An Update on Ron !'s "Project"

Chris LeDrew · From: Canada

Some of you are aware that I donated a steel guitar to Ron Steenwijk a few months ago for a disadvantaged student who wanted to learn how to play steel. The guitar, a Thompson converted SD10, was in need of some minor repairs, so it fit Ron’s description of a “fixer upper” perfectly. Here is the related thread for those not familiar with this deal:

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=141356

The last I heard from Ron was when he received the guitar. He thanked me, and told me I had made a young girl very happy. (He also promised to send me some backing tracks or something, but nothing ever came.) Now that a few months have passed, I figured an update on this project was in order. After unsuccessfully trying to email Ron for about a week, he finally called me Sunday evening to tell me that he actually sold the guitar’s body, along with some parts, to a fellow forumite about 2 weeks ago. He claims the sale of the guitar and its parts was to raise money for a better steel guitar for his student. The only catch is that the forumite buyer has kindly forwarded me all his correspondence with Ron concerning the parts transaction, and no mention is made anywhere about this guitar being donated by me, or that a young student was getting a guitar from the proceeds. The emails are simply detailed pics of the guitar’s various parts, and how much Ron wants for them. This buyer is pretty disgusted about the way this was handled as well, and has given my permission to use anything I need as evidence. It looks like Ron got in the ballpark of $400 for the parts from my steel. I can’t prove anything about the Sho~Bud case in which it was shipped, but he had one for sale here shortly after he received the guitar. It was selling for around $100, as I recall. I can't trace the ad because Ron and Karen delete all of their for sale ads. Therefore, I am not saying it was mine; I just want to declare that at present the case is unaccounted for.

I would like to thank the buyer of these parts for being so forthright with this info, because it just confirms what I suspected for a while now: Ron, without bothering to inform me of his intentions, flipped the guitar I donated for a profit. No phone call or email to give me the option of shipping it back; no communication regarding his actions; nothing.

You can see on the thread link the personal history I have with this guitar. I really thought it was going to a good cause. I am saddened by the way this has turned out. I really am. I’m not one for conflict, but it’s hard to sit back and watch this kind of thing happen, with Ron posting jokes in the Humor section and carrying on like nothing is amiss, and looking for prayers for his own life issues when he has no problem doing what he did to a fellow forum member. I don’t need to elaborate on this for all of you to see the hypocrisy.

I will not bother to post any email correspondence here; it would simply be too embarrassing for the guilty party. But I will use it to refute any more lies that Ron may attach to this story. I gave Ron a day from Sunday to update the forum about his decision to sell a donated guitar for a profit. I see no such thread, and the one above was locked shortly after our phone conversation. Ron gave no apology for his actions, nor did he offer to send me the proceeds for the guitar or make it up to me in any way. He simply stated that he was sorry I see things the way I do. He sees nothing wrong with his actions. I cannot control that.

It pains me to have to post such a thread. However, it has to be said, lest others get similarly taken. This is so unfortunate, and so unnecessary. Most of all, this is NOT what the forum stands for. I regret my decision to donate this steel. Now I’m moving on. I kindly ask for no off-forum email correspondence concerning this issue (except for several friends whom I correspond with anyway), nor is it necessary for anybody unrelated to Ron's deals to post their agreement or disagreement with me. It's been a painful week or so as it is, with my deceased friend's guitar getting flipped and parted like some old beaten-up car. This is simply for disclosure of the deal and for anybody else who feels they may have been taken by this plea for free equipment.
_________________
Jackson Steel Guitars
Web: www.chrisledrew.com

Wally Taylor · From: Hardin, Kentucky, USA

I am shocked and dismayed at this news for several reasons. Ron? Karen? What gives? If this is true, then you guys surely need our prayers in the worst way!
Whoa!

Wally

Chris LeDrew · From: Canada

Wally, this is true. I would never violate forum policy by stating false accusations. What one takes from it is totally up to them.
_________________
Jackson Steel Guitars
Web: www.chrisledrew.com

Pat Comeau · From: New Brunswick, Canada

That is very sad to hear Chris...you tried to help someone by giving them something that was kinda sentimental to you and that was given to you by a dear friend of yours , i tip my hat on you my friend cause it's not everyone who would give away their stuff for free.

maybe he has medical problems like Alzheimer or something and he just made a mistake Sad

cause it happend a few months ago when a guy here on the forum bought a steel guitar and received another steel instead, Shocked

,

I hope this gets resolve in a friendly way .

your Canadian neighbour Pat C. Very Happy

_________________
Comeau SD10 4x5, Comeau S10 3x5, Peavey Session 500,Fender Telecaster,Fender Stratocaster, Fender Precision,1978 Ovation Viper electric. Alvarez 4 strings Violin electric.

Click the links to listen to my Comeau's Pedal Steel Guitars.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIYiaomZx3Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2GhZTN_yXI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvDTw2zNriI

A. J. Schobert · From: Cincinnati, Ohio,

Chris I am sorry.

You know you where the first to say hi when I joined the forum, so I always sort of followed your threads, and I would say you really seem to be a good guy, that may be your curse!

You also really never got into "flames" with other members so when you are upset I think some of us will listen.

I think what you have done went for a good cause, and now you wonder. Well I would be upset, sure you sent your guitar off and had the mindset that it would never return but it just seems ugly.

Hang in there this isn't the end of the world and you do have the right to be upset.

Take care

Bill Hatcher · From: Atlanta Ga. USA

Chris. I remember your original posts about this guitar when you first got it. When you donated it I thought that was a very kind gesture. You must understand that when you do something like that, that you have acted in good faith and your reward will always be valid. Even when the organization, or the person or whatever or whoever it is receives a donation from a person, the gesture itself can never be diminished by whatever the receiving party does with the donation.

In this case the party led us ALL to believe that the guitar was to be used by a student NOT to be parted out for ANY reason. You gave him the guitar under a stated premise....He did not honor that premise.

I personally wondered about all the parts he had for sale.

Non profit groups that ask for donations are held responsible for the donations they receive. He should give a full account of what he received from the forum and how it was put to use.

Surely he should come forward and give us an account of all this. I am reminded of how much value is placed on maintaining a good name as well as the old adage about craping in your own backyard.

A. J. Schobert · From: Cincinnati, Ohio,

Chris after reading this I emailed ABC's Extreme home makeover home edition show, and told them if they ever have a family that loves country music tell me I will donate my own PSG, just let me know I will send them an old sho-bud that was supposedly's hal ruggs.

I don't know if they would want an old thing like it though.....

James Morehead · From: Prague, Oklahoma, USA - R.I.P.

A gesture of good will totally defacated upon. Just sickening. Sad

Chris, you are a very kind hearted man. It's a shame your kindness was taken total advantage of. To many people appear to be something they are not. Sad

Chuck Thompson · From: Illinois, USA

Chris - i am very sorry for your loss - yours was a very personal loss - i certainly got off cheap http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=138680&highlight=donations alot of people donated to that cause as well. I have met and done business with alot of good folks here and am angry that someone here has taken advantage of good people and what b0b has built and lets us share. But we can be sure that alot more good people are on this forum than bad ones.

chas smith R.I.P. · From: Encino, CA, USA

Guess I'll be keeping my "basket" Fingertip. Chris, thank you for the heads-up, I heard the same story.

This is especially disheartening because the Forum is an oasis of good, decent people, in spite of our superficial differences. To betray that trust is especially egregious.

Just read Chuck's post. The "bad ones" are a very rare exception.

Ron ! · Posted 2 Dec 2008 11:20 pm

Well....I just come home from work and I find this post on the forum.Conclusion?....my time to put up my answer and minimize what ever damage my "Former" friend Chris LeDrew has done.

I made the post on the wanted to buy section several months ago asking people for donations to get children started that wanted to learn playing (pedal) steel guitar.

Chris was one of the people that answered me and told me that he might have what I was looking for.
Chris posted a picture of a Thompson steel....."little buddy" Pro so to speak.
I agreed to pay for the shipping from Canada to The USA.
These shipping costs were more extensive then I counted on.Nevertheless did I pay them.

I received the "Basket Case" (because that's what it was and it needed more then a little TLC) 1 and a half week later.
I fixed this guitar up (put $225 dollars of my hard earned money in this) and passed it on to one of my students.
Her name?.....Jennifer Joseph from New Stanton PA.13years old.
She study's with me when ever I have the time.I have several more students from this area so they each get the time they deserve as you might understand.

This guitar was a good starter for her and after some time I had the opportunity to buy a Nashville LTD (like I play) and I told her father if he was interested in this.I told him that if he would be able to cough up a couple bucks ($300) I was willing to put some money in it as well.
I also told him that the "Little Buddy" had to be sold to make that leap forward to get his daughter a better PRO model.
His daughter agreed with this because she wants to become a good steel player(the Little Buddy was given to her...not to me).

Chris never ever told me that there was a condition to this donation.If she would not be needing it anymore he wanted it back.
Some kind of Donation that turned out to be.

My opinion is that if you have a student and they have the opportunity to get a better quality guitar with a little extra cash then you push them towards that.Apparently Chris does not think that way.

Several other people have made donations.I have put all my free time and effort in this project just to find out that I am walking around with a knife in my back right now.
Something that I definitely not deserve.

Other people have send me tuners....a volume pedal even Steven Hamill send me a Fender Amp.
This amp is currently used by Jennifer who play's a nice Nashville LTD(Rittenberry build) with 3x4.

This amp is not her's but she can use it for the time being.

Now the next lines are for you Chris

First of all.When you donate something to a good cause you don't ask it back.This girl had the opportunity to get a better guitar then the "Little Buddy" you send her.You "stated" it was a Thompson steel guitar.
I too have all the mails.....every single one of them.

Second.....

Chris Lucker · From: Los Angeles, California USA

Ron

On October 20th I paid you $130 for a set of legs you had for sale on the Forum. I used PayPal, remember?

I never received them.

Can you get out of the mud long enough to send them?

Chris Lucker

Chris Lucker · From: Los Angeles, California USA

What do you know? I just got an email from Ron. It says:

they will be send tomorrow and I will mail you the tracking number.I knew I forgot someone but couldn't remember anymore who it was.

Now please take that post down.It will only add to the fire.
This is between Chris and me.

I will mail you the tracking number tomorrow.

Regards

Ron

How hard is it to check PayPal to see who sent you money if you know you forgot someone?

Ron -- forget the legs. Send the $130 to b0b and the Forum instead.

Chris Lucker

Ron ! · Posted 3 Dec 2008 12:24 am

Well Chris.....no can do.You payed for them and you will get them.
I have your address here in my mail box.However like I mentioned before.I closed my PayPal account 4 days ago so I can't check who payed and who didn't.

Ron

Chris Lucker · From: Los Angeles, California USA

Just got another snip from Ron. In response to my question regarding how hard it is to check his PayPal receipts, his reply is simply:

"Very hard if you don't have a PayPal account no more."

It makes you wonder when folks just cannot take responsibility for their actions.

By the way, I never delete my for sale ads after they are completed. Why do you, Ron?

Chris Lucker

Jimmy Gibson · From: Cornwall, England

Quite a while ago i had dealings with a forum member,i sent some steel guitar parts in exchange for some steel CD`s,guess what,im still waiting.I wonder who that was. Wink

A. J. Schobert · From: Cincinnati, Ohio,

Ron since you want to sue peaple, good luck, I know whome I should avoid now.

Chris LeDrew · From: Canada

Thank you all for your support in this matter. I have made some great friendships here, and this bump in the road will smooth over in due time.

Ron, I will not retract one word of what I said. And I didn't scream on your voice mail. When I found out about what you did, I left a message calmly stating that I knew the nature of your dealings with this guitar, and ended with, "f@#$ you, a@#^%&". And I stand by those words more than any other above. I guess all you have as a defense is to make me out to be a temperamental lunatic. Whatever makes you feel better.

I welcome your ridiculous slander threat. I have a lawyer on standby if you'd like his contact info. In fact, this has already been read by several lawyers, none of whom find any of it slanderous in any way. Believe me, I did my homework before posting this thread. Nothing I stated above is any less than the truth of the matter. I have no particulars to argue. Everything is covered in the original post. As I said, one can judge for themselves the meaning of the facts.
_________________
Jackson Steel Guitars
Web: www.chrisledrew.com

Ernie Pollock · From: Mt Savage, Md USA

I think this post should tell us all something, we need to avoid this sort of thing in the future & I think B0B should take a long look at these sort of posts

Ernie Sad

Bill Hatcher · From: Atlanta Ga. USA

Ron Steenwijk--"I made the post on the wanted to buy section several months ago asking people for donations to get children started that wanted to learn playing (pedal) steel guitar."

Your original post about this did not say just "children". It read "less fortunate". That conjured up visions of folks with NO money.

RS "Chris was one of the people that answered me and told me that he might have what I was looking for.
Chris posted a picture of a Thompson steel....."little buddy" Pro so to speak.
I received the "Basket Case" (because that's what it was and it needed more then a little TLC) 1 and a half week later."

Your original post says that you are happy to get steels in ANY condition. Now you are calling this guitar a "basket case". That is a gift horse in the mouth. Also you allude to it as being a "Little Buddy". You sold the parts for this guitar and got more than any Little Buddy is worth in playing condition. That tells me that the guitar was better than what you allude to.

RS"This guitar was a good starter for her and after some time I had the opportunity to buy a Nashville LTD (like I play) and I told her father if he was interested in this.I told him that if he would be able to cough up a couple bucks ($300) I was willing to put some money in it as well."

"Less fortunate"???? I thought these folks had no money to begin with and that is the reason why you were providing them with a free....well donated by someone else steel.

RS "I also told him that the "Little Buddy" had to be sold to make that leap forward to get his daughter a better PRO model.
His daughter agreed with this because she wants to become a good steel player(the Little Buddy was given to her...not to me)."

Your original post did not say anything about the fact that if YOU decided to, you would take these donated guitars and sell them for any reason. You made it sound like the guitars would go to the kids FREE with no strings attached.

RS "Chris never ever told me that there was a condition to this donation.If she would not be needing it anymore he wanted it back.
Some kind of Donation that turned out to be."

And you never told him that you would sell this guitar for any reason. You even parted the guitar out and sold it! After reading Chris's post and your reply, I am still not convinced that you have done the right thing in regards to parting out and selling this guitar.

RS "Ow and Bill.......I restore and re-build steel guitars.People that restore and re-build have parts."

That is well and good, but you were looking for all sorts of parts etc for these "less fortunate" students guitars. If you had mentioned that these parts you were selling could not be used in your project then no one would have thought anything about it.

To me this issue is over just this one guitar and what was done to it. Since you used the forum to get this guitar donated then we all as forum members have an interest in how this all shakes out. To me, this puts a very cautious slant on anyone ever asking for a donation here again. The goodwill that has been built up for so many years here is somthing that you took advantage of to get donations. Ron, you also took on the responsibility of handling that goodwill with the utmost care and integrity.

I am not sure that your receiving the guitar and then "donating" it, then taking it back and requiring the "less fortunate" parent to come up with $300 for something that they originally could not afford, and then taking the guitar and parting it out to cover your "costs" was the right thing to do. In essence, the "less fortunate" parent is out $300 and you are now close to even.........

I am open to hearing more opinions on this.

Charlie Tryon · From: Glovertown Newfoundland, Canada

Well I have know Chris for some time now and he is one of the finest people I have ever meet. We have had a lot of laughs together at his place my place and at a few conventions. all I know or think I know about this is that The party who the guitar was shipped to was asked several time and I was one who asked for some pictures of the person who recieved the guitar and got nothing. That being said if this guitar was good enough for one person to start with then why would it need to be parted out after only a couple of months. Could it have not been passed on to another person???
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James Morehead · From: Prague, Oklahoma, USA - R.I.P.

If the unfortunate parent could "cough up" $300, and if you Ron were willing to pay the shipping from Canada on Chris's guitar, why even "go there"? Just buy a used Carter Starter. Anyone could play one for years, as it's got a pro setup on it with 3X4 already.

The young girl out grew the beginner guitar in a month or two?? Wow, that's fast!! What a quick study!! Does this young girl actually exist, no one has seen a picture of her and her guitar Chris donated, let alone other things that were donated?

If I had asked for donations for a project, I would feel completely obligated to document it's progress to share with those whom I had rallied to the "cause". Yes, comraderie. There are those who are proud to help others whom are less fortunate, and to cut them out of the equation AFTER they donated to your alledged "cause" is rude behaviour, at the least, and is a huge red flag to bad motives.

And to not offer Chris's guitar back after you were finished with it, or at least, just let him know what's going on with his donation is poor taste. After all, he made it known that the guitar had sentimental value, and should have been treated with respect.

Tamara James · Posted 3 Dec 2008 7:26 am **it's just sad**

I honestly don't know what to think. I am just Whoa!

shocked. For once, I am at a loss for words.

A. J. Schobert · From: Cincinnati, Ohio,

Well said Bill!!

I am upset by this as well, yes time will heal but we will be more catious in the future, and I feel that forum members where "taken for".

I can tell you that I have had at least 20 or so peaple wanting to play the steel, I have had every intent on helping them, but the bottom line is they need to help themselves first, I can't buy a steel for them nor would I ever think of asking for hand-outs! Just save your money thats what I did!

JM; Well said, but I don't want to see picture of this underaged child posted without some permission.

Alan Brookes · From: Brummy living in Southern California

It seems to me that a lot of people are jumping to conclusions without having all the facts. What we have here is two different versions of the events. I certainly wouldn't be prepared to come to any conclusions based on the evidence here. Sad

By the way, if any suing were to be done at this stage it would be for libel rather than slander, as it involves information in writing in a public forum. I would also point out that any third party proferring an opinion on the Forum is also leaving himself open to a libel suit. Sad

Let's leave the two gentlemen involved to come to an amicable understanding between themselves, if this is still possible.

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