From bruce@ashbysolutions.com Thu Nov 23 14:30:05 2006
Subject:Re: My vote for a separate Speakeasy list

Hi Mark,

As the founder of this list, let me add my $0.02 here.

>So anyway .....I just wanted to add something here. The reason I started
>this thread is that I have observed that for a long time, the Speakeasy
>posts have taken up a large portion of the discussion.
>
>I am slightly to somewhat uncomfortable with the degree of vested
>interest that the Speakeasy company seems to have among this list.

Speakeasy customers are currently quite vocal. Some of this is because there are no new, latest-and-greatest clone keyboards to discuss. Some of it is because Speakeasy products seem to be worth buying. At past times, this list has been accused of being 1) a Hammond-Suzuki XK-2 list, 2) a Korg CX-3 list, and 3) a Nord Electro list. It is none of these; however, it's filled with people who are very picky about their sound, and very vocal about their preferences.

I run a small music business myself, and it's flattering to see people point me and my products out on this list. I don't offer special discounts for glowing reviews on the CW list, however, and I suspect that Speakeasy doesn't, either. The products should stand on their own merits.

I think the point of David Jacques' post was not that Speakeasy double-boxes their products, but that they have products that are rugged enough to work even when they have visible damage. That's a cool thing, and becoming fewer and farther between these days.

If some of the members want to form a group which focuses on Speakeasy products, that's cool. If other members want to form a group that absolutely forbids the mention of Speakeasy Vintage Music, that's your privilege. Don't try to censor the opinions on this list, however; that's NOT what this list is about.

I started this list in 1999 as the Voce Support Group, which was only open to discussion of Voce products. At the time the list started, Voce, Inc. was out of business, and most of us were concerned about maintaining our Voce products now and in the future, and so were interested in ANY information that might pertain to buying, repairing, or replacing our clone gear. It's interesting to see how this list has morphed from a group that craves first-hand experience with vendors, into a group that is becoming increasingly suspicious of anything positive about a vendor's products being offered to the list. From my personal perspective, I think that this is a shame. If you cannot trust the opinions on this list, why bother joining? This is a non-commercial list; it doesn't mean that commercial products that work well (or poorly) can't be mentioned.

And for the record -- since I have been accused of being a "pimp" in the past: I am a seller of musical equipment, and I am even a Speakeasy dealer. However, I was a Speakeasy OWNER before I was a DEALER, and started selling their products because of their features, quality, and service. Also, my music business is a tiny fraction of my annual work, and sales to CloneWheel members makes up FAR less than 5% of my annual sales; this list is not affecting my success or failure -- although at least 15-20% of the members ask me for advice from time to time. If I'm a pimp, I guess that I'm a pretty unsuccessful one. ;-)

Regards,

-BW

--
Bruce Wahler
Design Consultant
Ashby Solutions™ http://consult.ashbysolutions.com
978.386.7389 voice/fax
bruce@ashbysolutions.com

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