The only reason I do not own a Wersi is because of the price. I had a Delta 500 a full organ and a Wersi keyboard. They are in a class by themselves.

Would I use one for playing Country Clubs and Club House Parties? No, I do not consider it that kind of an instrument.

During the days of the organ concerts in Orlando Florida the Wersi organs stood tall above Yamaha, Roland and Kawai.

IMHO, John C.

I owned three models of Wersi keyboards back in the 80's & 90's:
The Wersi Alpha + Beta + Pegasus.

In all fairness to Wersi, I have NOT heard any of their keyboards live in the past 10 years.

One of the things to consider with Wersi...is that you will have an extremely difficult time getting anything for it upon trying to re-sell it on e-bay or elsewhere.

At least with the other brand names of keyboards mentioned in this forum you probably can get something for them however minimial it is.

I sent about $12,000 worth of Wersi Keyboards [2 keyboards] to the dealer in Lancaster to try to sell on consignment back in 1993. I have not received a "check in the mail" yet.
So, to say that Wersi instruments depreciate more than other brands would be a fair statement IMO.
Rfinnshw

Why all the conjecture? If you haven't actually played the OAS 7 Wersi instruments in person then you have no clue as to what you are talking about. That's like saying I saw a guy drive a Ferrari Testarossa on You Tube and the car was crap even though I never drove one in person.

Stating you owned a Wersi 10 years ago or that you've heard an online demo doesn't qualify you to base an opinion on an instrument you've never actually used. At least I'll actually play and instrument in person before I conclude its complete rubbish or not.

Diki,

You seem to rant ad nauseam about how much Wersi sucks but if I remember correctly, and by your own admission, you say you've never played an OAS instrument. How thoughtful of you to always chime in with a complete lack of knowledge about the instrument.

Seamaster,

OAS 7 is far from some hype that Wersi is trying to hawk and the software isn't something that's simply been rehashed. Like yourself I can't stand Windows on my home computer system but the same can't be said for the specialized Windows OS Wersi uses. OAS7 is very intuitive, sounds fantastic, and works like a charm. The reason Windows is unstable on most computer systems is that people load software into the system that was never optimized for the system. Wersi's system is specifically programmed to make the software logical, reliable, and simple. Don't take my word for it, try one yourself and see.

The components Wersi uses are far from some "cheap lash-up of generic components" and if you saw an OAS instrument in person, you'd see the build quality is unrivaled. Take a look at the Sonic Core Scope cards and give them a listen. That's the same audio card Wersi uses in the OAS systems. The bench isn't the only component that's nice! Real wood, real metal, industrial grade switches, high definition TFT touch screen displays, lots of real time controls, those components cost money.

I've made this offer many times before and not one person here has taken me up on it or even inquired. If you want to see a Wersi OAS 7 in person, come on by. I'm in Northern, CA not far from San Francisco. After seeing the Wersi in person if you want to bash it all to hell by all means do so. At least that way you'd be making an informed decision. Drop me an e-mail if you want to evaluate the Wersi.

I know there are other Wersi owners in the USA who would gladly let prospective buyers see the instrument. Call Wersi USA and I'm sure they'd be glad to arrange a meeting for you with one of them.

On another note.... I'm not sure about service or support outside of the USA but here in the US, Wersi Service is great. Chris and Ralph are first rate and you couldn't deal with a nicer bunch of guys.

Maybe they need an Organ Forum here, so the Wersi guys can hold their heads up high at least SOMEWHERE

But this is an arranger forum, so how good the Wersi's are as organs isn't really pertinent, IMO...

Curiously, one of the first VSTi's anyone sticks in an OAS Wersi is NI B4. Why is this so popular, if the damn organ section of the Wersi is supposedly so good? Head and shoulders better than Yamaha and Roland organs? If so, you wouldn't think this necessary...

Look, I'm sorry, but I'm fairly sure that MUCH more young people are picking up arrangers than old organs to learn on. And there are damn few kids even getting into arrangers, mostly preferring loop workstations and techno synths (and software synths). So if Wersi keep pandering to the dwindling demographic of 'organ players' at the expense of arranger players, that's a negative spiral they have got themselves into. Prices will continue to spiral up as fewer and fewer players want to play skating rink organ, until they go down the same drain as all the other organ companies have.

But there is little of any user music on a Wersi I have heard that justifies it's price. Most of it would convince the listener they were hearing a sub-$1000 arranger, not an $8000 über-arranger. Only the most talented, dedicated few manage to raise the Wersi sound past it's Casio roots, and that is by basically completely revoicing and restyling the entire instrument. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure that most of us here prefer our TOTL arrangers to sound amazing the day you get them, and to have the ability to get better with work.

Not sound like crap, and hope that we have the skill, patience and time to make it sound good ourselves Because, going from most Wersi user demos I have heard, there's very few actual owners with that particular skill-set!

It's kind of like buying a car at Ferrari prices, but when you get it, it can barely keep up with a bust up old clunker... You HAVE to learn to be a world class racing car mechanic before you can tune it up to get the kind of speed you actually payed for in the first place. Most of us don't want to learn to be a mechanic, and few of us could ever make it as a world class one, even if we tried. But that's what you HAVE to be, to get what you payed for!

Most of us just want to DRIVE

We'll get under the hood when we feel like it, if we feel like it. Not because we are MADE to

Ensnareyou...

I'm sorry, but if a demo sucks, the instrument sucks. I don't have to play one. I've got two ears, and a pair of decent monitors. If none of YOU can make it sound any good, what makes you think I can just by playing on it?

I have never criticized anyone's playing on these demos (other than to point out the completely dated style they play in ), I merely point out (to you, it's a rant - to me it's an opinion ) just how cheesy the styles and sounds are. Do you honestly think that sitting down in front of one, holding down a chord, and hearing that same crap sound and style come out of the store's speakers is going to change my mind one little bit

It is the last resort of the desperate to claim that sitting in front of one of these things is going to change anyone's mind, if the demos ARE representative of the sound. Either they ARE, in which case I wouldn't drive across town, yet alone cross country to play one, or they AREN'T, in which case, why the hell can't any of you post a decent one? But no... the same dog poor quasi-Casio sounding embarrassments get posted, and then you get all indignant when we just tell it like it is...

Either stop posting crap like that, or expect to have a VERY hard time persuading anyone that it will all be SO different when you actually sit down in front of one...

And, Ensnareyou, the next time you voice ANY opinion on something you have heard, but not actually played, have the good grace to remember YOUR rant. If you don't trust your own ears, fine, but somehow I doubt this. If it sounds like dog doo, it IS dog doo. I don't have to sniff it as well

If every YouTube video of a Ferrari Testarossa showed it unable to corner without rolling over, you know, I would probably not have to drive it to prove it for myself! I would watch those rollover videos and go 'that car is a piece of crap!'

And so would you...

Diki,

You have no clue what you are talking about but you sure can run your mouth. You can spew negativity about Wersi all you want but you are stating your opinion based upon never having used the instrument. I'm certain if you had used one you would be eating crow right about now.

Out of the box the Wersi sounds fantastic. You don't need to add any VST's, additional samples, or tweak the hell out of it to make it sound great, the sounds are already in there. About 1 GB of factory sounds to be exact. If those sounds aren't sufficient for the end user then they can happily add AKAI samples, VST's, and STS samples from Sonic Core.

FYI... Wersi sells the NI B4 as an option because it adds a different flavor, not because the Wersi organ sounds are crap. Far from it. Organ sounds abound on the Wersi but contrary to what you believe its not an organ, its a full fledged arranger and workstation. Show me one other arranger/workstation that has the same capabilities OOTB. Only the Mediastation has similar features but it lacks Wersi's great factory sounds and intuitive interface.

Before you continue to spew rhetoric why not find a Wersi owner near you, try the instrument, then feel free to ramble away. I'd much rather your opinions be based in fact.

I've owned Yamaha's, Korg's, Roland's, Technics, and I would never rule a purchase out based upon others opinions or some crappy online MP3. I'd never have bought a Technics or Wersi if I based my purchase on opinions from others here in this forum.

If hearing an MP3 demo and having people tell you the instrument sucks having never actually used one themselves, more power to you.

Sorry, but talk about clueless...

There is but ONE thing that can change my mind about Wersi arrangers. User demos. Not Klaus or Brett or whoever tearing it up with custom stuff. Users. posting great music made on their Wersi's. You know, just like all the Korg users and Yamaha users, and Roland and Ketron users. I've heard PLENTY of demos from those manufacturers' users. And some of them are very good. Very good indeed. They don't sound cheesy, they don't sound dated, and they don't sound like the come from a ballpark.

And sorry, but I know about MP3 compression, and what it does, and doesn't do to a sound. You probably have an iPod. Does it change the sound THAT much? Really? Does it turn something beautiful into a load of poo?

No, it turns it into something just a fraction less beautiful. A 24 bit 96k 7.1 surround system couldn't make those posted demos sound any better A turd at 24 bit is still a turd. And a diamond in 160kbps MP3 format is still a diamond. I've made mp3 recordings of my G70. And I can tell you, they sound VERY close to exactly what it sounds like live. Don't even TRY to tell me that, magically, Wersi's are the ONLY thing that sound like crap in an MP3, when they sound like diamonds live!

You really ought to doublecheck your posts before you run YOUR mouth off with incredibly uninformed statements like this. It makes you sound as if you have a complete lack of any kind of grasp of reality. MP3's sound damn close to the original file (or you wouldn't even have an iPod ). And certainly close enough for anyone to tell how stiff the styles are, how dated the sounds are, and how apparently completely unable any of our owner members are here to post something that sounds like it is worth $3000, yet alone $9000...

It's simple, really... Don't try to tell me how good it would suddenly sound, were I to merely sit in front of one. SHOW ME how good it sounds when YOU sit in front of it! And, God forbid! don't post it as an MP3. No excuses, no way out... Post it as a .wav file. Heck, post it as a 24/96 .wav file. I got broadband!

The owners themselves have to persuade me to try a Wersi by showing me what THEY can do at a stock Abacus. As I said, I wouldn't drive across town to play something that made those style demos, yet alone 1600 miles to the nearest dealer... And I am absolutely convinced that you yourself would not drive that far to play another manufacturer's arranger that sounded like that, either.

YOU would want to hear something better before you made that kind of effort. So do I....

BTW, I know it's fashionable to single me out for your petty tirade, but you MIGHT have noticed that the poor opinion of Wersi's is pretty much universal on this thread. But feel free to get mad at me personally. After all, it WAS you I was criticizing, wasn't it? OOPS! No, it wasn't! It was an arranger. Taking things just a bit personally, are we?

Come on Fellas!

It's just a few short days since I said openly on this Forum that musicians are the salt of the earth, who always know how to be caring and feeling when it is needed,who always make you feel happier in a crisis.....

I guess there are always exceptions to every rule.......

------------------
Eddie from Rotherham
Skype:eddiefromrotherham
www.yamahakeyboards.info

Crisis... What crisis? Did Russia invade Germany again? Is the artillery raining down on the Wersi factory as we speak?

It just gets up my nose when the owners of the most expensive arranger in the world go, in effect "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"

Don't base your opinion on the innumerable lousy demos, trust me, it doesn't sound like that live. Of course, sorry, but I can't point you to a demo where it DOES sound good, and I can't post anything of mine that does it justice.. You'll just have to take my word for it.

Sure...

Next, you'll be trying to sell me on a pyramid scheme, or interest me in this bridge between Manhattan and Brooklyn!

Sorry, but I am about as likely to go get a Wersi (or drive thousands of miles just to try one) based on someone else's WORD, than they are likely to go out and buy a G70, just because I say it's the best. If you couldn't find a G70 anywhere to try, and hated all the demos, you aren't honestly going to tell me my word is sufficient?

I'm only going by what I read on the wersi-oas Yahoo group (or should that be group therapy?), which is chock-full of reported problems with untested software, hardware incompatibilities and woeful support.