Who is building Scumback Speakers now?

[Scumback Speakers]

Jim, I take it you're confident that you'll be able to keep up with demand, with a 2 man crew and yourself. Are you gonna be active in building or more like you were doing before, QC and the whole marketing end?

I just got done treating 15 cones for the speakers that have to be rebuilt tomorrow, and I'll be rebuilding 15 speaker frames tomorrow those cones go into. Based on the 40-50 we've had to rebuild already, I figure two of us can build 50-60 speakers per day. But I have another associate already trained, and ready to come on board if sales dictate the need.

So yeah, I'm pretty sure that we'll be able to keep up with demand, unless it exceeds 75 speakers per day. Hell, if it gets to that point, I've already got investors waiting to help out.

There are six amp companies already signed up for the California production Scumbacks, two that want special design signature speakers I don't already offer. They wouldn't come on board while Weber VST was still involved, but now that I'm in charge they are. No less than four boutique gear shops around the country are waiting for me to approve them as dealers, and there are three international dealers waiting for me to greenlight them as well.

Needless to say I'm astounded at the response there has been to the news I'm taking over production directly. Since I'm doing the cone treatments before assembly, that takes care of the QC for the cones, which is where the tone is anyway.

While it's going to be more work for me to handle in the short term, that's fine. The ability to handle recones/warranty and increase sales is a huge plus, rather than waiting for Fedex to show up with what I'd ordered two months previously. Since lead times will be cut from 8 weeks to 1 week, that's only going to make clients much happier. And IF there's a problem, I can rebuild the speaker myself, which is another 6-7 week time cut.

While I'll still be handling the emails/forums/advertising and trade shows, that's also fine. I really enjoy what I do, and being more hands on is actually a lot more fun than most think. I'm enjoying the transition and the freedom to get things done in a timely manner.

Trust me...this has worked out much better than I'd dreamed..and I tend to dream big.

[frenchie]

frenchie, as much as I'd like to divulge all that I know, cooler heads than mine tell me I have to wait, so I can't answer your question...yet.

nah don't worry making you divulge anything isn't my intention, it's just that the whole story made me remember a lot of stories in my previous works , you know like the " if you wanna kill your dog you say he has rage" kind of thing , basically you assure the employee or client or whatever have to spend all his working time on repair so he doesn't sell anything , you make his shipping super late etc etc all kind of problems till the guy blows a real big fuse and make a mistake so you can fire him , or trial his face or whatever ( i've had this kind of issues one summer with the forklifters allowed sessions in the floor shop , my schedule was always canceled so i had to move down 400square meters by hand on a ladder , fucking bastard boss ) ..... what a dirty fight working can be sometimes .

[jbzoso2002]

Not long ago the Weber/Scumbak speakers were the greatest thing since sliced
bread. The very best vintage sound one could get thats current mfg.

Now their junk, Im very confused.

Jimmy

Jimmy, well the problems with QC were always there, I just didn't let clients know how many I had to fix the doping on, or send back to be rebuilt (DOA out of the box with voice coil rub/damage/etc). Weber has sent me out doping to fix the speakers on four occasions since 2005. There were usually three bottles of dope per box, which was good for a bunch of speakers to touch up/fix.

Around 18 months ago my orders really increased a lot, and Weber had problems keeping up. Then the QC started to go downhill badly, too. I once received 14 Scumnico 16 ohms that were actually 8 ohm versions. That cost a lot of shipping money to fix (four were in Europe). Since then I've had to do way more QC on my part than I felt was right, but I did it.

Sadly, I found it was needed, and returns to Weber increased due to it. Several speakers failed FBI, even though I used their break in instructions, which didn't happen for the first three years I did it. In one instance I had four 30w speakers in the FBI box, and one of them just plain old caught on fire (yes I have pics), but the other three were fine. Weber blamed me for that, but couldn't explain the other three being fine.

Then there were accusations that my clients did this and they didn't know what they were doing, using Ted's instructions. Then they told me I shouldn't do the FBI thing anymore, even though it had been fine for the previous 3 years, using the same instructions.

There's way more to it than this, though, these are just small items on my gripe list. As I've said before, when I can post everything that happened with the proof to back it up, you'll all be pretty disgusted...like I am. In any business deal/agreement/proprietary speaker relationship there are the occasional problems that need to be addressed. It seems I was the only one who wanted them ironed out.

Frankly, I wish I didn't know now, what I didn't know then, I would have hung onto Weber as a manufacturer. But in light of recent developments, I now understand they were not a viable option going forward.

Thanks Jim for the info, its too bad it went that way. I have speakes from Weber and you and
I like them both.

I still have get off my lazy ass and load my 2nd 4x12 with some good stuff.

Jimmy

[Bluburst135]

Jim, I take it you're confident that you'll be able to keep up with demand, with a 2 man crew and yourself. Are you gonna be active in building or more like you were doing before, QC and the whole marketing end?

I just got done treating 15 cones for the speakers that have to be rebuilt tomorrow, and I'll be rebuilding 15 speaker frames tomorrow those cones go into. Based on the 40-50 we've had to rebuild already, I figure two of us can build 50-60 speakers per day. But I have another associate already trained, and ready to come on board if sales dictate the need.

So yeah, I'm pretty sure that we'll be able to keep up with demand, unless it exceeds 75 speakers per day. Hell, if it gets to that point, I've already got investors waiting to help out.

There are six amp companies already signed up for the California production Scumbacks, two that want special design signature speakers I don't already offer. They wouldn't come on board while Weber VST was still involved, but now that I'm in charge they are. No less than four boutique gear shops around the country are waiting for me to approve them as dealers, and there are three international dealers waiting for me to greenlight them as well.

Needless to say I'm astounded at the response there has been to the news I'm taking over production directly. Since I'm doing the cone treatments before assembly, that takes care of the QC for the cones, which is where the tone is anyway.

While it's going to be more work for me to handle in the short term, that's fine. The ability to handle recones/warranty and increase sales is a huge plus, rather than waiting for Fedex to show up with what I'd ordered two months previously. Since lead times will be cut from 8 weeks to 1 week, that's only going to make clients much happier. And IF there's a problem, I can rebuild the speaker myself, which is another 6-7 week time cut.

While I'll still be handling the emails/forums/advertising and trade shows, that's also fine. I really enjoy what I do, and being more hands on is actually a lot more fun than most think. I'm enjoying the transition and the freedom to get things done in a timely manner.

Trust me...this has worked out much better than I'd dreamed..and I tend to dream big.

Hey Jim...been awhile...hope this turn of events brings you much success..your amp/speakers were great tone machines from what I remember.... keep striving for perfection,son....

you still owe me a tee time and another shot at Comfortably Numb.......



Butch

[Scumback Speakers]

Butch...wow! Hey you got it whenever we can make it happen!

[bmf5150]

There is allways two sides to every story,just read what TA weber post on his forum!!

"We (at Weber) are not one to get in pissing matches on the internet. We know that there are people that had a grudge against Ted, against me, maybe had a bad experience with us/one of our products. You are going to have that being in business for 15yrs.

We, typically, do not post on other sites either (I know Ted did, mainly to help answer questions.. but, then again, he didn't sleep.. and loved all of you guys)

I feel compelled to defend myself (our company and it's decisions); there is a lot of talk out there; mostly negative, made by people who don't like us (I assume, for whatever reason) regarding the recent severing of ties between Scumbag and Weber.

We built ALL of the Scumbag speakers up until a few months ago (starting in approx 2004, I believe). We no longer build Scumbag speakers, I have no idea who builds them; so I cannot speak about their quality, tone, etc.. of those particular speakers at this point. 

We did not and never have had any "signed" exclusivity agreement with anyone/any company regarding what speakers/processes we use; there was never a signed contract between Weber and Scumbag/Scumback that would preclude us from building any speaker(s) for our own sales purposes.  There may have been email exchanges stating that we would not sell certain, particular speaker to any else; but no time line of this offer was provided. Many have tried to push us in that type of a corner, but they have never succeeded in doing so (no legal / signed documents to back up their claims of exclusivity). Ted and I tried/try very hard to control how we were/are represented and associated with out in the world; and avoided doing business/continuing business with anyone who pushed us; rubbed us the wrong way.

Ted (with the generous help of Lord Valve) designed the DT10's; we sold those only to LV for many years; I approached LV over 1 year ago and stated that we were getting so many requests for orders (that he wasn't fulfilling) that we would like to sell them on our site. He agreed, provided that he could still get his 'dealer pricing' if/when he ordered. We agreed to this offer. Of course, the hornets out there are trying to make it look like I screwed LV, a true friend of my late Fathers and a valuable resource of info to us over the years. I would never do such a thing.


The Cabinets Drama: We have been using the same cabinet builder for some 8+ years; they have experienced a few growth spurts, downturns, etc.. just as any other company.  The most recent involved the 'deportation' of their main cab builder (we were completely unaware he was an illegal); they did not inform us for 1 month that he had been arrested and imported, rather, they just tried to 'wing' it and continue to bring us cabinets.. Needless to say, the quality of these cabinets took a major dip in quality (small and large issues). I felt that we had to stop offering cabinets until we could hash all of this out. We now have them back up and running; and I have 2 other sources who are gearing up for us so we never (hopefully) run into this issue again down the road.  I felt that is would be unethical to continue to offer cabinets that I didn't believe in, rather take a hit financially, read/listen to the personal slings and arrows, etc. in order to do the right thing.

Finally; the final straw of the Weber / Scumbag relationship:

He visited us in Kokomo, right before I cut him loose, to try to intimidate us into giving up our 'build' process so he could build them in Cali (or 'recone them' as he put it..); I'm no dummy, I saw the writing on the wall; so we made the 1st move. While at lunch, he was bold enough to look me in the eyes and say to me something along the lines of 'he was responsible for our continued success since Ted's passing'.. All 3 of us dropped our forks; that was the last straw for me.  I had heard, prior to his visit, that he had been contacting our vendors (vendors that we had 15 year relationships with; yes, they warned me via email); I had heard that he had 2 guys lined up to build speakers (one guy from Russia, I guess) ; he even tried to get my main builder to sign up on Linkd-In (in my opinion, to allegedly, hire him away). Thankfully our employees are very loyal, and he told me this the second he had a chance.

Business is ruthless at times, I understand that; but to be so bold as to take credit for things that my late Father did for him is too much for me. I just wish all of you could met this guy (Ted) in person, then you would understand my position.

Since I don't go to other forums to defend myself/our company, please feel free to post it as your leisure. I am not afraid of the ramifications; this is all 100% truth, I can sleep at night.. and I have a great legal team ready should the need arise 

Love you guys; thank you for your continued support of us; thank you for sticking around after my Father's passing.. He is smiling down, playing his guitar and singing "can't we all just get along" ... or maybe "Who Made Who", by AC/DC; you never know 

TA Weber
"

[bmf5150]

Here is the link!

[Coot Boy]

There is always two sides to every story

Actually it's 3 sides. Side A, side B and the truth.

[bmf5150]

Great point!!!

[908ssp]

I don't need a "signed agreement" to know I made a promise seems Weber does.

[rgorke]

Jim, sorry but this seems like a nightmare. But it sounds like good things are falling into place. For what it's worth, I have only seen you act with the utmost professionalism and courtesy.

If I read the posts correctly, I'll be able to send you my black tab "pre-rola" Rola speaker that needs a new cone to you and you can work the Scumback magic on it and make it just like (er, better) than new or a broken in new?

Thanks and I hope all goes well,

Roger

[Scumback Speakers]

Roger, yep, you can send me your old Celestion G12M/G12H30 frame and I can rebuild it for you. Shoot me an email, sir!

As for the rest of your post...yes, things are falling into place, and I've had to place another 480 speaker frame order to keep up with the sales coming in. The three of us will be quite busy for awhile with over 1000 speakers to build, trust me!

[jnewlyn]

WOW. These are exciting time for you Jim. You've had much to offer over the years and I'm really happy for your growth and success.

Still thanking you for the doping material you gave me that fixed my cone cry, a few years back when I drove down to your place. I'd ask how the golf game is but it sounds like you probably haven't swung a club in a while.

[Scumback Speakers]

WOW. These are exciting time for you Jim. You've had much to offer over the years and I'm really happy for your growth and success.

Still thanking you for the doping material you gave me that fixed my cone cry, a few years back when I drove down to your place. I'd ask how the golf game is but it sounds like you probably haven't swung a club in a while.

Jeez, that's right, I did have to give you a bottle of doping to fix your speakers. I forgot about that until you mentioned it. Glad to hear that worked out!

As for golf, actually since I'm down to the last few of the Weber built frames (I've had to rebuild over 70 of them in the last 2.5 months), I've been playing more lately. In fact I'm going to go hit the course in about three hours after I ship out a few orders.

If you weren't busy today, I'd tell you to run down here to my new place in Whittier, and we could go play. My index is down to 7.9, which is a 9 handicap. Shoot me a call and let me know if you're down for that.

[jnewlyn]

I'm playing at 9 handicap as well. Good to hear. I'm playing at Riverlakes here in Bakersfield today and then offshore tomorrow a.m. but we'll definitely have to get a round or two in together sometime.