From ynottnaro@yahoo.com Mon Jul 14 13:21:27 2003
Subject:Speakeasy service

Hey all....

About 3 months ago I upgraded from my Classic
Speakeasy pedal to the rack pre with Classic And
Howler options (as well as line out and 122 hookup).
This is a fine sounding unit, and everything I'd hoped
to gain by the upgrade, as it's kind of pricey - but
not for what it does. Anyway, I developed a problem:
everytime I did a speed change on my leslie, it would
make a really loud pop. Steve had me send it back, so
I waited until I had a scheduled weekend off, then
Monday after I got back in town, sent it to him. I
got it back pretty quickly, in plenty of time for the
next scheduled gigs (about 10 days away). A bad relay
component was discovered and replaced. Steve also
told me he'd reimburse me for shipping and handling
charges.

A few weeks passed, and the problem reoccurred. I own
3 different leslies so I decided to swap one out for
the next round of gigs, and the popping became worse.
After A/Bing the Speakeasy with all 3 leslies and
comparing "pops" against my Hammond organs, I called
Steve to alert him to the problem. This time he built
a Classic Pedal to send me while mine was being
serviced (a weekend off is VERY rare for me, and I
couldn't stand to be without the Preamp). He sent me
the pedal (which worked great) and then a week later I
got my rack pre back. After waiting another week to
make sure everything was copacetic with my rack pre I
sent the Classic pedal back. It turns out he had a
batch of bad relay components (same batch from the
original rack pre) and he replaced it, tested it
thoroughly and sent it back. (And again, told me to
keep track of my shipping charges...offered to
reimburse me via product, which I will DEFINITELY take
him up on!)

Well....a few weeks ago, that pop has re-emerged, with
all 3 leslies again. Steve was very concerned and sat
with me on the phone for quite a while trying to
troubleshoot this problem. Again, time is a problem
for me, but we said we'd figure out a way to get
by...I assumed he meant he would send me the loaner
pedal again. Well, imagine my surprise when I came
home from St. Louis and found a box at my door with a
brand new rack Classic Howler preamp with my name on
it. Steve went ahead and made me a new 2channel rack
pre with a couple changes (we're thinking that my
requested modifications on my original rack pre may
somehow be a culprit with the components going bad).
So far, everything sounded GREAT this weekend with the
pre. I didn't even have time to test it: I got home,
unpacked our luggage and baseball equipment and
mounted the preamp in its rack, loaded my gear and
left. The preamp sounded SWEEEEEET!!! So far, so
good.

While at first glance this set of circumstances could
be worrisome, I want to let everyone know that Steve
and Speakeasy have gone WAY beyond the call in terms
of customer satisfaction. Unlike other companies,
Speakeasy doesn't have a bunch of product lying
around: all his products are made to order. So to
even get me the loaner pedal was a job because it had
to be built! The same with the new rack pre he sent
me. He didn't even tell me he was going to do that.
He incurred those expenses himself. That's commitment
to customer satisfaction.

And let me say that I owned 2 other Classic pedals
before this rack pre, and I had no problems of any
sort with either one of those. I sold the first to
come up with $$$ to get the second which was set up
for Leslie speed switching as well as speedswitching
for the Motion Sound products. That was sold to
purchase the rack pre. I had no issues with either of
those 2 pedals. The fact that I have had some
difficulty with the new preamp has been more than
offset with the way Steve and Speakeasy have dealt
with those issues.

As much as I love the sound of the Speakeasy, I think
I am more impressed by the way this company has stood
behind their product and protected my back. As a
working musician on the road, I can't tell you what an
anomaly that approach is. There are some fine
companies out there, but I have NEVER seen any company
go to these lengths, much less on THEIR dime.

So whether you're thinking of starting with a
Shotglass or going with the Rolls Royce of the product
line, rest assured, you WILL be taken care of to your
satisfaction.

Way to go Steve, and everyone else at Speakeasy.
Thanks for everything!

Sincerely appreciative.....
Tony

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