Re: EDP gouging

["Mike Biffle" <mbiffle@svg.com>]

>>> Paul Sullivan <paulsull@gis.net> 11/18 9:13 PM >>> wrote:
Its isn't so much the supply/demand discussions of the edp that
bother me as much as the uncharitable nature of some people trying to
gouge as much money as possible from others that are desperate for
one. If you were lucky enough to get an edp when they were available
and have now moved on why not sell it to a fellow looper for what you
paid for it (or maybe a slight markup) so they can get the enjoyment
and musical fufillment out of it also.

Miko replies...
Paul... I haven't "moved on" from the EDP. I've found myself in a
cul-de-sac, unable to get the second one I need for stereo function;
unable to trust Gibson customer service if it goes south (which the
system clock did at the beginning of a theatre gig and was thankfully
repaired just before the Oberheim business thing really went down the
toilet... thank you Mike Ayers... although I still didn't use it for
the gig). I let go of a perfectly fine working JamMan to acquire the
EDP. 

Paul...
> Is anyone else getting tired of the endless offers of edps for way
more than they cost new? Although some of these may be whimsical, they
do have a whiff of greed about them. It's a bit like the haves
taunting the have nots ('I got mine, if you want one you'll have to
pay through the nose'). If you want to take this route put it on ebay
or HC, and lets keep this list to non-profiteering discussions of
looping. Just an opinion, take it or leave it.

Miko...
If that many people are gouging that must be what the market is
currently bearing and you must be missing the point Paul. If a
transaction takes place, everyone is consenting, so whining about
price isn't going to change MY value of this item. I didn't "offer" my
EDP for sale... I said I might be tempted if you offered me enough...
And I was honest enough to say what it would take to do that... You
got INFORMATION! 

FYI: In the last group buy at Alto Music we paid $660 for EDP and
controller, then maxed memory for another $50 or so. I believe I paid
around $735 for everything with shipping. If they were readily
available, I'd charge top dollar for a mint unit w/maxed memory. You
can figure out the rest... til they're back in production, they're
worth a whole lot more to both you AND ME.

I'm fully aware of the EDP's desirability and useful, cool functions
which I use regulary. If it's leaving my rig, it's leaving
reluctantly, but I'm getting tired of waiting for a second unit and a
llittle worried about the hardware quality and durability AND being
able to replace it. It is with a sinking feeling that I explore the
idea of dumping the sucker... Because (at this point) it's
irreplacable to me, I'm setting my own limits at what I'm willing to
accept for a FINITE resource. I'd replace it with *at least* two other
loopers, in order to kludge together a stereo looping system with some
flexibility... no where near the capabilities of the EDP, but not the
freakin' tight rope walk and impasse I'm forced into by Gibson's sad
state of affairs. 

How about just making offers to sellers and see what your reception
is. It sounds like you WANT an EDP... I hope MusicYo is selling them
for $200 each next month... I'd happily take two. Otherwise you'll be
forced to pay what the market will bear. In the meantime I'm looking
for some solutions and discussing my possiblities and options with our
FRIENDLY group here. You know... where we all talk about loopers.

I AM BITTER about the situation with Gibson / Oberheim / Opcode /
Steinberger etc. Maybe instead of acting like they're rescuing
existing "high tech music" companies, they might do well to stay
committed to developing and supporting their own high tech r/d
resources and be responsible for their own success and failure rather
than buy cool companies and then leave them confused and conflicted
about what happened to them (whether they were failing on their own or
not). Frankly Opcode stompboxes with Pluggo algorythyms in them sound
really cool... but they didn't follow through on that either... Gibson
had their own GWIZ labs in Berkeley CA and they managed to blow that
operation up... I feel fortunate they I never signed any nda's with
them so I can speak freely about this. Most of the people in the know
can't for just that reason.

This group is fairly polarized about what's going on at Gibson and
the poles are widening. If Gibson saw fit to respect and cater to
their "valued" customers, they might actually speak up and interact
with a few of them here. As a matter of fact, I'm CC'ing this email to
Mike Ayers of Gibson customer support to see what he's got to say
about this... Maybe he can reassure both you and I that we will indeed
see a second EDP in this century and it will be of a higher quality
hardware, higher reliability, better availability, and conform to
tighter specs than existing models. Is that good enough for you Paul?


Attn: Mike Ayers
I have a friend with an EDP which in LOOP mode decays to an inaudible
level after about 1-2 minutes. ENTIRELY UNACCEPTABLE. Mine decays as
well, but at much longer, more acceptable rate... He's faced with
calling Gibson who will then, (in Kim's description) refer him to a
network of authorized service centers. Now I'm a little skeptical
about their familiarity with the EDP, and don't really believe they
have the know how or the schematics they need to do the work either.
His email address is papadave55@hotmail.com

Apologies in advance to the group...
-Miko Biffle