Crossing fingers that the warehouse storing all the parts is not near one of these fires raging through the LA area 
I used to think that. But taking a lot of money from people and for all intents and purposes disappearing seems verging on a scam. I realize that quite a few people got their Avalons, and I am honestly happy for them. But I am simultaneously frustrated at how this has gone down for those of us who are still waiting after all these years.
Iām not going to tell anyone how to feel or what to think about it; everyone can decide for themselves. I, too, donāt think his intent was to scam anyone, and I do think heāll ultimately deliver the final units. He has all of the parts there, so thatās not the issue, and I donāt think thatāll just disappear.
Heās just awful at time management, customer service, and communication, with the latter being the worst offense. At this point, my concern with someone not getting their order would be that he runs out of funds, and the business goes under. Obviously, I have no idea of knowing and itās all conjecture, but I imagine heās in a rough spot with cash flow and liquidity.
I can appreciate the idea of wanting legal action, but if the money isnāt there to begin with thereās nothing to get back. Also, litigation would work against the situation because it would cause him to dip into whatever funds remain for legal representation.
The best option (IMO) at this point is point is hoping he has the funds to finish/ship both the Avalon run and the VS-1 project for the orders that are there and the parts he has on hand. After that, who knows. Unfortunately, I donāt think Abstrakt Instruments is around 3-4 years from now.
Iām genuinely sorry for those of you still waiting. Believe me, I know what it was like. I got lucky I guess and managed to get mine. Even though itās missing components, I donāt dare send it back for repair. Iām pretty sure it would never make it back. Iāll take my chances doing it myself or finding someone.
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Yeah although I think we mostly all knew how notoriously bad at communicating he is going into itā¦ but maybe we werenāt ready for the actual realities of it especially when things went even more sideways than we would have imagined. I guess I kind of donāt get why he wouldnāt refund someone knowing that he can probably resell your spot in line in a few minutes after listing it online other than his extreme lack of ability to communicate. If he was truly scamming I imagine he would just keep on selling them with no regard for any ability to actually make good on them.
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Not all of us knew that āgoing into itā meant this kind of lack of communication and wait. Iām sure there are others who didnāt expect this. And even if you did know going into it, it doesnāt make it right. Thereās reasonable expectations and then thereās this. I ordered July 21, 2021 and waited four years without complaint. Did anyone really suspect that there would be nothing after 4.5 years and no communication whatsoever? That, in my opinion, goes beyond the boundaries of reasonable.
(Edited for tone. Iām trying not to be too frustrated about this)
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Iād be frustrated. The guy canāt run a business. There is a problem like this in guitar communities as well. I know multiple bass builders who have literally done the exact same thing and stiffed their customers for years. Ppl stalk them on socials and reach out all these different ways and rarely get a resolution.
First thing I always say is never preorder no matter how great someone says something is. Unless itās a highly reputable builder with great communication, itās just not worth it.
If Iām giving Rodger sadowsky $2 grand up front for a custom bass, Iām not worried. Heās the Dave smith (RIP) of basses, a legend builder. If itās a small brand that guys I know are touring with and can vouch for, Iāll prepay. Never been burned that way.
It just sucks to see all these ppl lose their money. And to take thousands from musicians and never give them even a follow up, is criminal, imo.
I think a lot of these guys have mental issues and suck at business. But thatās no excuse. You have money coming in, you hire someone customer facing , even if itās part time.
Best chance is for everyone getting their money back is to team up and put a plan together thatās unified. Get a lawyer together and go after the guy. The reason heās not responding is because he doesnāt feel compelled to because he hasnāt felt real pressure.
Guys like this probably start off with good intentions but get in over their heads and benefit from the customers being split up all over the place. Not one person can hold them accountable, it takes a unified front.
Anyway sorry for the rant, just sharing what Iāve seen done before that has been beneficial.
Good luck to you all. What sucks is the guy made a hell of a 303. I totally get why ppl want one.
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Still nothing, I say with no surprise.
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Update: Today I left Brian Castro my monthly voice mail begging for my money back. Guess what, he called me back! We even face-timed!
Iām not going to make excuses for him, but I will say that Brian turned out to be a really sweet guy, and seeing him and talking to him and hearing his story helped me to understand (and put into perspective) his situation and why everything is so late. I was one of the loudest voices here complaining about the situation, so I understand if it seems a little nutty that Iām defending him.
Anyway, he has 70 Basslines left to ship. If you ordered one way back in July 2021 and, like me, you had given up ever seeing that money again, you WILL get your Avalon.
If you have changed your email address since you ordered, I would suggest updating him.
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Thank you for sharing I think it really helps give some ease to people waiting. Glad you were able to speak with him directly.
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Whoa, crazy.
Was interested in this āstoryā. So went through this tread a bit. Crazy.
I was getting frustrated just by reading, canāt imagine if i ordered it few years ago and still didnāt receive the unit. Hopefully youāll all get yours soon! Good luck
There is one unit selling here in Germany, for 2300 euros. I am not sure if itās worth this markup
I was well aware of the brain story spending years on Gearslutz, I knew exactly how he operated, when the 2021 batch pre-order went up I basically paid $1000 and wrote it off expecting it never to turn up, that way I wasnāt going to beat myself up, luckily mine turned up about 3 years later.
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If you are allowed to share some details, Iād be interested to hear the story cause I ordered on July 2021 and this whole affair is very testing.
Covid and rarefaction of components, maybe.
Heard about the theft.
OB-X clone VS-1 being prioritizedā¦
Anyway, Iām delighted to learn he hasnāt quite quit the idea to deliver.
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You mostly hit the nail on the head as far as the reasons go, but there is another family component that I donāt feel at liberty to relay. Iām not trying to be dramatic, I just donāt think itās my place to broadcast it.
I feel pretty confident that everyone who is still waiting will get their Avalons before the end of the year. I know that still sounds like a long time, but 9 months is like 20 minutes in Castro time.
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Yeah, priorities flipped when one project got blocked, hopefully when both of these get righted itāll be easier to maintain. And by all that is unholy hopefully no similar world-stopping events in my lifetime 
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He better starts delivering then, family problems or not.
Thats $85k he is holding for 70 avalons.
Something like this happened in a different hobby of mine.
There was a piece of expensive, hard-to-get-and-much-desired equipment. No one could get ahold of the maker for like 2 years. Then he sent messages out that everyone was going to get their equipment shortly and on top of that he was making another batch! Everyone jumped on itā¦ Equipment never showed up, excuses were made, unforeseen conditions were blamed, etc.
In the end it turned out that the original maker had died and someone was just impersonating him, taking new orders etc., and just pocketing all the money.
Not to say this is what is happening, but @hotdoglothario do you know what he was supposed to look like when you facetimed lol? The deeper people get in something the more crazy stuff they are willing to believe.
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Many of us have received our orders (and again, have waited for ours and have nothing but empathy for the continued frustration.)
Thereās no need to invent conspiracies, this helps absolutely nobody.
Sure, but you donāt need to write crazy stuff in lieu of anyone actually affected by this.
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Every single time this thread pops up I get a little pike of something in my brain.
One day, it will be mine, yes. It will be mine.
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Hah, I mean Iād lend mine if you were a tick closer!