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The ULTIMATE upgrade.

SCSpecial

New member
Joined
Apr 28, 2022
Messages
4
Tyler, I purchased your centralab harness with bumblebees on 4/5/22 on Reverb, you answered my questions before I purchased and told me they would go out in a week and a half. After 2 weeks I messaged you on the status, you never replied, I send a couple more, no response. I finally requested a refund even though I really wanted to get the harness, and again you have not responded or refunded my money. If you are still on here at least do the right thing and grant me the refund.
 

charliechitlins

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 16, 2021
Messages
1,017
That's a bummer.
Irrespective of my feelings about snazzy pots, caps and wires, Tyler has a pretty stellar reputation for customer service.
Maybe he's had a personal problem/emergency.
 

ajtonly1

Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2022
Messages
43
I put in an order also. Given I know family and personal matters happen, I am giving him a chance to make this right. I contacted reverb to get involved and let him know, I’ll take my order still. I hope he makes it right, seeing as he seemed like a good individual. I’m military and deployed, he knows this so this was a little stretch for my pockets but I wanted to upgrade my one and done LP. Fingers crossed and will keep you all updated.
 

SGFan

New member
Joined
Feb 28, 2002
Messages
25
I just got my order but had a less than stellar experience. Mostly good communication prior to purchasing, including a phone call. After I purchased, I checked in at the mid-point of how long he said it would take. Told he would send it out the next day. A week later, I heard nothing despite me sending messages through Reverb and text. Then he tells me he confused me with someone else, has been housesitting and "100%" dropped them in the mailbox that night. Asked for confirmation several days in a row because tracking showed a label was created but not shipped. Only when I said I would involve Reverb, I saw the next day that it was shipped, three days later. The finished product looks great. I haven't installed it yet. I hope the readings are what I requested because unfortunately I would not send it back if there is an issue. This is a total shame because I know dlacx had a similar experience to mine very recently. As others have said, things come up but I feel communication is an ongoing issue and I felt misled when I was told it was 100% shipped and then found out it did not.
 
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SCSpecial

New member
Joined
Apr 28, 2022
Messages
4
A little communication goes a long way, just take a min. and answer one of my messages . I've already made a case with Reverb, that was a lot of money I put down, very disappointing to say the least. At this point I just want my money back.
 
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SCSpecial

New member
Joined
Apr 28, 2022
Messages
4
Reverb gave me a full refund today and I see they took all his listings down on Reverb. I hope everyone else that ordered gets a refund or the item they ordered. I'm still curious to what improvement it would have made over my existing Historic harness and Luxe bees( pic below), but I will move on. this was the first bad buying experience I've had on Reverb.
 

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ajtonly1

Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2022
Messages
43
Reverb gave me a full refund today and I see they took all his listings down on Reverb. I hope everyone else that ordered gets a refund or the item they ordered. I'm still curious to what improvement it would have made over my existing Historic harness and Luxe bees( pic below), but I will move on. this was the first bad buying experience I've had on Reverb.
I just told Reverb to give me a refund also. Would have liked to try also.

The saddest part is the guy was a member here for almost 20 years and ruined his reputation here and who knows what kind of legal trouble he will be in from Reverb considering there are quite a few sales we know of that reverb will cover for 5-600 a pop.
 

charliechitlins

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 16, 2021
Messages
1,017
Reverb gave me a full refund today and I see they took all his listings down on Reverb. I hope everyone else that ordered gets a refund or the item they ordered. I'm still curious to what improvement it would have made over my existing Historic harness and Luxe bees( pic below), but I will move on. this was the first bad buying experience I've had on Reverb.
You dodged a bullet.
All that crap is a waste of good money.
There...I said it and I'm glad.
A cap is a cap is a cap... It's the value that matters.
Same with pots.
They're a variable resistor with a carbon trace.
Look inside. It's a wiper that goes across a piece of carbon.
No mystery mojo.
I mean... It's your money to spend, obviously, and if it's your hobby to tinker and try to hear differences, that's cool.
Maybe I'm a dope, but I've been gigging, tinkering and chasing tones for 45+ years, and I can't listen to a guitar, mod it, and listen to it again 2 hours later and pick up subtle differences...even with guitars I've known intimately for years.
I can quickly swap tone caps with alligator clips and listen for differences, but I cannot hear a difference in different kinds of caps...value, yes....construction, no.
I can definitely hear a difference after installing a treble bleed, which is a mod I've done many times for myself and others.
I still think, though, that the vast majority of guitar players will be more satisfied by sitting down with YouTube and learning that cool lick or chord that you always dug, than soldering electronic bits into your guitar.
And I can promise you that VERY few of the guitar players you admire are chasing tone with caps, pots, thumbwheels, etc.
 

jb_abides

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
5,274
A cap is a cap is a cap... It's the value that matters.
Same with pots.
They're a variable resistor with a carbon trace.

Well apart from 'quality' i.e. adherence to spec, and durability over use, time degradation...

And except for pots.

Taper precision in range of motion, linear versus non-linear/logarithmic are all real differences.

Also heavy carbon versus silk-screened application of trace path. Latter more prone to wear and being 'scratchy'.

Also direction. Many southpaws desire real left-handed pots, versus re-wiring.

But for the values, math is math, Mr. Kirchoff!


Sorry to all those who are sitting in limbo, or had to take steps to get their money back, and didn't have a great customer experience. Seems everything is going to hell in a bucket.
 

ajtonly1

Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2022
Messages
43
You dodged a bullet.
All that crap is a waste of good money.
There...I said it and I'm glad.
A cap is a cap is a cap... It's the value that matters.
Same with pots.
They're a variable resistor with a carbon trace.
Look inside. It's a wiper that goes across a piece of carbon.
No mystery mojo.
I mean... It's your money to spend, obviously, and if it's your hobby to tinker and try to hear differences, that's cool.
Maybe I'm a dope, but I've been gigging, tinkering and chasing tones for 45+ years, and I can't listen to a guitar, mod it, and listen to it again 2 hours later and pick up subtle differences...even with guitars I've known intimately for years.
I can quickly swap tone caps with alligator clips and listen for differences, but I cannot hear a difference in different kinds of caps...value, yes....construction, no.
I can definitely hear a difference after installing a treble bleed, which is a mod I've done many times for myself and others.
I still think, though, that the vast majority of guitar players will be more satisfied by sitting down with YouTube and learning that cool lick or chord that you always dug, than soldering electronic bits into your guitar.
And I can promise you that VERY few of the guitar players you admire are chasing tone with caps, pots, thumbwheels, etc.
🤔I guess Eric Johnson has been wrong all these years…. Once again, if it’s in the internet in a forum, it must be true 😉
😂
 

charliechitlins

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 16, 2021
Messages
1,017
I don't know what Eric Johnson does for pots and caps, but I do know he has ears like a bat and is an off-the-hook genius who almost maniacally works on every nuance of his technique.
I wouldn't presume to think that my needs are in the same ballpark with his, any more than I would tweak my car in a way that would suit an F1 driver.
 

ajtonly1

Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2022
Messages
43
I don't know what Eric Johnson does for pots and caps, but I do know he has ears like a bat and is an off-the-hook genius who almost maniacally works on every nuance of his technique.
I wouldn't presume to think that my needs are in the same ballpark with his, any more than I would tweak my car in a way that would suit an F1 driver.
To each their own,

Tone is a personal search. Some people are happy with straight into an amp. Some people like effects.

The funny thing about our search is that it is our own. Just because mine differs doesn’t mean my way or beliefs are the best.

So I don’t bash people for what they want or are looking for. And neither should anyone on this forum.
 

jb_abides

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 6, 2005
Messages
5,274
People also underestimate the value of good cabling in comparison to other upgrades which can be made the signal chain: output jack thru effects to amp.
 

ajtonly1

Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2022
Messages
43
People also underestimate the value of good cabling in comparison to other upgrades which can be made the signal chain: output jack thru effects to amp.
Every part of the guitar and from the guitar affects tone.

From the pickups to pot and cap values. Cable impedance, signal chain, buffers, tube types, speakers, cone material, magnets , speaker wires, etc….

They are all a pieces of the puzzle. Some people are always looking for that missing piece. Sometimes you find it, only to realize down the road you want a new puzzle.

What worked for you yesterday may not be the sound you want to hear today. Thank god for innovators, inventors & tone seekers. Without them the music world would be a bland place
 

thin sissy

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 2, 2006
Messages
2,691
I'm in the pots matters camp. I can't explain WHY old centralab pots are better than new pots, but IMHO something is different. It might all be in my head of course, and no one needs to agree with me :)

Sorry to hear about Tyler, I really really hope he is ok and he can resolve this. Just for the record, I bought a harness from him about a year ago, and everything went super and I love the pots. Hope he sells more in the future, I want to order more.
 

SGFan

New member
Joined
Feb 28, 2002
Messages
25
Hi all, I just wanted to post an upsetting update to my original post. I have been sick for the last two weeks and just got around today to measure out the components of the harness I received from Tyler. He told me at length he had at least 900 pots sorted at different values and caps with every measurement from .01-.040. We discussed on the phone and in texts very clearly that I wanted 500 for each tone control, 540-550 for the neck volume pot and 500-510 for the bridge volume pot. I wanted a .015 cap for the neck pickup and .022 for the bridge pickup.

Measuring everything today, the values I received are Neck Volume - 868; Neck Tone 515; Bridge Volume- 800; Bridge Tone - 484. I can less about the tone controls as they are close enough but the Volume pots are almost twice as high. The Neck cap was .014 but the bridge cap was .012! Plus I know they are not needed but he clipped lug 1 on both tone pots!

And yes, before anyone asks, I measured it many times, know what I'm doing, etc. etc.

His Reverb site is not active now and I believe he may have been booted for not fulfilling his last few orders.

Please beware about Tyler Fitzgerald. It seems he made a lot of people happy for some time but as of the last month or two, this is total b.s.

I have submitted a claim through Reverb and hopefully I will get my money back. I suggest everyone who ordered these to please check their values, as mine were not as ordered.
 

SCSpecial

New member
Joined
Apr 28, 2022
Messages
4
Sorry to hear that, I guess it was lucky that I received the refund instead. As you did, I exchanged a few emails with him about what I wanted, he was good about responding until I paid him... then crickets. I hope you get refunded also, that was a lot of cash to put down to end up with that.
 

Burst_in2_flames

Active member
Joined
Jun 1, 2015
Messages
58
I reached out to Tyler a couple months ago and he said he was swamped with orders and would need to get back to me - which he never did. Now I'm glad.

Among my LPs are one with a real deal, unmolested '59 harness that I paid big bucks for a few years ago. By contrast, my #1 has WD CTS 550k audio taper pots and Luxe bees, and cost a very small fraction by comparison. I actually prefer the new stuff, even though any possible ownership bias would point the other way. More even sweep, better control and overall better tone. YMMV, of course.
 
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