Does anyone have any news on this?

I was hoping to get some replacement parts
to keep my SA-10 alive, but it may be that
I'll have to bite the bullet and get a real
instrument - anyone using Fessenden or
know where to locate Zum?

- Freddie

Having said that, let me share the following with you. Sierra may not be the last to go belly up.

I was with a dear friend last Friday morning as we greeted a PSG builder in his room at the ISGC. While I greeted this builder several times, he never once even acknowledged I was in the room. He just continued to talk to my friend.

This folks, is NOT good business practices. And sadly, it is not the first time a scenario like this has taken place. Two weeks ago I called a builder for some very needed help. The response was cold and indifferent to me. I felt like my call was an intrusion. Sadly, this was NOT the first time this happened with this particular builder.

About six months ago, I called a builder to simply ask some questions on the behalf of a student I had; who was interested in buying an inexpensive guitar.

I have never been treated so rudely as that call. I was interrupted repeatedly and was never allowed to even ask a single question without them cutting me off; assuming somethning that was not the case; and giving me answers to questions I had not asked.

Now let me say, fortunatley this is NOT the case with all builders. Some go out of their way to help a new OR former buyer. One such builder is Excel. Words cannot begin to tell you what wonderful experiences I have had with Mitsuo; EVEN though he has great difficulty with the language. He has never once balked at any question or request I have put upon him. All I have ever received was, "I can do it for you".

This folks IS good business practices.

There are others like this also. So my post is directed to those who should heed a caution. The buyer has always determined your future. A builder can only hold on to past laurels just so long.

Chrysler corp has NEVER gotten past the stigma from what they did to John Q, public back in the 50's; when they totally disregarded their customers and tried to hold on to the past as though customers were for life. Even Lee Iacocca was not able to bring them out of this mire as hard as he tried. This is very sad, since Chrysler at one time was the hallmark among the world's finest cars.

So beware mr builder. What you had and did in the past, has NO meaning IF you forget who pays your bills in the future.

carl

[This message was edited by C Dixon on 05 September 2003 at 07:58 AM.]

I hope that what is going on is just a
meltdown of the Sierra company's
telcom / net infrastructure (shades of
the great blackout of 2003) rather than
actually gone out of business. I actually
have had very good, caring service from
all the folks at Sierra (new owner Pam
especially), but without any facts, I
wouldn't want to condemn anyone yet ...

- FT

Many of you have seen the previous
posts starting with Ray Montee's premature
announcement of Sierra being out of business. I am making this post today to
give everyone information about the actual situation.
It is true that Sierra is having severe problems right now. It is true that we had to lay off our assembler, Tom Baker. This is how Ray Montee learned of our difficulties. But, we had all the hopes of being able to attract a partner or buyer in order to restart. This is why we put an outgoing announcement on our phone that we were on vacation. This was actually true because we had hopes of restarting within a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, perhaps partly because of the premature postings, not enough orders have come in to justify restarting the company. And, although several people and companies expressed an initial interest in partnering with Sierra, so far, nothing is finalized. So, the current state of Sierra is that it is not shipping guitars or parts. We are still
trying to restructure the company and we hope to be able to help set up something that would at least allow people to continue to buy parts. However, as of yet, this is
not available.

Currently, the website is down and our phone lines are disconnected. The email address
(sierrasteelguitars@imagina.com) and our mailing address (P.O. Box 19049, Portland, OR 97280) is expected to stay available for the foreseeable future. If people want to order parts, we suggest that they either email us or send us a letter with appropriate
part description and contact information. If we get the part supply working, then these requests will be forwarded to whoever is handling it. If you know of anyone who is interested in purchasing all the parts and setting themselves up as that part supplier, please encourage them to contact us.

This message is essentially the message given to those people at the St.Louis show that are there representing Sierra. We did not occupy the Clark Room this year, as we didn't feel right advertising products for sale and taking orders which we might not be able to fill.

Please pray for us. God is big and he can do anything and will, if it is within his plan for us.

Thanks for the news and info and pointers
to links and all that.

Sometimes things work out for the best -
it's about time I got down to learning
the C6, so I'll start looking for the
right high quality double-neck.

Steelin' ...

- FT

Maybe they're waiting til they get some more orders in.

They sure make solid looking guitars. Lots of people I know/knew play(ed) them. Neil Rodgerson, Danny Shields, Larry Behm, Paul Herschman, Packy Perkins, Pet Burak, Chuck and Joe Wright, and a couple more.

I just never had enough money to buy one. I tried playing Paul H's that he bought from Larry B, but it wouldn't play in tune. Maybe it needed a better player than I. Yeah. That's it.

Buy what you want.

Play it like you stole it.

I would also like to say that to design and build a steel guitar is a labor of love. I admire and respect ALL the steel guitar builders. I think that they all try to build a good guitar and that none of the builders would intentionaly try to cheat or misrepresent their product.

We always say "we'll pray for you" well folks lets PRAY for out Steel Guitar Industry.

Carter - I spoke with John Fabian at length, he was quite polite and answered all of my questions.

Williams - When you speak with Bill you can tell how passionate he is about building the best steel guitar possible. When you ask him a question you don't just get an answer, you get a dialogue.Great person to deal with

Zumsteel - Talking with Bruce is like talking to an old friend that you haven't met yet. He spent a great deal of time on the phone with me, even though he told me he was working at a one-year lead time.

Fessenden - I just spoke with Jerry yesterday about the guitar he is currently building for me. We had a very long conversation, and he is another great guy to deal with.

Steel Guitar Nashville - I am ordering this Fessenden through Bobbe, and the service and communication from him and has staff has been excellent.

Scotty's - I spoke with them also during this shopping proccess, and they were very accessable and knowledgeable. A nice group of folks.

As some background I should tell you that in my "grown-up" job as a broadcast engineer, I am responsible for my station's upgrade to digital broadcasting. I have final say about all equipment and system design, and I determine when vendors get paid. Over the past 2 years I have spent a little over $1.6 million of other people's money, and have dealt with vendors, manufacturers, integrators and suppliers on a daily basis. I have eliminated more than one vendor for being unable or unwilling to provide the agreed upon equipment on time and on budget.
So, after all of that I must say, that for me at least, shopping for a new steel guitar has been an enjoyable experience.