Hi Don,

I appreciate your comments. And agree. I travel the US doing product training to our existing and new dealers. Maybe what I should do is start posting where I am going to be and when and anyone interested could make a trip to the store. Thanks for the idea.

I know what you mean by not finding arrangers in every store. I live in Cincinnati and there is not a store in or around the city that has a PA1x, Tyros, SD1, etc. There are two stores here that have a full stock of GEM products. Not to mention dealers in IN, KY, MI.

Best Regards,

Dave


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Wm. David McMahan
Nat'l Product and Support Manager
Generalmusic USA
GEM Community Forums

Ever hear of Joey DeFrancesco? He is now a GEM Genesys owner. How about Don Grusin? He uses a Promega 3. How about Rick Wakeman, Keith Emerson, John Tesh, Larry Williams, Joe Vanelli.....

As for not getting a response to your request for information, I apologize for that. It was before my time at GEM and that sort of thing does not happen any more.

We have streaming video demos on our website. I will be re-doing the current Genesys demo as soon as I have completed the Promega series, RP series and DRAKE Physical Modeling videos. The current Genesys demo was done by Chris Anthony who is one of the best sound/style programmers around. He helped design the Genesys.

Best Regards,

Dave

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Wm. David McMahan
Nat'l Product and Support Manager
Generalmusic USA
GEM Community Forums

Dear WDMcM;

What about video conferencing on the net, where you could give a tutorial on the Gem equipment? Then you could reach a much larger target audience.

Thanks;
Regards;
BN

Hi,

Actually I am already set up for that. I have been considering the best way to do this very thing. I would like it to be interactive so someone could ask a question or want to see a particular function and I could then demonstrate that feature right then and there.

Even though our corporate offices are in Chicago, some of the GEM USA staff are in Oregon, Arizona, Australia and Italy so video conferencing is a very common tool that we use.

I am set up on MSN Messenger but that only allows for one video conference at a time. I have also looked at iVisit which may allow for more than multiple simultaneous video conferences.

I like the idea. For now I can certainly do one on ones via MSN Messenger.

Best Regards,

Dave


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Wm. David McMahan
Nat'l Product and Support Manager
Generalmusic USA
GEM Community Forums

[This message has been edited by WDMcM (edited 03-11-2005).]

QUOTE]Originally posted by WDMcM:

"You know, I find it really funny how so many members of these forums go on and on about some new cool feature that they discovered, or that they would like to see implemented in their particular brand, when the Genesys and past GEM keyboards have had many of these features for a long time.

I am not trying to take anything away from the other brands; they are all pretty cool actually. It just surprises me that the pro members aren't interested in discovering new sounds, styles and features that would set them apart from other single acts and give them some real uniqueness in what they offer their clients. I guess that is what the G70 brings to the table. I only wish I knew how to get folks excited about a company that is a REAL innovator in digital keyboard technology." [/QUOTE]

I imagine there are a few famous guys out there that have one of your boards (probably comped).
But I'm not trying to be a wise guy all I am trying to say is I can walk into Daddy's Junky Music (a chain here in the northeast) and see a bunch of lower priced Yamaha keyboards. So I get familiar with them. And also like you said get above that certain price level you can't find a Tyros or roland or Korg arranger anywhere with in hours.
When I decide to move up I stay with what I know.
Can I start on one of your boards for $500 and build up my brand loyalty?
What I meant was I can't talk to any users like you can on a worldwide support group like psr tutorial and other sites of real users that I can and have asked "hey how did ya like the board..whats your experience trying to do this or that."
Next time I talk to Joey D or Rick I'll see if they give me some pointers on how to sequence on a gem. Celebrities probably have a hundred different keyboards, Joey and Rick didn't get famous using a Gem.
Send me one I'll try it for a couple of months and if I like it I'll send ya a check.. or the board back.
All I'm saying is your distrubution hasn't been great. It's like a rolls Royce or a Farrai I know there out there, and I know somebody is buying one. But I've never been to a showroom cause they don't sell around here, or service em either.

Again it sounds like a great board but I've never seen one, I would like to see demos like the ones that Michel Voncken does for Yamaha with real pop songs so I can really compare.




[This message has been edited by mikeathome1 (edited 03-11-2005).]

thanks for the link to your forum Dave. I havent given up on the genesys as a concept and will be visiting the forum regualarly to see how it develops.Cheers

Actually not comped. The famous players using our instruments have either paid for or offered other services as payment.



Yes, the GK340 is less than $500.00. The WK1 is a bit more than $500.00



I'll give you that one. At this point GEM does not have the following that Yamaha has. This doesn't mean that they are not as good or better in some cases.

As for wanting to know how certain things function on our instruments, you are talking to the national product support manager. It is my job to know all of the ins and outs if our instruments. I am a regular here and on other forums to answer those questions and do so in an honest straightforward way. I try to leave the hype out of my responses and only offer relative, un-biased information. And there are GEM owners that frequent these forums that are happy to answer questions you may have.



Do that. Joey said he really likes the Hammond sounds on the Genesys. Now that surprises me since he is the B3 king as of Jimmy Smith's passing. GRHS

Rick Wakeman uses the Promega 3 which is our Physical Modeling stage piano and does not have an internal sequencer. Before the Promega 3, Rick used the GEM Pro 2 digital piano (along with a huge arsenal of other synths).



Give me a credit card number and I will have one sent to you with a 15 day trial with full refund, less shipping. Shipping doesn't amount to all that much, so you are out almost nothing if you don't like the Genesys.



That is true. The relationship with Baldwin Piano for our home pianos and Peavey for our pro instruments both turned out to be not great ideas. There was a lot to clean up from those situations. But that is over and our distribution is much better than it ever was in the past and getting better every day. We have come up with a way for those people that are a distance away from a dealer to still be able to get our product until a dealer is set-up in their area. I am on board to supply product support and do so at all hours of the day and night when necessary. Via e-mail, this and other forums and our own forum, and via phone support if needed.

Best Regards,

Dave


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Wm. David McMahan
Nat'l Product and Support Manager
Generalmusic USA
GEM Community Forums

[This message has been edited by WDMcM (edited 03-11-2005).]

My pleasure. Let me know if you have further questions I can answer for you.

Dave

[QUOTE]Originally posted by DonM:
[B]" For example, I don't really even care if it has a song sequencer, but I would like to have an easy way to create styles.
The SD1 has great sound and isn't too heavy. Any future arranger I buy will have to measure up to the drums and bass sounds of the SD1. It's pretty dated in some of the features and OS, but I'm finding that I'm glad I sacrificed the ease of use of the Tyros and have endured the learning curve of the SD1.
hi Don,
I'm kind of like you there, no need for sequencer, just good style for gig playing. How is your transition from Tyros to SD1, I'm almost the opposite, just got tyros, after playing with SD1 since they first came out in 2001, is yours SD1plus or just SD1, Idon't even know the differences. Can you compare the 2 keyboards, if you have'nt done it already. Also style 8beatballad3 is pretty awesome for song " a Whiter shade of pale" with some tweaking.
And I live in Dallas, there's no G70 at any stores, It sure looks good.

Tye

Tye, I plan to post a complete opinion on my SD1 experience soon. Briefly, I've had nothing but great feedback on the sound. I've had some battles with the OS but I'm slowly winning them.
I love the "live" sound of the SD1. It's hard to tell you're not hearing a live drummer and bass player.
DonM