Just out of curiosity...

[rlord1974]

.....AND I found a great taco stand around the corner while I was waiting for his highness.

Was it the PINK TACO by chance?

 

[LP Freak]

Alright Josh, I've got one for ya.......so is Mark really a crackhead or any kind of addict of an illegal substance like sooooooo many people are convinced he is?

 

[glip22]

Alright Josh, I've got one for ya.......so is Mark really a crackhead or any kind of addict of an illegal substance like sooooooo many people are convinced he is?

Ohh. I can answer that. Absolutely not. Except he does like his weed. Aside form that, no. And he smokes it legally as he has a medical card.

 

[rlord1974]

No flaming, but my 2 cents nonetheless......

I would say [Mark] was naive when it came to the business side of things. If he knew half as much about the business side of things as he does about amps, he would be a millionaire.

I couldn't disagree more. I think it should be obvious to everyone involved at this point that the Cameron name does not hold the cache that was once suspected. If it did, a lot more people would have signed up for first run CCVs, second run CCVs, Atomicas and Old Bitches. Cameron mods are also not moving 1/10th as quickly in the Classifieds as they did 4 or 5 years ago. The reality is that there are plenty of other modders and builders out there that have accomplished a hell of a lot more than Mark Cameron over the past few years. People have options, and at this point, the smart money goes where Mark is not.

Being naive led him to get involved with people that saw an opportunity to make a buck off the situation. Everyone who has tried to be in business with him did so for the potential money.

Why the hell else would anyone launch a business if it wasn't for money?! The whole point of business is the profit motive!

You simply can not fund a business venture with customer money. It is a failed business model.

On this point I wholly agree.

.....with the current ..... Cameron Amps [LLC], Mark isn't even involved in that venture, although he somehow still gets the blame...... For everyone else to walk away relatively unscathed while he takes all the blame is bullshit as he was responsible for the kick ass amps NOT the business side of things.

Who is walking away unscathed? I think this whole debacle has left shit stains on the reputations of all parties involved - certainly not just Mark's.

He is obviously wary of trusting anyone at this point because he gets the shit end of the stick every time.

He gets the shit end of the stick because he has proven himself to be untrustworthy time and time again. With Cameron Amps LLC, he yet again proved he cannot be trusted, given that he did not provide Dave, Rob and Brad with the true schematics for his Aldrich mod.

This is just my opinion arrived at with personal experience with those involved and a lot of common sense.....Flaming me doesn't change the facts

I'm confused; are your comments your opinion, or the facts? Maybe a mixture of both, but certainly NOT wholly factual and obviously written with a slant towards protecting Mark.

Regardless, and in all sincerity, thanks for posting. This place is a ghost town anymore.

 

[jcj]

Alright Josh, I've got one for ya.......so is Mark really a crackhead or any kind of addict of an illegal substance like sooooooo many people are convinced he is?

No.

I believe Mark is manic depressive, and probably some other shit, but he's not a meth head, or crack addict.

He does like his weed (which doesn't help his motivation), but I think the crux of the issue is depression.

It really seems to render him incapable of functioning, even to survive.

Pretty astonishing, when you see it first hand.

 

[steve_k]

Alright Josh, I've got one for ya.......so is Mark really a crackhead or any kind of addict of an illegal substance like sooooooo many people are convinced he is?

No.

I believe Mark is manic depressive, and probably some other shit, but he's not a meth head, or crack addict.

He does like his weed (which doesn't help his motivation), but I think the crux of the issue is depression.

It really seems to render him incapable of functioning, even to survive.

Pretty astonishing, when you see it first hand.

There are people in this business that make Mark look like a alter boy in comparison. With Mark, what you saw is what you got and the guy didn't hide behind a facade of smoke and mirrors. Mark is Mark's own worst enemy. Health related or not, his talent has been squandered, which is a shame because his potential in the business could have been unlimited 5-10 years ago. He definitely is not a people person and has absolutely no business being around the business end of anything but a soldering iron.

 

[jcj]

Speaking from personal experience with him, here's the facts as I have come to understand them. I am going by what has happened in the last 5 years and who was involved. Mark is a very nice guy at his core. And as most nice guys are, he was very trusting. I would say he was naive when it came to the business side of things.

If he knew half as much about the business side of things as he does about amps, he would be a millionaire. He is not greedy and never wanted to be rich, just make enough to enjoy creating the perfect tones. Being naive led him to get involved with people that saw an opportunity to make a buck off the situation.

Everyone who has tried to be in business with him did so for the potential money. Everyone saw a potential quick buck, and didn't plan for problems and the long haul a legit business needs to survive.

Time and circumstances have proven that pretty obvious. Naivete in business is certainly no excuse when people lose their money, and he more than takes his share of the blame.

He can be hard to deal with as he is set in his ways when it comes to making amps. He can be a pain in the ass as we all can be at times. As bad as a business man Mark has been in the past, the people he chose to work with haven't proven much better.

I simple task has been hard as no one wants to do things the right way. You simply can not fund a business venture with customer money. It is a failed business model. It has been proven most recently with the current state of Cameron Amps, and Mark isn't even involved in that venture, although he somehow still gets the blame lol.

The bottom line is this... His name is on the product so he will get the blame. Some responsibility should and does fall on him and he will fix that soon. I believe him when he says that. For everyone else to walk away relatively unscathed while he takes all the blame is bullshit as he was responsible for the kick ass amps NOT the business side of things. The business side of things is where all the shit happened. He did his part and can make some of the best amps in the world. He is obviously wary of trusting anyone at this point because he gets the shit end of the stick every time. So he is now the one man army. But I am sure his way will get things done. It will just take a little longer.

This is just my opinion arrived at with personal experience with those involved and a lot of common sense. Then again, what the fuck do I know... like I have always said... time will tell...

5150

ps: Flaming me doesn't change the facts but if it makes you somehow feel better knock yourself out...

Sorta

Chris Schmidt didn't use customer deposits, and lost his ass, so I'd think twice before laying the blame on the method of funding.

I'll give you that Mark is most assuredly a piss poor business person, no two ways about that; he's also exceptionally difficult to be in business with, as his priorities revolve around what's easiest for him, at the moment.

At any point in time (pre Brad and Rob), there were multiple people (including myself) that could have funded Mark's production of CCVs; they chose not to, because as talented as Mark is (and he's SUPER fucking talented) the grief per dollar was just too far out of balance.

I will say this; for as fucked up as all of the Cameron ventures ended up, at the end of the day, I still don't believe that Mark ever set out to steal from anyone.

I believe him incapable of fulfilling the normal expectations placed on a business person, and I believe his issues preclude him understanding other people's frustration with that, however, I don't believe he ever set out to rip anyone off, even though that may have been the end result.

More at a later date.

 

[glip22]

Speaking from personal experience with him, here's the facts as I have come to understand them. I am going by what has happened in the last 5 years and who was involved. Mark is a very nice guy at his core. And as most nice guys are, he was very trusting. I would say he was naive when it came to the business side of things.

If he knew half as much about the business side of things as he does about amps, he would be a millionaire. He is not greedy and never wanted to be rich, just make enough to enjoy creating the perfect tones. Being naive led him to get involved with people that saw an opportunity to make a buck off the situation.

Everyone who has tried to be in business with him did so for the potential money. Everyone saw a potential quick buck, and didn't plan for problems and the long haul a legit business needs to survive.

Time and circumstances have proven that pretty obvious. Naivete in business is certainly no excuse when people lose their money, and he more than takes his share of the blame.

He can be hard to deal with as he is set in his ways when it comes to making amps. He can be a pain in the ass as we all can be at times. As bad as a business man Mark has been in the past, the people he chose to work with haven't proven much better.

I simple task has been hard as no one wants to do things the right way. You simply can not fund a business venture with customer money. It is a failed business model. It has been proven most recently with the current state of Cameron Amps, and Mark isn't even involved in that venture, although he somehow still gets the blame lol.

The bottom line is this... His name is on the product so he will get the blame. Some responsibility should and does fall on him and he will fix that soon. I believe him when he says that. For everyone else to walk away relatively unscathed while he takes all the blame is bullshit as he was responsible for the kick ass amps NOT the business side of things. The business side of things is where all the shit happened. He did his part and can make some of the best amps in the world. He is obviously wary of trusting anyone at this point because he gets the shit end of the stick every time. So he is now the one man army. But I am sure his way will get things done. It will just take a little longer.

This is just my opinion arrived at with personal experience with those involved and a lot of common sense. Then again, what the fuck do I know... like I have always said... time will tell...

5150

ps: Flaming me doesn't change the facts but if it makes you somehow feel better knock yourself out...

Sorta

Chris Schmidt didn't use customer deposits, and lost his ass, so I'd think twice before laying the blame on the method of funding.

I'll give you that Mark is most assuredly a piss poor business person, no two ways about that; he's also exceptionally difficult to be in business with, as his priorities revolve around what's easiest for him, at the moment.

At any point in time (pre Brad and Rob), there were multiple people (including myself) that could have funded Mark's production of CCVs; they chose not to, because as talented as Mark is (and he's SUPER fucking talented) the grief per dollar was just too far out of balance.

I will say this; for as fucked up as all of the Cameron ventures ended up, at the end of the day, I still don't believe that Mark ever set out to steal from anyone.

I believe him incapable of fulfilling the normal expectations placed on a business person, and I believe his issues preclude him understanding other people's frustration with that, however, I don't believe he ever set out to rip anyone off, even though that may have been the end result.

More at a later date.

Josh, Even Mark will agree with this. I feel bad for the guy every time I talk to him and I care about the Dude regardless. I hope he can right his wrongs and get some help for his issues.
A famous Mark quote that you will get. " Well, he has another amp" He just doesn't get it sometimes.

 

[john l]

I would say Im more than familiar with Mark. He did 3 separate amps for me as well as additional work on all of them many times when I wanted a tweak here and there. Refered a buddy to him last we spoke who had him work on his amp as well.

Mark is deffinately no dope fiend ha ha. I have a pretty good BS detector and I also don't think Mark has any shitty intentions when he takes on work.

 

[Anonymous]

If he knew half as much about the business side of things as he does about amps, he would be a millionaire.

I think this joke summarizes my opinion of this:

Q: How do you make a million dollars in the amp business?
A: Well... you start with two million and then...

Steve

 

[Anonymous]

Alright Josh, I've got one for ya.......so is Mark really a crackhead or any kind of addict of an illegal substance like sooooooo many people are convinced he is?

No.

I believe Mark is manic depressive, and probably some other shit, but he's not a meth head, or crack addict.

He does like his weed (which doesn't help his motivation), but I think the crux of the issue is depression.

It really seems to render him incapable of functioning, even to survive.

Pretty astonishing, when you see it first hand.

It bums me out, but this is a fact. He seems so debilitated by this that he can't summon the energy to work.

Stepping away from the ripoff horror stories, which I have no personal experience with, Mark has always been a nice guy to me and a good dude to hang and chat with, but I would also be bummed out whenever I left his place because of the miserable conditions he was living under and the overarching depressive vibe I got from him. He helped me with troubleshooting my original PlexRod prototype and even figured out and fixed a small problem with the switching that I didn't want to waste the time to figure out at the time because I was already on to the design of the Cherry Bomb, which is quite different and simplified from a switching perspective due to having two independent preamps. He also (unfortunately) made a bunch of other changes to the amp when he took care of the switching problem that I never wanted him to make. I think he thought he was doing me a favor, but I liked the way the amp sounded better before he made the changes and wished he hadn't touched it. It was kind of a nightmare getting my amp back from him as well. There were times I would be driving up to his place when he said it would be finished and he wouldn't be answering his phone, etc. then finally he'd call and tell me he wasn't done. Then I'd just have to drive home (sometimes 30 miles or more into the drive) - this happened a few times. Honestly, if I hadn't been (somewhat) local I don't know what would have happened.

At one point, I was also told that Mark was telling people that he designed the Cherry Bomb, which is much different than the PlexRod, which he also didn't design but did mess with as I mentioned. Mark has never seen the inside of a Cherry Bomb, nor was he involved in the design process or seen the design docs etc. This pissed me off and so I confronted him about it at one point, but he indicated that what he said had been misunderstood and he was just commenting on the fact that my amp has a somewhat similar control layout to a CCV. Since I wasn't there when he said this stuff I gave him the benefit of the doubt, but who knows really. The Cherry Bomb is nothing like a CCV from a circuit standpoint, nor does it sound like one for the record. Two different amps, both excellent at what they were designed for (IMHO ).

At first, I thought he was just lazy, but it quickly became clear to me how depressed he is and how crushing it is on his ability to do anything. It's a bummer, and truthfully, tough to be around, which is why I haven't really been hanging with him for a few years now... I honestly just don't have time for negativity or drama in my life and I choose the people I hang with accordingly.

Steve

 

[jcj]

Steve- totally agree.

People really don't get the third world conditions dude lives in; I've seen people claiming Mark lives well off of the proceeds of his business. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I wouldn't wish his existence on anyone.

When Mark is well, he's one of the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet. I've seen him help people (including me) at no cost, and with no strings. A real give the shirt off of his back type guy. When he's not well, he's paralyzed, and that's when all the bad shit happens.

I truly hope dude can get himself se help, and find some peace.

For what it's worth, the only thing I've ever heard him say about the Plexi Rod, was in regards to the switching.

 

[Anonymous]

For what it's worth, the only thing I've ever heard him say about the Plexi Rod, was in regards to the switching.

Yeah, I have no ill will towards Mark about anything with regards to my amps because, as I said, we talked about it and he had a plausible explanation. He did make a lot of changes to the PlexRod that had nothing to do with the switching though, which I didn't ask him to do and wish he hadn't done...

One thing I didn't mention - I'm a big fan of his amps. I still have the little amp he built out of a Standel and an Aldrich mod that I love. Cool amps that have a different vibe and sound from what I build...

Steve

 

[jcj]

I'd love to see a few more people who were around post, but I'm sure they have their reasons.

 

[EXPcustom]

I know nothing.

 

[jcj]

I met him once at Tone Merchants while I was waiting for him to show up to work on my CCV I used to have. He was like 4+ hours late from when he told Dave he would be there. Once he got there, he seemed like an upbeat dude. Dave was super kind to let me hang at the shop and annoy the shit out of him without saying a word or a funny look my way, AND I found a great taco stand around the corner while I was waiting for his highness.

I missed this...sorry...

The most likely reason he was 4 hours late, is that he doesn't own a car, and has to take the bus everywhere....tough way to get around LA....not the most efficient mass transit

Dave is a nice guy, and there is a great taco stand around the corner

 

[steve_k]

I met him once at Tone Merchants while I was waiting for him to show up to work on my CCV I used to have. He was like 4+ hours late from when he told Dave he would be there. Once he got there, he seemed like an upbeat dude. Dave was super kind to let me hang at the shop and annoy the shit out of him without saying a word or a funny look my way, AND I found a great taco stand around the corner while I was waiting for his highness.

I missed this...sorry...

The most likely reason he was 4 hours late, is that he doesn't own a car, and has to take the bus everywhere....tough way to get around LA....not the most efficient mass transit

Dave is a nice guy, and there is a great taco stand around the corner

 

[jcj]

I met him once at Tone Merchants while I was waiting for him to show up to work on my CCV I used to have. He was like 4+ hours late from when he told Dave he would be there. Once he got there, he seemed like an upbeat dude. Dave was super kind to let me hang at the shop and annoy the shit out of him without saying a word or a funny look my way, AND I found a great taco stand around the corner while I was waiting for his highness.

I missed this...sorry...

The most likely reason he was 4 hours late, is that he doesn't own a car, and has to take the bus everywhere....tough way to get around LA....not the most efficient mass transit

Dave is a nice guy, and there is a great taco stand around the corner

Hope all is well, buddy!

 

[jcj]

i do i do.. where is the dude?

and for the record, you should probably be respectful...I was (after all) there

?

I mean that Mark helped you, and that I'd hate to see you jump on the Mark bashing bandwagon.....it would be disingenuous, at best.

 

[jcj]

One thing I didn't mention - I'm a big fan of his amps. I still have the little amp he built out of a Standel and an Aldrich mod that I love. Cool amps that have a different vibe and sound from what I build...

Steve

I remember that thing....a shock/fire hazard for sure.

Mark's amps are great, as are yours