Premier guitar Bill Finnegan article

[jkokura]

It comes down to this. The whole situation is his doing. As described in the article, he has complete control over everything. He didn't have to do anything the way he did it, he chose to do it that way.

BINGO!  It's his deal -- he can run the show however he deems fit.  Why does that seem to offend so many? 

Because he's whining about it, and some of us are building klones! That's why it bothers us, if you will, because some of us, maybe even many of us, are the ones he's complaining and whining about!

Listen man, it seems like you're on Bill's side on this whole matter. That's fine. But most of the people around here aren't sympathetic to him. It's been many, many years of watching him, and the whole situation, and having Bill say some rather nasty (and in some cases untrue) words towards the DIY community has left this group with little grace towards him. Not saying it's right or wrong, but that's what you're seeing.

Jacob

[madbean]

That GIF would have been priceless if you could have photoshopped Bill's face over the Genius pic! 

This is all in good fun, of course.

[GermanCdn]

I heard Tayda's also bringing their own card table to market, but for $6500.  Only downside is the layout doesn't match the pinout, and hence there's three legs on one side......

[culturejam]

This is all in good fun, of course.

But now to make it appropriate, you have to change the date available to "~2010" 

[angrykoko]

Hi,
I'm trying to build a card table and was wondering if anyone had the specs for the feet?

[madbean]

This is all in good fun, of course.

But now to make it appropriate, you have to change the date available to "~2010" 

tears in eyes...laughing

[juansolo]

Looks like the TGP is already locked. This whole thing pretty much followed the playbook.

Put me down for one of those! 

[juansolo]

Having Bill say some rather nasty (and in some cases untrue) words towards the DIY community has left this group with little grace towards him. Not saying it's right or wrong, but that's what you're seeing.

This ^ There's history between Bill and the DIY community. He really didn't endear himself to us in a big way. Wasn't he the first one to call us terrorists and even got FSB shutdown (albeit temporarily)?

As someone else mentioned, the whining is the other thing that rubs me the wrong way personally. Especially when he has control over his own destiny.

As for the single mother. Crassness aside, and throwing some speculation out there, it's a good way to sell new pedals 2nd hand with a massive mark up whilst avoiding the IRS. Just saying... Or he could just be a genuinely nice, caring, misunderstood guy who lacks any common sense.

[Cortexturizer]

Or he could just be a genuinely nice, caring, misunderstood guy who lacks any common sense.

I love those British twists in the end! [of the sentence hahah]

[billstein]

Hey Bean. Can you do a single sided card table for us etchers?

[Clayford]

Meaning what exactly?

I'm afraid I might have offended you in my comment... It wasn't the intention. Meaning that your offer to (re)design it is mostly complete. Your Klone circuit is well regarded as one of, if not the best of the Klones. You stopped at rev 3. Can't buy the boards from you(yet) and Haberdasher will not etch. But armed with your document, some copper clad, and FeCl3,  one is ready to attempt the completely impossible task of making a Klone of a pedal that not only contained unobtanium, but also poured goop unicorn tears over it after soldering it together. Others have used your schematic and the other to create their own layout/products as well and offer them for a reasonable price. Your layout and version of the schematic was and still is being used by a more than a few cloners (boutique builders too! Just look around.) to separate fools and their money satisfy the needs of the corksniffers masses that have to have one.

I've heard and played through 2 Klon's^**. The first one was a Silver Klon and I had NO knowledge of the pedal and I damned near dropped my Les Paul when I heard how much the thing was "worth". The second was a KTR It's a decent pedal, but I don't think I'd have ever paid $269 for it, certainly not the $500+ used originals go for. $129? $149? Quite possibly. The TGP crowd will say I'm tone deaf, but these are the people that bought into the Gibson BumbleBee and the Freekish Blues fiascos, defended them fervently, then threw complete temper tantrums once they figured out they'd been "duped".  

As you stated - If Bill wanted it, for little to no cost (because you and probably countless others would design it and sign it away in a heartbeat) - he could have a ready to roll Klon board with SMT and/or thru-hole components, pcb mounted pots, jacks, and power, a buffered/non-buffered switch, with a 7pin molex headered replaceable footswitch, ready to drop in a 1590(B or BB) ala EHX, MXR, etc, all per his design spec. Supposedly by the time we read the article, we can get KTR's again. They aren't available yet, and I honestly don't think they will be. I could be wrong, but honestly why should he? Because once he does the game changes. Everyone will able to make an informed decision about his pedal, and not be awed by the fact they paid a week's worth of salary for it used. Now his one design must not only measure up to, but measure above the Klones, or he fails. There's no biscuit to dangle in front of everyone. There's no "Rockstar" mentality for himself nor the owners of his product. He now to stop the incessant bitching and moaning about how everyone is/was stealing his money. You know the money that he admittedly gives to someone when they need it^***. The value of the Klon market plummets. His assistant, John Perotti, shows him another funny video that he shares trolling the community. What's left? Those circuits he has been working on and perfecting for years.. you know the ones he's been working on without the help of Fenning, whom Bill openly admits is responsible for a good portion of the Klon sounding how it actually does, that he doesn't want to release because we're all a bunch of grabasses waiting to steal his designs and money? They would have to be released and must be spectacular or else ALL of the hype would be GONE.^****

TL/DR Version:
After he packed up his toys and went home, you had the best alternative option to the entire community through 3 separate revisions. Some people decided to abuse the ever loving crap out of it for a profit. You stopped producing them for reasons that are your own. Klon(e) discussion has always managed to get you a little worked up, but you have stopped letting it do that do you recently. Bill is completely aware that his product is: desired, completely marketable, and a self admitted license to print money. Admittedly he's been offered lots of money to make them, and he refuses to do so on a regular basis, thus invalidating his right to bitch. Sure he did allow the KTR out for a bit, (whilst blatantly trolling the community) and then just as quickly stopped production due to reasons he would only vaguely hint at, but won't actually discuss. And those are valuable now too. You have decided to release the SunkingII (rev4). Supposedly he's rereleasing the KTR again too. I think both ideas are awesome.

Does anyone else feel like Premier Guitar also trolled the community, and are also currently watching the page views and therefore advertising dollars roll in?


^*results may vary
^**itsbasicallyjustatubescreamer
^***Or has he just gotten smarter and realized he can just build one and have it sold the cost of building 2-3 of them?
^****Remember the hype is not his making

[Govmnt_Lacky]

Could someone please point to the article where BOSS, MXR, EHX, Ibanez, DOD, Dunlop, etc. are making claims and pouting about DIY'ers "stealing" their innovations?

Oh... right.... you wont!

I think that is because they run a good business model and still make money!

Willing to bet that ALL of the companies I named above started on a "card table" or the likes (didn't MXR start in a basement?) and yet... they manage to be successful amidst the massive cloning of their products.

More of my 2 

[culturejam]

Could someone please point to the article where BOSS, MXR, EHX, Ibanez, DOD, Dunlop, etc. are making claims and pouting about DIY'ers "stealing" their innovations?

Oh... right.... you wont!

They are too busy stealing from each other to write articles. 

[chromesphere]

They are too busy stealing from each other to write articles. 

I seriously lol'd.  Good one haha

Cant believe I've never read anything about the Klon saga...its like watching a car crash in slow motion.  I gotta say I love the drama.  Spicing things up eh?

I was going to ask, has anyone on this forum had something stolen / copied / ripped off that they had developed?  How did it make you feel?  What did you do about it?

I have.  A number of times.  I discovered, its not the idea that's valuable.  It's the ability to create new ideas that's important.  I find some people that are hooked up on 'protecting' their ideas are usually people that either, can not come up with new ideas (pot luck has handed them a golden goose), or placed all their eggs in one basket. 

Imagine it from Bill's point of view though.  Imagine you had that massive cash cow that is the Klon at your feet and people started ripping it off...man I think I would be p1ssed too.  He needs to remember though that ITS STILL A CASH COW.  He could produce and sell a million units to corksniffers at <whatever price he sets>...if he got off his ass and did it. 

Paul

[Clayford]

He could produce and sell a million units to corksniffers at <whatever price he sets>...if he got off his ass and did it. 

This.