What went wrong with the last Forum Design Pickup (fuglybucker)?

[PFDarkside]

Re: What went wrong with the last Forum Design Pickup (fuglybucker)?

I thought the Custom 5 was the first forum designed pickup. Simple, but it worked.

Ah, you mean the Custom Custom Custom? (For the newer members, that was the way the forum referred to the C5 when it was only created here by mag swappers)

The Custom/59 Hybrid was also a Forum pickup before the Brobucker...

 

[Masta' C]

Re: What went wrong with the last Forum Design Pickup (fuglybucker)?

Both of those designs became production models thanks to both the inspiration of the forum and continued support by members over a long period of time. THAT's the best way to create a "forum pickup", if you ask me.

A good design will endure and gain a following. The company has caught on to that and those designs have remained successful.

More recent forum designs have been hit-and-miss at best...sort of a "bloom and doom" existence, if you will.

 

[blueman335]

Re: What went wrong with the last Forum Design Pickup (fuglybucker)?

I think the Brobucker was a great concept and a great PU with some versatility. If it was a production model and priced accordingly (half of the custom shop price), there would be increased sales. At $160, it's a hard sell for the average guy. At $80 members would be recommending it all day long and be getting the word out.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: What went wrong with the last Forum Design Pickup (fuglybucker)?

Yeah, the BroBucker would be a popular pickup if it made it to regular production, but I suppose it helps fill in the "standard" lineup at the Custom Shop and the fact that it uses degaussed A5 magnets, as opposed to the standardized mags other production pickups use, may come into play.

 

[chadd]

Re: What went wrong with the last Forum Design Pickup (fuglybucker)?

Forum pickups are dead...for now. And just because the process *used* to work, doesn't mean it's a good fit for the current state of the forum and the company.

A forum-only discount would be a great way to bring people to the forum, boost custom shop sales and keep all of us crazies from stomping on each others' ideas and egos.

I'd like to see them offer forum members regular retail pricing if they can rustle up sales for 10-12 units of whatever they dream up. There's still a cost to the company, but with so many people thinking out of the box, they might just hit on something and it could well be worth the investment in the long run.

 

[blueman335]

Re: What went wrong with the last Forum Design Pickup (fuglybucker)?

I'd like to see them offer forum members regular retail pricing if they can rustle up sales for 10-12 units of whatever they dream up. There's still a cost to the company, but with so many people thinking out of the box, they might just hit on something and it could well be worth the investment in the long run.

'Retail' or wholesale pricing?

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: What went wrong with the last Forum Design Pickup (fuglybucker)?

SD is kind enough to make the forum multiple custom shop pickups (at a discounted price on the first run), but some of you guys still complain about the *custom shop* price - like you're entitled to their product and SD should be begging you to take it from them. This place never ceases to amaze me.

 

[blueman335]

Re: What went wrong with the last Forum Design Pickup (fuglybucker)?

SD is kind enough to make the forum multiple custom shop pickups (at a discounted price on the first run), but some of you guys still complain about the *custom shop* price - like you're entitled to their product and SD should be begging you to take it from them. This place never ceases to amaze me.

If they get some of the more requested custom shop PU's into production, they'll sell a lot more of them at production prices. Isn't the goal more sales? Custom shops are more expensive because they make one here, one there. If Duncan made some of these in bigger batches, they can afford to sell them at production prices, and still make money.

 

[Mincer]

Re: What went wrong with the last Forum Design Pickup (fuglybucker)?

Ah, you mean the Custom Custom Custom? (For the newer members, that was the way the forum referred to the C5 when it was only created here by mag swappers)

The Custom/59 Hybrid was also a Forum pickup before the Brobucker...

I think the Custom Custom Custom (C5) originally appeared on a stock Godin before it was widely available. We may have pushed for it to become a production pickup, but I don't think it was the forum's idea.

 

[uOpt]

Re: What went wrong with the last Forum Design Pickup (fuglybucker)?

Maybe this could be an intermediate project: if we can agree on a specific CS pickup we would want, offer it in one batch to the forum people, at a discounted price in exchange for the volume?

Just like the Phat Staple, except not at the beginning of offering that pickup in the CS.

I don't know how well the CS is doing and how popular things are in there. Maybe this could be good for everybody, and maybe provide a popularity boost for that pickup, or for the CS in general.

 

[jeremy]

Re: What went wrong with the last Forum Design Pickup (fuglybucker)?

my guess is the custom shop is plenty busy.

the idea of a forum run of a cs pup at a discount makes more sense than trying to design a new pup to me. not that a new pup wouldnt be cool but it seems to flounder and fail as of late

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: What went wrong with the last Forum Design Pickup (fuglybucker)?

Correct. The Custom 5 existed before the forum popularized it as a mod, but the forum did raise awareness and encourage (pressure) Duncan to release it as a model.

The success and failure of these forum pickups, from my perspective, loosely correlates to the level of design by committee. it's just not how good product is designed. There's a reason the phrase "design by committee" is a pejorative term. It's a laughing stock of product design.

The Brobucker was not really that. There was some banter about A4 vs degaussed A5, mismatched coils, etc. but in the end people let MJ be the final arbiter. The Phat Staple was designed in house, then mainly produced and sold as a discounted forum run.

Something like the Fuglybucker, to me is best described as a mashup. Not a purpose-driven design, where someone said "I/we want the pickup to to THIS" and then the design followed, to hit the target. It's similar to when a guitar designer mashes a Les Paul body with a Tele bridge pickup, Rickenbacker neck pickup, a banana headstock, and a Strat trem. (And it doesn't fit in any standard guitar cases) it's a bit of a novelty. It may make a sound you can't get elsewhere, but the appeal will be limited.

Historically, the best selling, most popular designs have never been designs by committee. But in a way, that IS one of the benefits of a forum pickup. You can go off-script and have a wacky custom made at a reduced price for everyone, and then people feel like part of a little club; a bond. So was it a success in that regard? Maybe.

 

[thanaton]

Re: What went wrong with the last Forum Design Pickup (fuglybucker)?

In that case, maybe a better approach is to have everyone submit a design, and then vote on the favorite design. No modifications allowed.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: What went wrong with the last Forum Design Pickup (fuglybucker)?

In that case, maybe a better approach is to have everyone submit a design, and then vote on the favorite design. No modifications allowed.

Would you give an example in how to deliver a design to be voted on?

Inquiring minds would like to know. :cool2:

 

[DarkMatter]

Re: What went wrong with the last Forum Design Pickup (fuglybucker)?

In that case, maybe a better approach is to have everyone submit a design, and then vote on the favorite design. No modifications allowed.

I started last years forum project with that in mind then for some reason I went astray. Eventually, I came to my senses and went with the neck hybrid concept. Shortly after that, for reasons not entirely related to the forum, I dramatically reduced my internet activity and quit posting for awhile. LtKojak picked up where I left off and somewhere along the line SD seemingly gave up on us all.

 

[LtKojak]

Re: What went wrong with the last Forum Design Pickup (fuglybucker)?

somewhere along the line SD seemingly gave up on us all.

I blame the recent personnel turnover.

And from the looks of it, seems that the new entries either haven't been properly instructed, or they've chosen people with no passion for music and/or p'ups. Or, nobody's been assigned to the Forum.

In the past, we knew we could count on Frank Falbo and/or Evan Skopp for the information needed by most people of the Forum. Hell, Frank haven't been employed by the Co. for several years now and he anyway visit the Forum and share his valuable time and vast knowledge with us. Mad props to him! :notworthy :bowdown:

Which Duncan employee do we have now that we can trust that can answer technical questions that can back'em up with real knowledge? Until proven wrong, I'd say between null and zilch.

I'd be really glad to say "I stand corrected"... yet... I won't be holding my breath!

 

[Mincer]

Re: What went wrong with the last Forum Design Pickup (fuglybucker)?

I am all for people who work at the factory being more involved here. So far that hasn't happened to the extent that I would like, but they are a really busy bunch, and I am sure we will see more involvement with them.

 

[chadd]

Re: What went wrong with the last Forum Design Pickup (fuglybucker)?

'Retail' or wholesale pricing?

Anything less than full custom shop pricing would be an improvement. It would be up to the company to decide what works for them financially.

If they get some of the more requested custom shop PU's into production, they'll sell a lot more of them at production prices. Isn't the goal more sales?

No, the goal is generally more profit. Sometimes you make more by producing (and selling) less.

I am all for people who work at the factory being more involved here. So far that hasn't happened to the extent that I would like, but they are a really busy bunch, and I am sure we will see more involvement with them.

Any time there are changes, it takes a while to sort out and the new people generally want to put their own stamp on their position. That often leads to a change in direction, for better or worse.

 

[blueman335]

Re: What went wrong with the last Forum Design Pickup (fuglybucker)?

No, the goal is generally more profit. Sometimes you make more by producing (and selling) less.

True, but at $160 a pop, there's a lot of other options for great PU's in that price range, or less. Geez, Seth's are $100, and they're one of the world's great PAF's. At half that price, produced in greater quantities, Duncan can make a nice profit and they fit in far more player's budgets. The reason Custom Shop products are expensive is the small production runs (or even just making a single unit) plus the change overs and downtime. Not an efficient use of time and they really don't make a killing on those PU's because of that, in spite of the higher price. They're not really getting the full profit potential of some of those PU's that would have a broader appeal. There's a lot more guys that would love to have a '78. I'd pick up a couple more Brobuckers and a Greenie set if they were production models.

I'm sure that there's some PU's in the existing line that aren't selling as hoped, and they could be replaced by some of the great custom shop PU's that a lot of players would like to own. That would add some excitement.

 

[Masta' C]

Re: What went wrong with the last Forum Design Pickup (fuglybucker)?

The '78 would be a GREAT production pickup, even if was part of a "premium" line at a slightly higher cost like the Seths, Screamin' Demon, Pearly Gates, etc.

In fact, there are a few models that could become part of a more premium production line....call it the Seymour Duncan "Elite" series.