Mark Schmieder

In a sense, this is indeed keyboard related after all, as Betts developed an interplay with Greg Allman that was unprecedented in terms of the guitar and organ speaking together as one voice.

Yeah those are some good ones, and they did a software emu at one point but I recall it being pretty wonky and not too prone to update for OS architecture changes.

I ran out of time to try them today due to such a long agenda while at the store, but Foxes Music in Falls Church has their floor model of the AP-750 on sale for $2200 and also the yellow Privia S-7000 model. Maybe I'll have time to try them when I pick up my upright bass bow that is being re-haired.

I'm too old to wait that long! 🙂

And yet, there are still some that are thriving, mostly because they are independent and were savvy enough to adapt. In many cases, excellent service is what keeps people coming back. I will call out Victor Litz in Gaithersberg MD, Chuck Levin's DC area store. and Foxes Music in Falls Church where I had excellent and affordable setup work done on my string bass today while I waited.

I don't quite understand your point in your final line. Are you saying Arturia is overpriced because they are merely selling via stores on their own terms vs. suffering the huge development cost of building something for iOS? Or are you agreeing that it's a better business model for everybody as the development cost doesn't get excessive? I worked for a startup company at the beginning of the pandemic that failed because iOS was so hard to meet the standards that I had to be let go so that they could afford to hire even more iOS developers to try to save the version of the product that was NOT successful -- an ultimate irony! But the VC's had the final say and said "iOS or bust".

Interesting to hear. I've never had a chance to play an XK-5, and I don't remember what Jim said about the differences (might be on a different thread.

"Free Shipping" is the modern version of "Free Lunch" -- there ain't no such thing! This is why instrument accessories such as cases have more than doubled in price over the past few years, as shipping costs skyrocket. This, however, does not explain the price on those Yore effects! 🙂

Not to mention that the value added from Sweetwater vs. the annoyance factor from the Apple store might be a big motivating factor as well. As someone who has been caught in situations where the Apple Store delayed software product release to the point of impacting competitiveness, I see many vendors trying to move away from reliance on that sales model, to the degree that they can.

Are these the big ones or the small ones? I find that the big ones (and mine are SUPER huge), don't tend to roll around, maybe due to center of gravity vs. curvature compared to the more typical small ones. Nevertheless, the first thing that came to mind was velcro. It shouldn't affect the sound.

All I can say is that this is my fifth virtual tonewheel organ, and to my ears it is the biggest upgrade yet in terms of organic character, versatility, and three dimensionality. VK7->XK1->XK3->XK1c->XK4.

Wall wart is an automatic fail, especially at that price point.

I used a bag at the festival last year, but have now sold all of my instruments that never got upgraded to cases. Too many mishaps going through a rapid transit station turnstyle, and other factor, especially regarding the headstock, to ever trust a padded bag again, even a thick one. This is a heavy case; heavier than most. But it is 100% form-fitting, and I think that's the most important point for any case or bag.

Someone said it's about Bluetooth based on a filing that is public and dated September 2023. I am skeptical.

They just came out with new versions recently, after the old ones had been canceled for a while.

Then there's Django, who didn't have a full set of them.

Tuitions, room and board, textbooks, and college loan interest rates, have all been going up at a rate considerably higher than official inflation numbers would suggest. I doubt there are many students who have discretionary funds at this point. My tenants fall into that category too.

Another possibility is the integration of their effects into a new digital mixer, given that the AudioFuse interfaces just got a new lease on life and are generally given good reviews for audio quality and connectivity options.

I think I can wait two days to find out, but I'm surprised the speculation is about Arturia being bought rather than Arturia buying someone themselves. Who knows? I have personally been expecting them to be absorbed into Native Instruments for over a year now, especially as NI pulls away from synthesis.

The true test was today, as my jazz combo played the cherry blossom festival in DC and had to walk from Smithsonian Metro, a 25 minute walk against 30mph winds in somewhat cold temperatures and a fairly dense tourist presence. As the wind kept blowing the case 45 degrees outward from my body, I couldn't always avoid it banging things along the way, and had to set it down to change hands several times. It looks as new as when I bought it, after all that rough treatment today!

I think you might be thinking of something else. Gear Exchange is a place for individuals to post ads. Nothing passes through Sweetwater's hands, unless that's an option I haven't bothered exercising.

That's pretty much the model they adopted, for the stores that remain successful, which include ones I have patronized in Concord CA and in or near Falls Church VA. Not quite at the level you're suggesting, but perhaps they listened to you after all, as many of their stores are now very much driven by lessons, like most indie stores.

Yeah, it's a real bummer, and WAY too young! I hadn't heard his recent stuff but followed the Robert Glasper Experiment earlier.

Needless to say, I've put the sitar order on hold until I do more video watching of various postures and playing positions to make sure it's an instrument I can play for more than five minutes before I suffer a week of pain due to my non-nimble thighs and knees. If I conclude that the ergonomics are not for me, I'll try to keep contacting Italia USA at different times of day. They are still in business as they showed the new gold finish edition at NAMM, so it's kind of weird. But I find that most smaller companies are unresponsive since the pandemic started, generally due to still being understaffed. As for scallop adjustments to a guitar or e-sitar, that's why I lined up the Pygmy Sitar many years ago, but like Jerry Jones, they disappeared into the ether before my back-order could be addressed.

I just remembered a huge negative for sitars, which is that you must sit cross-legged on the floor. That is something I have never been able to do at any point in my life, without getting charley horse, muscle spasms, aches and pains, etc.