough).

[stevie1556]

I know where the magic comes from........



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[madbean]

Wow, a lot of judgment here -- didn't realize how many geniuses and big business moguls resided here.  All you self-made pedal-building millionaires, please raise your hands . . .

It tends to be a polarizing subject, for whatever reason. I'm most definitely neither of those things, and neither is Bill I suspect. Here's something positive about the way he used to "market" the Klon: talking with each and every new buyer about their gear and expectations before making a purchase. That is exceptional to me. PaulC is the only other guy I know who does that kind of thing.

[Govmnt_Lacky]

I don't know Bill, Don't know anyone associated with Bill, and I have yet to build anything resembling a Klon or a Klone however.....

When he says that he "has nothing to do with the ridiculous hype surrounding the Klon" that is an absolute LIE!

As so many have stated, by starving the market of his product and limiting release, whether it was by his inability to supply product fast enough OR by intentionally under producing them.... HE DID CREATE THE HYPE!

Personally, I don't care if he did it, why he did it, etc. But, to say that he had no involvement in creating this circus AND putting it on his new Klon pedals shows me that there is quite a bit of entitlement and narcissism on his part.

My 2 

[culturejam]

....... stuff......

I don't disagree with  many of your points. However...

And try hand building 8000 of anything . . . day after day, week after week . . .

But WHYYYYYY?? ?? ?? Why would I try to build several thousand of the same thing, by hand, over and over for years on end, making no attempts at process improvement or efficiency gains? Especially if it's not making me rich. WHY?? It makes no sense.

Especially if I have the internet (since you brought it up) as a tool to teach me about electronics, circuit board fabrication, design for production/manufacturing, screen printing, graphic design, photography, marketing, and every other discipline that might benefit me as a one-man shop. 

All boats rise with the tide. If the internet helps kloners, it also helps the original designers as well. But you must choose to avail yourself of that help. It is not automatic.