After hearing Notlos' wonderful demos performed on the SD1, I have become even MORE interested in possibly purchasing the SD1.

Today I spoke with one (if not the ONLY) San Francisco Bay Area "Mainstream" music store dealer who STOCKS Solton brand keyboards. I inquired about the new SD1 and he told me that he probably 'won't be carrying it' but might be able to 'special order' one pre-paid of course. I asked him WHY his store wasn't planning to stock or even have a demo model available to audition.

This dealer (also an AVID Solton keyboard fan and PRO keyboard player) explained to me that he thinks that Solton keyboards are the BEST pro arranger keyboards out there, but that the US distributor for Solton has not been providing much support to him as a dealer. Apparently (at one time) Bell Solton NY had a "West Coast sales rep" but that this is NO LONGER the case. My local dealer then said there really is NO longer an incentive for him to carry or promote Solton keyboards because the US distributor (Bell Solton) has not been responsive to his store's or his customer's needs. He added that if Solton KB warranty service was needed, that the keyboard would have to be shipped all the way back to New York (Bell Solton) because no local keyboard repair center would be WILLING to work on it. On top of this, he said that "Bell Solton would not provide his store with any 'demo' keyboards, even though (according to him) their store had sold MANY Solton keyboards in the prior year. He explained that other major keyboard brands (Roland, Yamaha, Korg, etc) ROUTINELY supply dealers with a demo keyboard when sales are good on their product line. He then reiterated that this situation has been frustrating because he still thinks that the Solton arranger keyboard line is the BEST arranger keyboard on the market. This guy is no 'fly by night' dealer and is a popular local bay area music store chain in business for MANY years, so I tend to respect what he had to say. Of course I don't know EVERYTHING behind his comments but it certainly is causing concern on my part because (as the dealer said himself), he thinks that Solton Keyboards are GREAT products and are just missing the boat on the US distribution/marketing end of things.

I'm sure that George Kaye in Southern California probably has a VERY different take on all this, but I still wonder WHY there are so FEW dealers in the USA who will 'keep in STOCK' Solton keyboards. Could this local dealer of mine have provided some important clues?

Feedback much appreciated from ALL,

- Scott