I'm sure the wait will be worth it.Hey dude, I do apologize for the wait. It is longer than I had anticipated. There were multiple factors, but frankly it's unacceptable and I'm sorry.
I think I waited like 6 months iirc. When Derrick does a group buy, it takes a long time to get your product. Which with the amount of times he has done this already, everyone should be aware that shift knobs is a side gig for him, and it takes time to get it all squared away. Family happens, his main job happens, life in general gets in the way.
Ugh, the instant gratification generation. I'm glad to see you read how long it took, and realized it would not work for you. Quite a few people just jumped in and expected knobs in a week, lol.
), but until then, it is what it is. Which has been well documented on this site, and should not surprise anyone at all at this point.
So a couple responses to this.I think I waited like 6 months iirc. When Derrick does a group buy, it takes a long time to get your product. Which with the amount of times he has done this already, everyone should be aware that shift knobs is a side gig for him, and it takes time to get it all squared away. Family happens, his main job happens, life in general gets in the way.
PM/emailing him gets answers fast, the product is awesome, and is as custom as you want it for the most part. I will not hesitate at all to buy another shift knob or two from him.
Good things come to those who wait...
4 months is quite a chunk of time though for anything these days, like my transmission...
Ugh, the instant gratification generation. I'm glad to see you read how long it took, and realized it would not work for you. Quite a few people just jumped in and expected knobs in a week, lol.
Derrick makes the heaviest shift knobs available to us at this time, which is one of the reasons I currently have one. It replaced my WC lathe works that was 440grams. Just too light, the boomba at 370/270 depending on the model, is just way too light for my set-up. They make great products, and have the facilities/manpower to churn out parts fast.
They do not have the time to make 60 custom parts for 60 different people and interact with all of them. I would hate to have to deal with that many orders. Sorting out designs, layouts, colors, and just communicating with that many people. Which people can be very rude, impatient, demanding, and quick to emotion over such trivial things. **** that. People are assholes. I hold our community at higher levels of general conduct, but as time goes on I see that level keep dropping with new members.
Derrick is still one of my favorite vendors to deal with, He really tries to sort everything out in the best way possible, but he is just one man. Hiring extra people would take away what profit he gets, which imho is not nearly enough money for dealing with some of us. The late nights, the long winded email trade-offs, just the design aspects in conjunction with dealing with the machine shop and coaters. So much goes into producing a one of a kind product, and not even at much cost.
Maybe one day he will explode into a full blown knob shop (
IMG_20161025_162500 by Derrick Tackett, on FlickrJust wanted to say I've seen lots of pictures of your work on the forums here and have been impressed several times! In no way am I knocking your craftsmanship or your customer service. I definitely have a couple ideas for a knob design that I'd love but for me personally, 4 months wait time is just too much. When you can get that time down to maybe a month maximum on a consistent basis, I'll be potential a customer!So a couple responses to this.
It is a long time, it's not acceptable for me anymore. We are working to actually carry stock and turn around basically fully custom knobs in 2 weeks. I used to order 50-75 knobs from the machinist and coat and engrave those, basically going hand to mouth so to speak. But not any more. My last PO with my machinist was over 400 and I immediately sent a follow up PO for 100 more Atlas, and I'll have to send another by the end of the week. The plan is to have 8-10 of the common colors and 3-5 of the rarer colors that don't sell as well, all sitting on the shelf, ready for shipment or engraving. It's been something I've been trying to do for a long time, and frankly I've tried ordering 10%, 15%, and 20% more than my current order number and it just doesn't work. So we doubled it, because of that it is has been a trial and error period doing that many knobs at once.
We do a lot more custom stuff than most places, and are literally willing to try anything. There's a customer here that has a knob being done that's going to literally blow people away, we're still perfecting getting it right, but it's going to be amazing.
I will always answer emails, and I try to do so nicely and professionally. If I am ever not that way I apologize, but I try not to miss communications. People are ok with wait, they're not ok with not hearing from manufacturers. That's been my experience.
But I'm trying to lower my wait time, if you could see what I have currently in my basement you'd be freaked out. My wife doesn't quite know what to think.
I owe a lot to this forum, you were the ones that pushed for both the titan and the atlas. Before I came here I was selling about 30-45 a month. The last 3 months I've averaged over 90 knobs a month, that definitely comes with growing pains.
I will always take care of my customers, that's my main goal. I always try and make sure they are happy.
Also, quick glimpse, as of Monday I had 303 open orders, 198 of them had engraving, of that 116 had a custom engraving that wasn't done before. Balancing that is extremely hard, and it is proving more difficult.
However, one day I would love to have my own shop and maybe I will. At this point, I'm working as a one man show and I try my best to be helpful and attentive to customers. Don't ever hesitate to ask questions or get in contact with me. I will always work with you.
I also will let me work speak for itself. @SC_FoST248 if you ever want to try something unique and custom, you let me know and I'll definitely make it worth your while and knock your socks off.
@Duece McCracken love you bro, I haven't spent nearly enough time on here lately.
Shoot me a PM of what you're looking for and I can give you a realistic timeline. I've got a lot of coated stock right now and engravings happening daily at this point. Wouldn't be hard to add another knob.
Your knob is already in the queue to be engraved.
Makes me wonder if this is mine
