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I humbly beg to differ. No one has been attacking you. People have said "when I see X I feel Y, could you let us know a bit more about yourself." This is not an attack, this is someone describing their reactions based on experiences.
Fair enough, and he should take that under advisement for the future. It doesn't change the fact that other people (like myself) had similar suspicions. That's what I meant when I said "red flags." You see, I don't know you. I have seen many online arguments where someone creates fake accounts to try drumming up support for their arguments, however. So the question of legitimacy arises, especially when posts have little content other than inflammatory and/or exaggerated claims. For example: no one has called you a liar, no one has called you stupid, no one has called you a spammer. These are reactionary comments you have made when people expressed their legitimate concerns.
I already explained the red flag things, "these fellows" was in reference to the guitar shop, caravan guitars or whatever, who are the original subject of the thread and seem to have done alright by the original poster.
I'm sorry if you have found any of this hurtful. I think if you slow down, take a deep breath and reread this thread you will understand what I am getting at. Or maybe not; this is, after all, just my interpretation and I have no monopoly on the truths of this big beautiful world we share.
As a fellow arts educator I wish you all the best in your struggles with the cookie cutter, lowest common denominator systems our governments are forcing down our throats.
Swing on,
Kevin
Nevertheless, I wish Caravan well in its efforts to encourage gypsy jazz in the Chicago area--- long may you thrive!
Having been born with a big mouth, I will offer one small snippet of advice...
I think the Michael Horowitz business model of deliberately making yourself a friend and colleague to your customers is a very smart one for an odd little niche market like gypsy jazz...
OK, 'nuff said!
Will
Edgar Degas: "Only when he no longer knows what he is doing does the painter do good things.... To draw, you must close your eyes and sing."
Georges Braque: "In art there is only one thing that counts: the bit that can’t be explained."
I sold a MD-100 with him.
I've had no problem at all.
I'm not taking sides just reporting that he was real nice to me when I drove down to see the new GJ business. Like Michael, Josh was generous with his time and energy and I got a good price for the MD.
I stumbled onto this forum after finding my way through a gypsy-jazz Google search. I have enjoyed reading up on all things gypsy (and the gypsy-jazz bass discussion was thoroughly interesting.) However, after reading this thread I felt it necessary to register and post.
I was at the Caravan Guitars opening, and have played at 90% of the jam sessions. It's a really unique concept that I believe the entire genre will benefit from. I've had nothing but great experiences with Josh and CG, and it seems that these posts are a bit barbed.
The one thing I have always admired about this community is the camaraderie. This kind of bond simply does not exist within other music genres where people are suspicious of undercutting, gig-stealing, player-snaking etc... As a working bassist you see it all, and it's isn't always pretty. There is a genuine love for the craft and those who create in the gypsy-jazz world, and "ganging-up" doesn't become anyone.
Competition helps every business, just as it does with performers. If I was the only bassist left in the world - I wouldn't have anything pushing myself to be better. As far as my personal interactions go, Caravan Guitars is trying to get it right, and helping the community grow along the way.
Also, to head things off at the pass re: the skepticism based on people's signup vs posting timeframe: I'm a very active Chicago bassist; performing as a sub in many gypsy-jazz ensembles here in town, and even leading my own gypsy-jazz-pop group lePercolateur. I am full time-musician who works as both a player and educator. I'm also willing to bet my Jazz History course is the only one in a US University that spends a significant amount of time on the importance of Django and gypsy-swing.
So there are my few cents. I'm sure to become a more involved forum-er as I continue to delve into this fantastic genre and website.
-Stacy
I know my response to this comes many months later, but in considering the purchase of a particular guitar from caravan and Josh, I decided to do a little research and this thread came up.
That explained, in response then to the questions asked by GypsyMusicLover, I would say that it would be in your best interest to learn that the best defense is NOT in mounting an over-the-top offense.
In reading the posts, and in reading the responses to them, your interpretation that you have been "called" either "a liar' or "stupid" is, in fact, immature. No one called you anything. And just to make sure that you don't misinterpret MY remark, no, I have not called you "immature" either. I said that your "responses" are "immature". There is a difference. In addition, your need to jump to what I call "threat mode" is also a red flag regarding you as an buyer in my long retail experience.
It would be Michael's responsibility to point out to readers that two different replies, with two different user names, came from the same ip address, for example. I, for one, can't see how you fail to see his repsonsibility there and why you would consider that a personal attack.
In fact, the more you defend yourself, and the more on the offense you go, the more suspicious you sound and the more credibility you add to the implied allegation.
**I had to edit my post to add that I had not read all the posts before I submitted mine and I had NOT seen the other poster who referred to "red flags" until after I submitted mine. I think that you should take into consideration that two different people, at two different times, saw your responses the same way.**
Moving on from this matter, I have had dealings with Josh at Caravan myself and I found him to be personable, communicative, and generally sincere. That's not to say I didn't run into an issue with my purchase which I thought was flawed by a simple failure to reveal. I did. But Josh has been in touch with me and has promised me an effort to make it right. I decided to be patient about this matter and take a wait and see approach to it. I'm hoping that he works it out as he has promised and I may eventually reveal more about what it is as it comes to a resolution one way or the other. The one thing I can tell you about him is that he seems to make himself available almost 24/7 via his cell phone number and he does not shirk either taking or returning the calls. That's always a sign of someone with good intentions in my book. Let's wait and see how this plays out.
He always has time to speak with me and always answers any questions I've ever had.
I always keep in mind he is in business and try to direct and to the point. Something that is apparently a challenge for me at times as I've been told by folks.
We all love this music a great deal. We are all pretty passionate about it as a result. Lets not forget this when we get heated at times. I try to remember this a lot when I hear or read posts like I see in this thread.
We all have communications and miscommunications about it all.
Empathy can go a long way in this regard.
I have found folks more apt to desire positive interpersonal communications than not.
I've always found Josh's tenor desirous of this in all of my dealing with him.
I have learned a lot from all of you over the years on this forum and appreciate you all a great deal.
Folks like Josh and Micheal offer us the stuff needed to allow that wonderful process to continue.
After all, it all boils down to our hero
Django.
Josh made the time to come into the shop and meet me when I was in Chicago briefly before DIJ 2013, and I found him to be friendly and helpful - certainly not rude at all. I left my Barault for sale at the shop in June and he had a buyer a few months later. He kept me informed every step of the way and my payment arrived without any problems. The buyer also got in contact with me later on, and he was happy with the purchase and said he loves the guitar.
I did actually notice that Josh's emails were kind of .. uhh.. terse or brusque in style. I can see how this might come across as curt or rude if you haven't met the guy in person. He always replied quickly and I think he replies on his blackberry, which is I guess is why he can be like that (prompt, direct and to the point..I grew to appreciate it).
I don't have any personal experience with buying from Caravan, but my friend Jon Delaney ordered a guitar from Josh a while ago and he had no complains either. So whatever issues other members have had earlier I hope it can be put down to training wheels/teething problems and I don't want to see other buyers discouraged because of this thread - which is, by the way, on forums controlled by a competitor. People learn from their mistakes.
Josh took a lower commission (15%) than Michael (20%), and Josh was also flexible on his rate (I'm unaware whether Michael is or not). He is also lucky enough to have a professional-level player in the neighbourhood, and smart enough to take advantage of this getting Adrian in to make high-quality videos of the instruments. I think djangobooks could learn from caravan in this respect, Michaels video looks very amateurish and the audio personally doesn't give me much of an idea of the character of each instrument. I appreciate that he's trying to be consistent and repeatable, but his process could really be improved in my opinion. On the other hand, Caravan's website is not maintained well and could really learn from djangobooks here, where the website always runs like a well-oiled machine!
Last but not least - it is GOOD for you, the American jazz manouche players, for Caravan to be successful! Until the US grows a few more Bob Holo's, your other option (and, arguably, the best option) is to go over to Europe and check out the many shops and luthiers working there and play the instruments yourself. As far as I can see, for many years djangobooks was more or less a monopoly on this niche market. Frankly, compared to a lot of the great stuff you can find on leboncoin.fr, djangobooks prices on European-built instruments are somewhat inflated. This is obviously necessary to cover his costs of import, quality control, and the fact that at the end of the day his business has to profit - but none of this changes the fact that it is a good thing to have competitors on the scene.
pas encore, j'erre toujours.