Chas my friend! Go ahead and take the G7 back to Guitar Center anyway. Tell them the situation (you might want to call them first and explain the situation to them beforehand on the phone). If they say "we can't" because it's been over 30 days, then kindly ask for the "store" manager. Explain the situation to the store manager and tell him you would really like a refund on your FG7. If he says okay but we'll have to add a re-stocking fee then that is up to you whether you want to accept his offer. Hopefully he'll just say: "okay, bring it back and we'll refund you for the entire amount.

If he, on the other hand, says he'll have to add a re-stocking fee you can accept it or go to Plan B: which would be to ask him if you can simply exchange it for another item (with the difference in price going in your pocket if the total cost is less than the G7 cost) - considering that you will most likely get another totl keyboard or arranger anyway, right?. That is probably the scenario he'll most likely agree to i.e. an "exchange" for a different item (instead of a full refund or a refund less the re-stocking fee on the G7) but you never know until you ask. I really think the store manager will work with you chas, especially during the christmas holiday season. Even if you ARE a few days over the 30 day limit.

>> It is very important that you talk directly to the "store" manager as opposed to a 'department' manager. You want to go right to the top if necessary.

Best, Mike

Originally posted by cgiles:



I'm quite happy with my Fantom G7 chas. Very enthused about it in fact.

There are many, many, excellent patches on the Fantom G chas but there are a few presets that are just average and even a few below average as well. I suppose that can be expected with every keyboard though, right?

What is nice about the Fantom G as far as the patches go is that you have a vast array of tweaking parameters to assist you in your editing and creating of custom sounds - whether organ, guitar, piano, or whichever ones you choose - to get that sound you want out of the patch(s). Also, the DAC's on the Fantom G are 24 bit, which gives it a nice clean, punchier sound. The wave forms, for the most part, are excellent in my opinion too chas, but if you don't like Roland's preset 'attempt' then tweaking the patch is your "window of opportunity" to do Roland's initial attempt(s) one better. The Fantom G is expandable (unlike the Yamaha Motif XS) and I'm expecting Roland to come out with some outstanding ARX boards down the road. The first two i.e. ARX 01 Drums and ARX 02 EP's were not my cup of tea, since I felt the EP's on the Fantom G, in most instances, are great already as well as the Drums too in my opinion. To each his own I suppose...

Here is a short improvisational demo I played and recorded on my Fantom G7. I kept the file in .wav format to preserve the sound quality. The patch is the Souvenier's organ patch but somewhat tweaked of course.

Organ Demo


PS: You might not like that type of organ sound chas, but the door is wide open on whichever organ sound you choose from to edit. Along with every other patch from every other category as well too of course.

Best, Mike

PS: I could go on and on and on about all the other great features and capabilities that lie under the hood and on the surface of the Fantom G, but I will spare you and the rest of the forum.

I'm sorry it didn't meet your expectations. Pity.. because I think the Fantom G has sooooooooo much to offer and then some. Again, to each his own I suppose, right chas?

[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 12-16-2008).]

The link is now working okay... Sorry for the inconvenience.

Best, Mike

Hi Mike

Interesting

Apart from the slightly over deep rotor sound, you’ve got the Yamaha Electone organ sound spot on.

I must admit though that from you posts I wouldn’t have thought you’d be into that type of sound

Regards

Bill

Yeah Mike, I've decided to keep it and peck away at it's mysteries and hidden treasures . Truth is, if I hadn't missed the return deadline, I would've taken it back; now, it's too much hassle and I don't feel like arguing with a GC dept. manager. Besides, there are one or two 'live' voices that I like and that tells me that there are potentially many more if I'm willing to put in a little time and effort. The single patches still leave me cold.

I honestly think the organs are poor, both in sound quality and especially 'playability'. This doesn't bother me as I would always use the C1 for organ anyway. The pianos were a big disappointment OTB, but there are so many opportunities for tweaking and layering that I'm sure I'll eventually find something that works. If not, then it's back to the Triton w/piano board (not really that good). I have to say, I don't share your enthusiasm of the El. Pianos. Too thin for my taste but, again, tweakable.

Saw a G7 on stage with the featured band on Jay Leno the other night, so I guess that means the Pro's find them acceptable.

Glad you're happy with yours and thanks for the organ sample. Not a voicing that I'd use but certainly sounds fuller than the preset. I haven't yet moved mine from the Rec Room to my studio, so I haven't really heard it through good nearfields. I'm playing it through the Traynor K4 at essentially flat settings so that may be part of the problem. I'll keep tweaking. Thanks for your input. I've joined a Fantom G forum but they're pretty much bigtime fanboys.

chas