For The Love of Gear!

Anyone who's ever bought an old stompbox - be it on Craigslist, eBay or what-have-you - has probably come to the realization that most vintage electronic music equipment that you come across has been subjected to decades of neglect and abuse. Most of it only needs a little expert TLC to be restored to its former glory. That's exactly what we do here. Every vintage pedal that comes into the FMO Gear Shop is thoroughly inspected and tested before it's listed. We fuss over every piece that comes in, performing whatever routine maintenance may be required - cosmetic detailing, tightening loose hardware, cleaning pots, touching up cold solder joints and loose wires, minor repairs if necessary, and the occasional complete overhaul. Because that's what we do... for the love of gear!

Thanks eBay!

So apparently, unbeknownst to me, it appears I was part of a large class action suit against the behemoth online marketplace that is eBay (or at least, my eBay account was included in the suit). Looks like it has something to do with overcharging on final value fees. I had no idea, really! Then out of the blue, I receive this check from the Yingling vs. eBay Settlement Fund for a whopping sum of (ready for this?)... TWELVE CENTS ($0.12)! The timing couldn't be better too - this will definitely come in handy with my Christmas shopping. Thank-you Mr. Yingling (stop snickering) and thanks as well to your friend and mine, eBay.com.

ADDENDUM: Here's the first paragraph of the letter that accompanied the check.
Dear Class Member:
As described in the notice sent to you regarding Brice Yingling d/b/a Alamo Auto Sports and Andy Scott vs. eBay, Inc., Case No. C-09-01733 (the “Lawsuit”), via email and/or postcard in January 2011, below please find your pro rata distribution from the net Settlement Fund. Payment was calculated based on Final Value Fees you paid between April 21, 2005 and August 26, 2009 (the “Class Period”), for non-store inventory format items sold in the parts and accessories categories on eBay Motors. Additional details about the Lawsuit and the method of calculating your payment are available on the case website, www.ebaymotorsfeeclassaction.com.

The FMO weBlog has a new look.

No, your eyes aren't playing tricks on you. I decided to try a new layout for the For Musicians Only blog this past weekend. The old one wouldn't allow us to widen the margins, which used to drive me nuts since it felt like all our posts were confined to a tiny center portion of the page. Of course, this opened another can of worms because I then had to go back and tweak to layout for most of the old posts. One thing that's immediately apparent is that the new layout is a whole lot roomier. A small step in the right direction, I think. We'll see...