-
Apologies for bothering you again. Reading my posts is voluntary, though.
Two sh**s have happened since the previous update.
1) President Trump’s tariffs are in force. He also terminated the $800 de minimis privilege for individual parcels as of August 29, instead of the extended grace period announced earlier. Many airlines and postal services have interrupted parcel services to the US, because the procedures and mechanisms for paying tariffs before shipping just don’t exist.
I’m using UPS towards USA. They apparently have the systems in place and can use their international hubs as a buffer before the final leg. Not yet tested in practice. Anyway, my products are subject to the 15% tariff imposed on EU, which is far less than for Far East.
The extent of damage from the tariffs to the entire musical equipment trade remains to be seen, once existing inventories have been depleted. Expect a shrunken, sad NAMM.
2) I’m relocating the workshop, a.k.a. TOOB Global Headquarters, in a hurry. Demolition of the current building has been in the cards for long, yet eviction on a month’s notice came as a cold shower. I’ve found new, more expensive premises closer to home. The removal will take 2-3 weeks, under which time I can’t build anything new, only ship a few existing samples at best.
Losing one’s home base and the biggest market at the same time hurts, to say the least. Throwing in the towel has sprung to mind. However, my current speaker inventory is near 50, and I’ve just sourced Metro handles and grills for over 100 units. Black body pipe for a triple-digit number of Metros was supposed to be delivered in late June, but the production has been delayed several times and is now scheduled for next week. We’ll see.
As a silver lining, having two workshops during September enables me to build up a sizeable stash of finished wooden parts, using the soon-defunct space as a paint shop without worrying about spills or fumes.
How to compensate for the loss, however temporary, of the US market? We (meaning my bassist associate Jukka Nuuttila and myself) have been focusing on bass cabs, testing several speakers and cab architectures. We aim to introduce two new models at the Nordic Bass Fest in Gothenburg on September 26-28: Metro 8BG prototype featuring the 200W SICA 8L 2SL speaker, and TOOB 12BE, a ported design for bass guitar, with more bottom punch than the harmonics-rich 12B favored by double bass players. Celestion, LaVoce and SICA Neo speakers are still in the 12” race.
Whether the Metro 8BG dives deep enough remains for bassists to find out. For guitarists, this 200W, 94.5dB speaker in a compact 5.5 lbs cab is an interesting alternative. I’ll be using it on rehearsals and coming gigs. My son was pleased with the distorted sounds. Another BAM200 prospect. The prototype’s front rim is made of 3D-printed pieces held together with a hose clamp.
I’ve promised my wife that I’ll quit on my 80th or when the thousandth TOOB/Metro is ready, whichever comes first. I’ll be 79 in November, and the running number is 889. There won’t be that many updates before it’s all over. So bear with me.
MarkkuLast edited by Gitterbug; 08-29-2025 at 01:58 AM.
-
08-28-2025 05:11 PM
-
Thanks, Markku, for keeping us updated. I salute you sticking with it so far, especially considering all the agita the US side entails.
Good luck with the whole thing, and bon courage.
-
Hopefully, this all works out and we are soon rid of this blight.
It would be nice if you could have succession for your business. Maybe your son might want to take it over when you retire. It would be a shame to just shut down after all you've done to build it.
I've been thinking if I purchase a Toob to just have it shipped to a friend in Canada and then pick it up whenever I go there or he comes here for a visit. It's a thought.
-
Why not license the idea to a US maker? Someone here perhaps?
-
There would still be tariffs on the components.
Originally Posted by Stringswinger
-
Thank you all for support and encouragement! As said before, this is a retirement hobby rather than business. I can just about afford it. For my sons - or anybody except somebody already in the business - to make a living would require scaling up by a magnitude or two. That, in turn, would call for: 1) market research confirming the potential and 2) risk capital from an external source. I can't afford 1), and my investment so far is enough of 2).
Licensing might be the way to go. However, as far as I know, the international standard for double-wall drainage pipe isn't observed in the US. Hence, my bespoke tooling for clamping rims and grills wouldn't work. Somebody will have to spend a five-digit sum for tooling once the right pipe manufacturer has been found. My polypropylene pipe made by Uponor (now a subsidiary of the Swiss Georg Fisher group) is in all respects superior to anything I've seen. That stuff could travel, and so could other bespoke parts.
As pointed out by Freddels, imported components are subject to tariffs as well. I could sell components for assembly in the US at cost against a reasonable license fee for every unit sold. Would there be suitable US-made speakers? Eminence, now in Italian ownership, has a factory in the US and China. I don't know how their production breaks down between locations. Other US manufacturers I don't know at all. Celestion is owned by a Chinese corporation and produces everything apart from their most expensive models in China. LaVoce - all Chinese. My Jensens and SICAs come from Italy - another relative asset.
The 15% EU tariff is modest vs. what's levied on Chinese products. I do expect US demand to recover once the initial shock is over. If not - you already know my deadlines.
Cheers,
Markku
-
There's a good chance that the Trump tariffs will be repealed as they were ruled to be legally invalid by the U.S. International Court of International Trade, but it's still in litigation.
See: What’s the status of tariff litigation, and where may things go from here? - Thomson Reuters Institute
Today a Federal appeals court upheld the International Trade Court decision, next stop Supreme Court I guess.
Trump Tariffs Court Ruling - AP News
Last edited by Mick-7; 08-29-2025 at 08:37 PM.
-
The Supreme Court will grant Trump the power to continue doing that. It's not even a discussion and probably would be granted unilaterally on an emergency basis by one justice rather than being taken up by the whole court.
-
Yeah, well, I was trying to keep my comments apolitical so this thread doesn't get deleted like Gitterbug's previous one on the subject, but I will say that having a rogue president and a rogue Supreme court is absolutely deadly to democracy. Originally Posted by Cunamara
-
I love my toob cab and hope you reach both goals.
-
That ship sailed a long time ago.... Originally Posted by Mick-7
-
Shame on you guys for endangering Markuu's thread with your Orwellian political commentary. I may not agree with everything that our POTUS and our SCOTUS does (and I sure don't like these tariffs), but I am happy that they have the power that they do. I imagine that when President Newsom is in office, I will feel as butthurt as you guys do, but I doubt it will rise to the level of mental illness, as seems to be the case with some of you guys. BTW, pure Democracy is essentially mob rule. America is a Constitutional Republic that chooses some of it's leaders using a democratic process. HTH. Originally Posted by Mick-7
-
Originally Posted by Mick-7
You may substitute the words "constitutional republic" for "democracy" in my sentence. This is not just about who is president. As I said, I'm trying to stay apolitical whereas you are now feeding the political fire. Originally Posted by Stringswinger
Shame on you guys for endangering Markuu's thread with your Orwellian political commentary. I may not agree with everything that our POTUS and our SCOTUS does (and I sure don't like these tariffs), but I am happy that they have the power that they do. I imagine that when President Newsom is in office, I will feel as butthurt as you guys do, but I doubt it will rise to the level of mental illness, as seems to be the case with some of you guys. BTW, pure Democracy is essentially mob rule. America is a Constitutional Republic that chooses some of it's leaders using a democratic process. HTH.
-
The smile emoji suggest that you thought when you were being clever when you typed that. Originally Posted by Stringswinger
America is a Constitutional Republic that chooses some of its leaders using a democratic process. HTH.
It’s actually on my bingo card of talking points.
I mean it doesn’t even mean anything? Pure democracy? What even is that? Every democracy is representative, whether they be republics or continuations monarchies like here. It’s drivel.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
-
If Newsom gets the nom the collapsing democrat base will still need to deal with the fact he is a straight, white, very rich male. He might as well start a spray tanning regimen today, LOL. Originally Posted by Stringswinger
Shame on you guys for endangering Markuu's thread with your Orwellian political commentary. I may not agree with everything that our POTUS and our SCOTUS does (and I sure don't like these tariffs), but I am happy that they have the power that they do. I imagine that when President Newsom is in office, I will feel as butthurt as you guys do, but I doubt it will rise to the level of mental illness, as seems to be the case with some of you guys. BTW, pure Democracy is essentially mob rule. America is a Constitutional Republic that chooses some of it's leaders using a democratic process. HTH.
-
I didn't think the OP was political. I thought it was about certain economic realities.
What I don't enjoy is reading political views I regard as inane and dangerous and then feeling obligated to hold my tongue so that we can have a civil board.
I won't say which side I'm on. I'll block the posters who offend me.
-
I have a Toob BG and absolutely love it. Good luck Markku dealing with your business issues.
BTW - I hardly agree with anything that our lunatic POTUS and compromised SCOTUS do.
AKA
-
Makes zero sense, a "constitutional democracy" whose political leaders disregard the tenets of their constitution and apparently, like Stringswinger, think that "democracy" means "mob rule." Originally Posted by Christian Miller
That's my last word on the subject.....
Yes, it's a economic issue, but unfortunately economics and politics have become inseparable - or I should say absolutely inseparable. Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar
-
You make an (incorrect) assumption about my use of the emoji. You know what they say about assumptions. Originally Posted by Christian Miller
-
So you are aware that you are talking a load of old nonsense then? Originally Posted by Stringswinger
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
-
I just feel the need to say one thing about the tariffs. I don't believe they will ever go away and that's got nothing to do with the POTUS or the SCOTUS. The government is in need of money, they have spent it to the point that It's become difficult to cover the interest on the loan. They only have two ways of generating income and that's by tax or tariff. Cutting spending isn't something that either party is willing to do in any kind of serious way. The American people don't want to hear of tax increases, and anyones who does so, is finished at the end of their term along with the party they represent. Sadly most people don't truly understand tariffs and the potential impact on their wallets. At least you have a choice to buy imported, and in this as many other cases, not much of a choice.
-
I stand by all that I wrote. You are free to disagree and even call it nonsense if you like. I don't give a rodent's rectum if you do. Originally Posted by Christian Miller
-
To the consumer, tariff = tax, this will become more readily apparent as the tariffs take effect. They are especially damaging to small businesses like Gitterbugs. Furthermore, interest on the U.S. debt now exceeds its GDP growth rate and will grow ever wider thanks to recently passed legislation. Originally Posted by skiboyny
Based on his last response, clearly, he is not. Originally Posted by Christian Miller
-
I understand that, which is why I don't characterize the post as political. Post about cost of imports and you get the politics no matter what. I don't see that as a reason to remain silent about the economics. Originally Posted by Mick-7
-
I think that the SCOTUS will have to rule on the tariff powers exercised by this POTUS. I look forward to their ruling. I believe that many of these tariffs are unconstitutional (Look at the tariffs on Brazil for example) and that the SCOTUS will rein this POTUS in. Some of these tariffs will go away. I would bet on it. Originally Posted by skiboyny
Free trade is a good policy and President Reagan would not have liked most of this trade policy at all.
Reply With Quote
Recommandations for Hollowbodies for $600 and under?
Today, 05:20 AM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos