Closure on some minor drama (re: Lync)

[zeronyne]

Just wanted to conclude my epic, but I can't find my original post.

 

Quick recap: 3 years ago, Lync reappeared at NAMM, I reached out to the guy reviving it, and we had long conversations. I gave a deposit, and 18 months later, he refunded the money. Then a few weeks after that, he offered me one with a custom color and at almost half the price. I placed a second deposit.

 

So, at that point it had been almost three years or so since the very original order, and he let me know that he is giving up the company altogether, and that I should file a PayPal dispute to get my money back. Of course, it was 3 days after the 6 month limit that Paypal has for disputes, but I filed it anyway, and they responded that they would investigate and adjudicate within 30 days.

It had been almost 60 days, and finally my money was refunded due to no response from Lync. So I ended up spending no money (but a lot of time), and I ended up with a Lync sticker and code for a VST synth. This was more than just bad customer service for me because the Lync holds such a special place in my identity as a keyboard player...not that I'm some keytar wiz...it was just a differentiator for me in the 90s when I was desperately trying to find my identity. Part of the one I owned is still being used by another Lync player who had a faulty keybed.

So I guess I need to keep trying to endure using the Ax Edge. It's an amazing synth, but despite the form factor, it feels, after about 15 minutes, that I'm just carrying a weighted controller on one shoulder.

 

Any boutique manufacturer making modern-looking keytars?

[Tom Williams]

Tangent: Let me know if you find an AX-Edge editing system that doesn't suck.  It's pretty powerful under the hood, but the payoff from using the pathetic Android editor was too low to justify the effort -- and I enjoy programming synths. 

[Tusker]

Sorry to hear about your experience 09. Unfortunately it seems all too common in this age of boutique startups. I am happy you at least you got your money back. Good for PayPal. 👍

 

 

15 hours ago, zeronyne said:

So I guess I need to keep trying to endure using the Ax Edge. It's an amazing synth, but despite the form factor, it feels, after about 15 minutes, that I'm just carrying a weighted controller on one shoulder.

 

Given your prior Lync experience I would guess you have a well defined list of attributes for a keytar. What is problematic about the AX Edge? Is it too heavy? Would you consider an RK 100S 2?

[CHarrell]

3 hours ago, Tusker said:

Would you consider an RK 100S 2?

 

I think this is what Herbie Hancock plays in shows now.

[kpl1228]

Darn it!!!

Had my eye on this: a portable keyboard with actual pro history and credibility, and it's not one that gets looked at as a joke-y "80's keytar" from the audience or from fellow keyboard players. So many of them look like humorous (and very dated) Ming the Merciless weapons.

It's a niche market item, and it's too bad Lync couldn't make a go of it.

[bfields]

On 10/24/2023 at 3:29 PM, zeronyne said:

Just wanted to conclude my epic, but I can't find my original post.

Original post here, for what it's worth:

 

[AnotherScott]

On 10/24/2023 at 5:17 PM, Tom Williams said:

Tangent: Let me know if you find an AX-Edge editing system that doesn't suck.  It's pretty powerful under the hood, but the payoff from using the pathetic Android editor was too low to justify the effort -- and I enjoy programming synths. 

just came out this month...

 

https://www.benis.it/cm/ZC_Editor/ben67_zeneditor_ENG.htm

 

[Dr Mike Metlay]

Keytars that don’t look idiotic are very hard to come by. Most manufacturers don’t seem to put any thought into practical matters, like being able to simply sit the damn thing down on the ground without it falling over or breaking a cable attachment point.

 

Today, my favorite one remains the original Roland AXIS, a powerful and no nonsense controller that didn’t look too stupid and did everything I needed very well without weighing a ton.

 

There are boutique manufacturers making wearable controllers now — in fact, quite a few of them. However, the vast majority out there are doing it to explore new forms of performance, and have very little interest in something that has an ordinary bread and butter black and white keyboard. 
 

A good friend of mine, who bases all of his live work on keytar because he works with a large rig and needs to be able to move around as he plays, uses the Alesis Vortex in its latest version. From my brief experience with owning one, it’s not bad at all feature wise , but it doesn’t play or feel like a Lync… and you still can’t set it on the ground. Rumph!

 

[kpl1228]

3 hours ago, Dr Mike Metlay said:

Keytars that don’t look idiotic are very hard to come by. Most manufacturers don’t seem to put any thought into practical matters, like being able to simply sit the damn thing down on the ground without it falling over or breaking a cable attachment point.

This brought back memories of me with my Yamaha KX5 controller touring clubs throughout the 80's, and constantly tripping over the mile-long midi cable or accidentally snagging the cable and ripping the guts out or breaking connections with the motherboard etc etc etc. Loved it as a controller but still so many engineering issues. That's why the Lync was the best option: if they have one left laying around at their shop, I may grab it.

Regarding the KX5 problems, I blame the zippers on my parachute pants for all of it.