I recently purchased a Gretsch G5120 and right away knew I wanted to get rid of the bridge with something that would be better suited for use with the Bigsby. Of course a Google search brought me here to the Gretsch pages and after hearing so many positive things about the Truarc bridge I decided to order one - well, WTF is wrong with the customer service at Truarc? I mean, either you run a business or you don't. If you've got a website up with an E-mail address and instructions on how to order then I'm expecting to hear from you. If not, please take down your site and stop wasting my time, I'll look elsewhere. Have others had this problem? I've contacted them three times in over a week and not a peep out of them.

I have only experienced excellent customer service. Prompt answers to all my questions, flexibility, accommodation, great return policy.

I suggest you PM Proteus directly instead of complaining about him publicly. He has helped many people on this forum and is a close friend of many.

Over many years, Proteus has been nothing but helpful to me. He's both knowledgable and courteous and has always gone out of his way to invest time helping me with any queries I have about guitars. All this... despite my never having bought any products from him (I intend to... just haven't got 'round to it yet).

I can't understand why you're having difficulty contacting Proteus. However, I am surprised that you feel the need to proclaim your disatisfaction in a total of three different threads on this site.

Most small one (or just a few) man businesses take a little more than a week to get back to you. I sell a small product as well, and have a lot less business than Tim and it takes longer than that sometimes. Trust me, Tim will contact you soon, you just have to have a little patience.

Independent businesses are not Guitar Center, there isn't someone manning a computer or phone at all times. It's also a side business for Tim, not his day job. Have faith, it's worth the wait.

Randolph, welcome to the Gretschpages. Sorry to hear that you're experiencing difficulty in contacting Tim at Tru-Arc.
I've tried to contact him this week also via email (on a non-Tru-Arc matter, yet still related to the sale of an item). I haven't received a response either.
But that doesn't worry me one bit.

The reasons?
I know that Tim's full-time work is another job. I know that his full-time job takes him all over the country, sometimes for weeks at a time.
I know that Tru-Arc is a bonafide one-man cottage industry, not a brick & mortar store with 2000 square feet and a full-time 50-person customer service/sales staff with operators standing by 24/7.
I know that Tim is one of those rare persons who can fit 25 hours of work into a 24-hour day, and that his integrity is impeccable.
I know that he will get in touch with me as soon as his schedule can possibly allow.
I know that Tim takes the satisfaction of his customers seriously, otherwise his very liberal return/exchange policy would be non-existent.
I know that patience is a virtue, as is courtesy; and that in our modern "microwave society" both are often severely lacking in many people. I trust that you don't fall into this category.

Since you are new to the Gretschpages, I can appreciate the fact that you may not have known anything about any of these circumstances. Rest assured, you are not being purposely ignored, and if both patience and courtesy are applied to the situation then the desired results will be obtained.

In the meantime, a positive introductory post is always appreciated from new forum members-- won't you tell us a bit about yourself, and your beautiful new Gretsch? And as one of the database administrators, I would like to personally extend an invitation to you to add your new baby to our exclusive Gretsch Registry Database-- the largest of its kind on the worldwide web.

I couldn't say it any better than Tartan has. I'll just note that when I had questions before ordering my Tru-Arc, Tim was extremely helpful. Tru-Arcs are a labor of love for him more than a real revenue generator. So, I'd PM him and give him a few days to respond. In the long run, I think you'll become a fan as many of us here have.

To quote my favorite grumpy uncle, "I like cheese".

Because it goes so well with whine.

I believe that I read once, that Tim's brother does the machining of the bridges in small batches as he can fit it into his own schedule, as it is also not his regular daytime job, but done as a favor to Tim.

That's all good and well (the numerous comments in defense of) Truarc not being Guitar Center and so on ad nauseum, but when I don't know someone personally, I expect to know what is going on. If you're going to be out of town, unavailable for what ever reason, then post it on your web site. That way I don't send money to you until I know you're ready to do business. If I knew I was going to have to wait...?? Who knows how long to get a response or a product from you, then I might choose to shop somewhere else for at least a similiar product. I think that's fair enough. I don't care how nice a guy you are, to be honest, my opinion of you will based on the product and your customer service. If that's stellar then you'll hear my praise on that, if I'm waiting a week to hear back from you - then you bet you'll hear about that too when you're sitting on almost $100 dollars of mine.

I see where you could feel slighted by not getting the "Customer Acknowledgement" you desire. I know when I spend money I like to feel the company appreciates my business. In all fairness to Tim he does so much for GDP and is a busy man, I honestly believe. I'm sure if you are dissatisfied Tim would refund your money or you could stop payment and go with some other bridge.

You seem to have had a negative approach in introducing yourself. But since we all seem to get along around here,...most of the time, I'd like to welcome you to GDP. If you have any vids or pics of you and your guitar/guitars please feel free to post them

In the past this site has had trolls log in that just liked to creat havoic...or should I say...thought they were creating havoic. They usually didn't hang around for long...either they got bored 'cause no one would play or "the man behind the curtain" would put a halt to the bull shit. Other than that all is cool around these parts..."Come On In The Waters Fine"

That's all good and well (the numerous comments in defense of) Truarc not being Guitar Center and so on ad nauseum, but when I don't know someone personally, I expect to know what is going on. If you're going to be out of town, unavailable for what ever reason, then post it on your web site. That way I don't send money to you until I know you're ready to do business. If I knew I was going to have to wait...?? Who knows how long to get a response or a product from you, then I might choose to shop somewhere else for at least a similiar product. I think that's fair enough. I don't care how nice a guy you are, to be honest, my opinion of you will based on the product and your customer service. If that's stellar then you'll hear my praise on that, if I'm waiting a week to hear back from you - then you bet you'll hear about that too when you're sitting on almost $100 dollars of mine.

So, have you already sent money, or is this all just rhetorical bullsh!t?

If you've already sent unsolicited funds to purchase a bridge, I can empathize with your plight. If I had sent money and received no response, I'd be pretty pi$$ed too. However, if that's not the case, then unabashed presumptuous vitriol will not buy you much sympathy.

Members of this forum are cordial and helpful to 99.9 percent of newcomers. But there's always that 0.1 percent that either purposely disrupt things, or were born with the perpetual chip on the shoulder.
So far, people have tried to be helpful and supportive-- myself included, But you've been here less than 24 hours and you're automatically dismissing everything we've told you?

Hey Proteus, I'll give you 100 bucks to NOT sell to this guy

Start by resurrecting an ancient thread to whine. When you get cordial welcomes and what should be taken as reassuring advice, find another years old thread to bitch some more. After more reassurance, start a brand new bitch thread of your own. Lovely.

I'll go halfsies with you, KG.

If it will stop the kvetching, then let me steer you in the direction of this guy...he makes another after-market bridge. You probably already have a few of his bridges, but if not, then get in touch with him. From reading your posts, I sense that you may appreciate his product more anyway.

Compton Bridges

He already threatened to go with a Compton, in one of the other threads he posted in.

See here

It doesn't really seem like you are looking for reassurance or solutions. You just want to gripe to a guy's friends about him in a semi-public forum. Do you really think we will all just chuck our experiences and say something like "wow, didn't know that Proteus was so awful" ditch him and become your friend?

Sorry you are frustrated, but this is almost the definition of bush league. And you're not going to hurt his business. For crying out loud, EVERY DUANE EDDY SIGNATURE MODEL sports a TruArc. Between you and DE, my guess is people will continue to follow the latter.

Hold on a minute.

Randolph Scott starred in "Thunder Over the Plains" (1953). And what does the word 'slinky' evoke for almost any guitarist? Why Ernie Ball of course.

Just sayin'.

That's some fine sleuthing tommy59, I like it.

Hold on a minute.

Randolph Scott starred in "Thunder Over the Plains" (1953). And what does the word 'slinky' evoke for almost any guitarist? Why Ernie Ball of course.

Just sayin'.

????(Bax Please bring back the ? emicon) Randolph Scotts ghost is making Ernie Ball Slinky Bridges?? !

Not sure what the true agenda is, though I suspect Ric12 is on to something...

However, I can attest to Tim's integrity, honesty and sincere desire to ensure clients receive the proper bridge for their specific needs. I spent months testing Tim's initial prototypes, improvements and new designs, both in the studio and live, across dozens of guitars and worked closely with him as his vision became a well executed and well received product. I've "known" the guy for nearly 6 years and he's a stand up guy. You will not be "hosed". Just as others here have stated; it's a side business - a boutique shop - NOT a huge business with service reps, sales people, social media interns, etc. It's Tim. Further, Tru-Arc™ products are featured on select OEM Gretsch guitars and the choice of Duane Eddy for his new signature model.

BTW: Tim does not do this for money - rather it's his love of guitars, musicians, advancing the art & technology, and his passion for all things Gretsch.

With respect to customer service, Tim offers a generous return policy in case you want to try a different alloy, etc. That's rare. Especially for a quality part, made in the USA, in limited quantities, by skilled engineers known for their Indy Car engineering and aerospace work. This is NOT some guy bending metal, hand-drilling holes and cutting string slots with a hack saw.

IMO, you owe Tim an apology. In fact, to demonstrate your good faith, perhaps you will consider revising or deleting your numerous offending posts that unfairly cast Tim and Tru-Arc™ in a negative light.

I suspect that gesture would go along way in repairing your "introduction" to the GDP. Sound fair?

BTW: Tim has a few dealers. You may want to try contacting them since it seems so urgent.

Here's a Dealer Link...

If that does not do it for you, perhaps you can take Ric12's advice and try this...

Link

Here is my take on this situation...

There are many people over at the other Gretsch forum site that hold a grudge against GDP'ers. God knows that many of us have tried to bridge that gap, but it does exist. And, there is a parochial feeling about the Compton bridge over there.

I would venture a guess that Randolphslinky, who is likely a member over there, has probably been lurking around the GDP in order to get some accurate information about Gretsch guitars. Yet, he sees the thread that Proteus started up a few days ago to announce all of the professional endorsers for his product and observed how so many of us used that thread as an excuse to attest to our admiration for the Tru-Arc™ product and Randolphslinky couldn't take it. It was too much positive publicity for the Tru-Arc™. So, he has taken it upon himself to try to slime Tru-Arc™ by complaining about customer service (because you can't really complain about the product).

The ironic thing, however, is that Wayne "Pops" Compton would most likely never condone that type of conduct being undertaken on his behalf.

So, Randolphslinky, show us your true colors by either apologizing for your somewhat unseemly conduct and try to start things over again on a more positive note here, or just return to the other site and save us all of the negativity.

Just my two cents. Maybe right, maybe wrong.

". . . and while neither rocking nor compensated, each one is whittled by hand with a butter knife @ the kitchen table".

Funny, Tommy.

Ah yes.... the hand carved 'one of a kind' Compton....

Really don't see the point of ragging on Pops here. I've got a brass compton that I used on the M75 I just sold. Looked and sounded great. I've never seen Tim or Wayne say a singly negative thing about one another. Seems like we should follow their lead. No?