Thread: Need some legal advice please!!

Thanks Bruno. I only quoted two sentences from his email which can be found verbatim on his website and throughout that particular thread. My university doesn't have a law school but my friend is in another law school, he said he'd help me out so we'll see, I'm still worried as hell.

Originally Posted by animalwithin

He says his legal team will be contacting me. Help please, Im only in college, I can't afford lawyers, what do I do. Help please!!!

So the guy is telling you he has lost his house, floating around from place to place and he has a legal team ? Is it Dewey, Cheatum and Howe by any chance ? I really wouldn't worry about it. If it is messing with your mind go to one of those free para legals.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

So the guy is telling you he has lost his house, floating around from place to place and he has a legal team ? Is it Dewey, Cheatum and Howe by any chance ? I really wouldn't worry about it. If it is messing with your mind go to one of those free para legals.

Haha right? Thats what worries me, this guy is hurting for money, he's desperate which means who knows what hes pushing lawyers to do against me. I'm looking for some free para legals.

Originally Posted by animalwithin

Haha right? Thats what worries me, this guy is hurting for money, he's desperate which means who knows what hes pushing lawyers to do against me. I'm looking for some free para legals.

You are missing the obvious here: The guy can't afford a lawyer, much less a legal team. Good lawyers cost per hour what a good software developer consultant costs per day.


It seems that in the US, lawyers sometimes work for a percentage of the damages (which is against the law here, luckily) but no lawyer is going to look at you and see a Vegas jackpot. You're in college, pretty much broke by definition. A lawyer might be able to put you in debt, but he can't get money out of you. And he knows this.

So with that option closed, and him not having 1000s of dollars to spare just to make your life difficult, this will go nowhere.

First word of advice - Don't ever order anything custom made and expect it to be on time. Just be happily surprised if it does. Two years is not that long to have a custom guitar made. He was probably quoting what the last build he sent out took, and obviously his situation has changed. Keep in mind he could very well have much more than your deposit into building materials, outsourcing, and plenty of labor (assuming he is actually making your guitar). Now he has to find a buyer for said instrument, and HOPE to recoup his money, when he did have a buyer for it. It is not like he asked you if he could build you a guitar, you sought him out to build it for you to your specifications.

Nothing that you do not have in writing is going to be admissable anywhere. I do not know of a luthier that will commit to a specific build time. They might give you an approximate, but nothing can be guaranteed. The only thing that can be actually proven here IMO is that you are trying to back out of the contract.

However if the guy really is broke and living on the lamb then there is no way in hell he is coming after you with a "legal team". He is probably just trying to keep from having to give you back your deposit, which is typically non refundable from the get go on things like this.

I would just move on. $500 is actually a pretty low deposit for a guitar that is supposed to be that expensive. Most I know charge at lease half down, which is non refundable (at the very least non refundable once the build has started). I don't think he can really come after you for the rest, which is the reason for the deposit to begin with.

I waited over 2.5 years for this. Most of it was supplier delays though (center PUP had to be custom wound, top sourced etc..).

Jordan, I understand where you're coming from. The guy has handfuls of customers that he keeps promising things to, yet never delivers. I also don't mind waiting, if he actually communicated with me during the build time. Only thing that worries me is that he actually Cc'd that legal email to his lawer and had the legal team, website, phone number and address in the email as well. I spoke to two lawyers yesterday and they both said not to worry, said he's just trying to spook me into not going after my deposit among other things, so hopefully I'm good to go and I'll try not to worry about this anymore, although knowing me I probably will haha.

Nice bass, Jordan. You are correct about the time to get a custom built musical instrument. It takes as long as it takes and nothing speeds the process. The joy comes in the playing.....

Some of these guys are kinda strange man. I mean they chose to be by themselves most of the time in their work, they are not always the most social type of person. There is a responsibility to the customer though, and your guy has obviously gone beyond that. Originally I was quoted I think 8 months, but unforseen events kept delaying the bass. Once a month I would call him, and probably got him or heard back about half the time. Sometimes there just isn't anything to say. Two guys actually turned down the build, so I spent a lot of time looking for a luthier, and had a ton of faith in the builder. But if he is actually dodging folks that bad I wouldn't expect to get your guitar. I wouldn't expect your down payment either as you have defaulted on the instrument. Just don't worry about it, walk away. If you still want a custom guitar pick a better know/larger place to get it from. You can get just about whatever you want for what you were going to pay.

Thanks Tom, I come from a long line of Banjo players