firebug supergun

[slai50]

i'm one of the last people waiting for my supergun from firebug. I sent him payment and parts last August and am still waiting. He keeps on pushing back the shipping date for my supergun, it was suposed to ship back in March, now it has been moved back to May. Has anyone had experiences dealing with him and can give me some peace of mind? Or should I be worried? thanks all and i will update everyone on the situation.

[neorichieb1971]

I have met him a few times. He takes a lot of time. He currently has my supergun for a svideo encoder. I haven't seen it in ages, possibly 6 months now. I heard he is moving house. Personally I think he feels its ok to make people wait until he's ready. I don't mind as long as the comms are flowing. In my case though I have 4 cabinets to play around with whilst my SG is being upgraded so i'm in no rush. If I were you, i'd be a bit more mad.

Fire-bug if your reading this, you really should crack on. If people are waiting its time to stop making excuses and apoligies and do what you were paid to do. Its your reputation at stake.

[slai50]

I don't have a problem as long as he is not trying to scam me out of my money. I sent him about $1,000 USD in money and parts. We agreed that I would recieve my supergun by may 18th. Hope he comes through, i really am trying to give him the benefit of the doubt.

[neorichieb1971]

Well, my SG is done as a favour for getting him some MVS carts collected in person by car. I drove him.

If I spent $1000 on parts for a Supergun i'd be more direct and forceful. A supergun is supposed to be cheap and cheerful anyway, You could buy a cabinet and one or two PCB's for that amount.

I better not say anymore. Although I think he is slow, he does have some problems. But that does not excuse how much time he has taken on yours and my projects. If i'm not mistaken, he had problems with other SG buyers as well. I wait with patience.

[jonny5]

Well, my SG is done as a favour for getting him some MVS carts collected in person by car. I drove him.

If I spent $1000 on parts for a Supergun i'd be more direct and forceful. A supergun is supposed to be cheap and cheerful anyway, You could buy a cabinet and one or two PCB's for that amount.

I better not say anymore. Although I think he is slow, he does have some problems. But that does not excuse how much time he has taken on yours and my projects. If i'm not mistaken, he had problems with other SG buyers as well. I wait with patience.

$1000 for a supergun....and you provided the parts?

wtf?

thats like 5X his normal rates for standard setup...whats so special about this one to be so much?

10 months too....hmmm....ya...id be raising a bit more of a stink.....

you could have bought 2 brand new raijin setups for that kind of money.....and those are top of the line japanese made superguns

ive also dealt with firebig and can say he was fine with me(i bought his very first supergun actually among other dealings), but i would be a bit more upset if i were you...espeically if he has dropped off with communication

[Elixir]

How is it possible to spend $1000 on a supergun?

[jonny5]

How is it possible to spend $1000 on a supergun?

ya..thats what i dont get....i cant think of any kind of additional mod or gear to add to it that would increase the price so much....

whats the deal?

im curious now

[slai50]

ok before this gets blown out of proportion, let me clairfy. the $1000 USD was for a supergun, xrgb-2, parts and labor for 4 custom controllers( 2 saturn pads, LS-30, LS-40 rotary joystick, sanwa pushbuttons) for use with wih the supergun. I also sent him an ikari warriors board and a caliber 0.50 board to test out the custom LS-30 and Ls-40 joysticks. I sent about $600 for the supergun and xrgb-2. The rest are the value of the parts that i sent him and the customs charges. I still have not paid the custom charges as i will pay him when he ships.

[neorichieb1971]

All I want is an svideo mod and thats taking months. Obviously he hasn't started it yet, putting me on the back burner. I'll survive without it but I really want it back.

[Skykid]

I can personally vouch for the guy 100% - he's a totally stand up chap and he will definitely come through for you. I have known him for a while and he's not the type to screw you about.

That said -

He's having some problems at the moment afaik, being moved around quite a bit and trying to find a place to live (in fact every time I speak to him he's moving about.) He definitely has a lot going on in the real world, however I don't actually think there's a good excuse to keep you waiting since August (that's ages) and I can only imagine the size of the order coupled with a lot of stuff going on in life has meant he's failed to get a groove on.

I usually expect to wait for items from him for a while also, and I end up sending him several emails to remind him to visit the post office and post my shit! I know he's slow, but I'm sure he'd agree the length of time you've been waiting is unreasonable.

I will go find him and direct him to this thread for you matey, it's probably just the reminder he needs to get things wrapped up for ya.

[Dragoforce]

All I can say is that I bought a supergun from him last fall and it was delivered in time to my complete satisfaction.

[Fire-bug]

Skykid, I appreciate the kind words, but in all fairness, Slai does have a right to be upset. This particular project has taken a lot more of my time tha normal, and due to (irrelevant non the less) problems, I havent ploughed through this one and several others as I normally would to get it out.

There are several people waiting for machines, however they will all either be shipped or completed this coming week. it is true, I am in the process of moving, however I intend to finish everyones (except Tony starkes, sorry dude!) before I move. I have already informed slai50 he will have his before the 18th of this month. I lowered the price of the XRGB from £150 pounds to 200 usd, then dropped the final amount owed for outstanding work by another £30, and have now agreed to pay the return shipping, all prior to this.

Richard- Youre machine is ready, as I said recently, I will pay you a visit soon. I think you of all people can give me the benefit of the doubt here. Weve spent enough time around eachother for you to know that you can call me anytime. Ive never faded from contact with you, you have my phone number also.

Slai, I a ppreciate you clarifying that you were not charged $1000 for your set up. I belive the price charged to be fair, and I would sy its fair to say you do too, especially with the discount. I will be sure to post publically when I do have it picked up by the couriers in the coming days.

Again guys, I apologise for all this. I built a good rep here with people from any different parts of the world, I am not going to fade out let it go to waste just because I have decided to end the projects you have all kindly comissioned me to do over almost 2 years now.

How is it possible to spend $1000 on a supergun?

I dont think it is!
Again guys, anyone waiting will have confirmation of shipment pm'd and confirmation of collection posted publically here.

Thanks, Mark

[Ed Oscuro]

What's this about not fading out? I know I left a PM you never got around to replying to...as much as people are spending on SGs you really should plan on sticking around a bit for some support, otherwise I don't know why you'd think people will be happy.

slai50 / Fire-Bug: I would be interested to see schematics for the LS-40 rotary stick, and does it plug into a Neo Geo AES style plug (like my Fire-Bug SG) or straight into a JAMMA+ connector on the Ikari Warriors board?

I've had a LS-30 for some time and not put it in a casing or anything, which I need to get on...

[Fire-bug]

Hey Ed,

Actually, I maintained in my original display topic, that although I was stopping, anyone who had been generous enough to give me their business would receive continous support from me in regards to its maintainence.

I stand by this still.

[Ed Oscuro]

That's all well and good to make a public announcement, but when private questions aren't being answered you have to forgive me for being skeptical. Does this PM at least look familiar:

Yes, that helps. Are resistors in place to lower the level of the sound?

Thanks again,
Ed

There also is that matter of a possible LS-30 adapter. I'll be the first to admit I should be doing this myself, and in fairness you left it that I would come to you if I wanted to have such a thing built. By now I have more or less figured out the box uses basically standard pinouts but having something like a sheet of specifications from the beginning would have been useful.

[Fire-bug]

I apologise, I thought my last pm cleared it up. No, I dont use resistors for sound, I never have. I can attempt your request once I have settled, but not right now.

Your the first to ever ask for a sheet of specs (as in, just now) to be honest. No two superguns I build are really ever the same down to the last detai internally, So I cannot have one printout that I just keep printing, nor do I have the time to do schematics for each individual model.

I have, for reference posted several times on this board the pinout that I use for my controller ports here, and if asked directly for the layout, have always pointed people to this.

http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=24058

As I said, I am quite prepared to do this for you, once I am settled.

[jonny5]

ok before this gets blown out of proportion, let me clairfy. the $1000 USD was for a supergun, xrgb-2, parts and labor for 4 custom controllers( 2 saturn pads, LS-30, LS-40 rotary joystick, sanwa pushbuttons) for use with wih the supergun. I also sent him an ikari warriors board and a caliber 0.50 board to test out the custom LS-30 and Ls-40 joysticks. I sent about $600 for the supergun and xrgb-2. The rest are the value of the parts that i sent him and the customs charges. I still have not paid the custom charges as i will pay him when he ships.

that makes a lot more sense...i was racking my brain trying to think of what in the heck you could put in an SG that would jack the price like that.....all those controllers and an xrgb2 would do it though

worry not...firebugs gear is top notch...im sure you will be pleased once you have yours in hand.....

[neorichieb1971]

I actually forgot I had your number.

I use PM's because I work shifts and don't want to disturb people. Like I said I'm happy to wait, I know our next meeting is drawing closer for one reason or another.

I'm happy that this is getting sorted, and i'm happy my SG is ready

[Ed Oscuro]

Your the first to ever ask for a sheet of specs (as in, just now) to be honest. No two superguns I build are really ever the same down to the last detai internally, So I cannot have one printout that I just keep printing, nor do I have the time to do schematics for each individual model.

Shame on the people who haven't asked. It's kind of hard to do anything expansion-wise without the information.

I know it takes a little while to lay out the basics but it's kind of useless having a DIN-9 connector and not knowing what the pinout is (I think you've told me what it was for, but not having to trace wires all over the place is a good thing, I think).

[CHI]

my 2 cent...

after many visits, texts and calls, Fire-Bug has finally repaired my supergun...
on the day of picking it up (yesterday) after being told it was ready since last week, i still had to wait for a couple more hours on final touches... but it's all good...

being at his little workshop, i believe there are five other SG that are finished/unfinished that will be in the post pretty soon... be patience and wait for his PM...

FB is beginning to get back on track with life after major personal issues (health, family, work... etc) but i can assure you, you will get your SG... cos i've seen them...

[Arasoi]

.

[neorichieb1971]

He just left my house and got my supergun done. He talks of progressing with other orders. I'd say your in good hands that work slowly. He probably took on more than his schedule could allow. I wouldn't say my order was swift, then again my order was a return favour I did for him about.... can't remember actually

[Arasoi]

.

[slai50]

Arasoi, i totally totally sympathize with the current situation you are in. I too, have been waiting for ny supergun for nearly a year. What makes me upset is the way i am told my supergun will be shipped at a specific time, only to have it not show up. I hear nothing from firebug, then I have to email him, then he gives me an excuse why it hasn't shipped, then he gives me a new shipping date. This cycle has gone on since February. The latest ship date for my supergun was the week of June 19th and guess what? still nothing. I just emailed him last night asking for a refund. Firebug, if you are reading this, please stop wasting my time and getting my hopes up. Just give me my refund and the parts and pcbs i sent you. I have given you more than enough chances to make this right. For the people who have been in contact with him, please tell him that we need an update.

[RGB32E]

What's wrong with a Super Nova connected directly to a RGB monitor or a XRGB? What's this talk of S-Video in the 21st century!? If you're not using fixed resistors for each PCB class, you'll always have inconsistent color reproduction on your display device. Hrmm....

[Skykid]

Jesus guys, I'll go get him.

This taking ages shit is surprising to me, as when we worked out a deal between myself, FB and Jonny5, Jonny5 got his Supergun really super speedy, and that included me travelling to London to collect it, bring it home, pack it, and send it to bloody Canada!

[Arasoi]

.

[jonny5]

Jesus guys, I'll go get him.

This taking ages shit is surprising to me, as when we worked out a deal between myself, FB and Jonny5, Jonny5 got his Supergun really super speedy, and that included me travelling to London to collect it, bring it home, pack it, and send it to bloody Canada!

in all fairness, that was already built when he put it up for sale....and pre-dated his 'made to order superguns' service and subsequent backlog.....that was like his first transaction here.....and if you hadnt been the one to go and get it, who can really say it would have been any speedier had it been left in his hands...

honestly, if your life is in such shambles that you cant honor agreements and provide the services you accepted funds to perform, the funds should be refunded...and certainly not dragged out over several months with excuse after excuse and broken promise after broken promise....

you guys are way too understanding.....if i was involved in a transaction and i payed up front with an expected delivery date, if that date came and went i would be annoyed but understanding with proper communication....the second time i would be pretty pissed.....the 3rd time i would demand a refund for sure, regardless of the situation....

you guys are talking about several months past due, little communication from the seller, and excuse after excuse....

im kinda surprised the sites arent stepping in....peeps have been banned off AO for less than this shit.....and afaik he still hasnt been banned there....

ive been watching this thread with interest, and im shocked this is being let to continue

why is everybody so understanding with this guy?

any other time i would have expected to see the pitchforks and torches long ago.....

very odd....

he has peoples goods, he has peoples money....and he is not communicating properly under the circumstances....this is not how you should conduct things, and certainly not how you should treat your peers in this kind of community

[Skykid]

Aren't you supposed to be in off-topic ripping me to shreds over my movie taste?

@ Everyone, I sent him a message to the only place I know he's most likely to get it asking him to pay a visit. That should get to him soon enough, fingers crossed.

If we have no luck, he'll most likely be at the Super vs Battle in Harrow next month and I'll talk to him in person there.

[jonny5]

Aren't you supposed to be in off-topic ripping me to shreds over my movie taste?

whats that supposed to mean?

you feel my points arent valid or disagree with what i said?

dude needs to get his shit together and get these people there shit....enough of this 'oh hes ok, hes just moved house again, maybe next month' ....fuck that....dudes a grown man, and he needs to handle his business and stop dodging these guys

why the fuck isnt he here responding to this shit?

why isnt he responding to there messages?

i dont see why people are still just 'asking' for shit and not 'demanding' this be dealt with NOW!!

this isnt just gear he has to build for them....he has some of the one guys shit as well that was sent as part of the job....

dudes running a business out of the trading forums on this and other arcade forums, and hes being allowed to basically say fuck you to the people buying his shit, and paying in advance at that.....if this were somebody else just trading/selling shit, and this situation happened, there would have been all kinds of noise....

i dont think thats cool at all....the thing i like most about these communities is that for the most part you can trust those you are dealing with.....this kind of thing makes me angry