Synthwood?!

[echodeluxe]

So I paid for an item from them about three months ago now. I'm still waiting and little to no communication despite many attempts on my behalf and they even asked me to "measure the screws so they know it can fit". I'm a little uncertain here what to do? I thought they were a reputable company? Especially given the initial email of confirmation and how quick he was to give his Paypal account for me to forward the money...

I'm a little worried here. What are my options? Has anyone dealt with them? Ahhhhhh, I'm at a loss?!

[Mr Arkadin]

A not very positive thread here all about them:

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/electron ... rible.html

[m0rb1d]

wow a lot of that guys work looks like absolute garbage, that little phatty in that thread is a joke.

[seank]

i ordered some lighted pitch/mod wheels for my evolver from synthwood and it took over a month to arrive. i emailed him a bunch and i guess he felt bad because he sent me free wood sides for my little phatty. mine line up perfectly and look awesome.

[timmy]

get your money back if you have to have them soon. i could share a long email thread between Stephen and myself.... suffice it to say after 4 months he had my money and i did not have sides for my synth. and i reminded him a few times

he's a nice enough guy. he will refund your money. just ask.

[echodeluxe]

I know I can refund my money but now I have a job and earn lots of money. Back when I ordered it I didn't and struggled to get it and I was excited. It's now become a matter of principle. Is there some department of consumer affairs or something I can send an email to? It's a bit ridiculous he's ripped off so many people it seems and people let him get away with it?

I want my panels, a full/partial refund and a bleeping apology. I'm really quite angry about this especially knowing that now that IF and WHEN I do ever receive them, they probably won't fit accordingly.

Grrrrrrrrr

[timmy]

echo -
life's tooooooo short, my friend. get a refund. order a new set from analogics. then put your energy into something really positive like making some music. the negative situation isn't worth your time and energies.

[echodeluxe]

They are bleeping dodgy.
I would NOT deal with them again.
They sent back the money but again due to the exchange /fact I have a job now it doesn't make a god damn difference now.

This is pathetic, I can't be more displeased with a company. First time I've opted out of the guitar world, BIG BIG FAIL SYNTH WOOD.

I will be spreading the word.

SYNTH WOOD = FAIL AT WHAT THEY DO, DON'T KEEP IN CONTACT, HAVE NO IDEA OR PROFESSIONALISM AND WILL GIVE YOU A 'PARTIAL' REFUND IF YOU'RE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE GLOBE 6 MONTHS LATER AND AFTER HAVING READ SAID THREAD.

[candyhead]

Synthwood are totally rubbish... i've bought 2-pro-one kits from them in the past... the first was so badly made i ended up throwing it away, shocking build quality, very poor finish and mostly didn't fit... of course being a typical englishman i never complained or asked for a refund and being in the UK the task of trying to return the kit was a lot of hassle so I ordered a replacement a couple of months later. The 2nd kit was very much improved and even though i still had to do some minor mods to make it fit it looked great when it was finished and i was quite happy even though i had ended up paying over £700. At the time, communication was slow and took a lot of chasing up from my end and i do recall Steven from synthwood getting panicky about getting paid and delivering anything to the UK even though i made all the payments requested through Paypal!! I also remember the wheel box did not arrive with the kit... it wasn't until I queried this that I found out that he was struggling to get hold of them!... finally 1-arrived in the post within about 1-month of my query followed by "another" about 1-month after that... so much for stock control steven! I assumed the 2nd wheel box was some divine compensation for the rubbish pile of scrap wood synthwood sent in the first kit!

Unfortunately, i've been trying to order another pro-one kit from synthwood for over a year now... must have sent a dozen emails and not had a single reply... not even an acknowledgment. I finally sent an email yesterday saying how disgusted i was at the lack of response i was getting from synthwood, pointing out the apparent endless reports i've found on a number of forums from equally distressed customers all reporting the same poor service and complete lack of communication given by synthwood and querying if they were still in business or not.

Today I got the first and only reply from steven saying they no longer supply the Pro-One kit because of the "terrible customer support" they have received... Unbelieveable!!! This guy Steven is a complete idiot and seems to want to blame all the bad publicity he is getting due to his company's complete incompetence on his customers who are just trying to do business with him.

It is a real shame because i really do want to do business with this company and support them with hard cash from buying their products... but they just seem incapable of even making a sale!

Synthwood do not deserve any customers... in my oppinion they sell 2nd grade products at top grade prices and offer no customer support... they seem to have an increasingly bad reputation in the industry and it seems to be completely deserved. I would now never recommend synthwood to anyone... everyone be very aware of this company!!!

Steven... buck your ideas up... you have a potentially great product and service in a niche market and you are just throwing it all away for no reason or sense... you may soom find competition will take your company down if you don't start acting with some professionalism.

FL

[Technician Larry]

I've dabbled in the "Synthwood" business just a bit. By that I mean that I designed and built a set of router jigs to route the channels necessary for fabricating the Rogue and MG-1 panels and have sold a few sets. (see https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set ... =3&theater )I have also sanded out and refinished existing wood parts on synth's in for electronic repair. Regarding all of the feedback on Synthwood, a couple of things come to mind.

I don't take advance payment for any work or materials as the anticipation of payment is great motivation to provide the product and service the customer deserves. Looks like Synthwood could benefit from that policy.

Sending out parts for customer installation invites problems. You get a customer who does not own a drill or screwdriver and the potential for problems escalates. The MG-1 / Rogue panel installation tolerance is subject to the sheet metal bending tolerance, the installation glue up tolerance and the tolerance of the wooden parts manufacturing. Therefore, I decided not to drill the pilot holes for the 4 assembly screws coming through the bottom panel into the end pieces as they would likely not be in the exact correct location anyway. I have not had customers who could not drill their own pilot holes, but I expect that will happen.

Looks like some of Synthwood's products are pretty redundant. The Oberheim panels look just about like the original ones that can easily be sanded and refinished - usually looking way better than right out of the factory. His photography is less than adequate for an accurate representation of the products, and I could not find any prices or ordering info on that web site.

I don't like the prices you have to pay for exotic hardwood at the local retail Woodcrafters store. Maybe that is why Synthwood gets money up front. My passion for wood working is founded in my love for salvaging wood and driving my Woodmizer sawmill. I get salvage logs from urban and rural sources - mostly for free and usually saving the wood from the firewood pile or from rotting on the forest floor. I get salvage hardwood from shipping crates and pallets. Sounds a little strange, but when you find the right industrial sources, you can get dunnage (crates, pallets, etc.) made from Black Walnut, Rosewood, Teak, Mahogany, Oak, Maple, etc. In the jungle where they produce high grade Rosewood veneer, they stack the veneer on pallets made from Rosewood!

Black Walnut tree being killed:



Black Walnut on the Woodmizer:

Black Walnut fresh off the mill:

[Kevin Lightner]

I once ordered a Pro-One wood case from Synthwood.
At the same time, Stephen Jones (Synthwood) expressed an interest in having me develop lit wheels for various synths. He said he would send me the Pro-One case and wheels immediately and added that my work on the wheels would be a good way that we could make some money together.
I looked forward to this both for additional income and simply to make a decent aftermarket product.

So I waited... and waited... and waited. A month or more and nothing arrived.
No wheels, no Pro-One case. My client was losing his patience also.

Finally, the Pro-One case arrived.
But it didn't fit.
It had been made too small for the front panel.
I wrote Stephen back and received no reply.
So I wrote George Mattson, the person who does Synthwood's wood work.
He basically said what I was experiencing was impossible, it wasn't his fault, etc.
We didn't talk for many months.

So I wrote Stephen again and again received no reply.
In fact, since I ordered that case and spoke to him about the wheel development years ago, he's never replied even once since.

By this time, I gave up. I provided my client the (incorrectly fitting) wood case and told him he'd have to deal with it as Stephen wouldn't return my emails and I couldn't request a refund for money I didn't pay, (my client payed for the case separately.)

However George wrote me a bit later to show off the great new lit wheels that Stephen asked him to develop.

Instead of following through and sending me the wheels, he had George develop them instead and never informed me, nor George.
George was actually writing me to show me his handy-work and had no idea Stephen had first asked me to do the same thing.

Months later, George wrote back to me again.
He said he realized that not all Pro-One panels were the same size, it was his mistake and apologized.
I thought this was very honorable and was impressed with George's honesty.

But Stephen lied to me.
Instead of doing as he said and involving me in the development of his lit wheels, he asked George instead.

So I lost my client, I lost that particular job and I lost any money I would have made helping developing Stephen's lit wheels.

From this, I've concluded that George is honest, Stephen isn't and I will never do any business with Synthwood again.

To me, this is just plain dumb business.
One email from Stephen could have kept a good business relationship open.
I would have continued trusting and recommending Synthwood to customers.

Instead, I had to wait, write many emails, lose a job, lose a client and instead of developing cool lit wheels that could have changed colors in response to CVs, LFOs or other signals, Synthwood instead marketed a much less desirable product.
All of this because Stephen was too scared (apparently) to write me back to say he couldn't follow through on his original promises or to take care of his incorrectly made Pro-One case.

If I need any wood work in the future, I'll contact Larry or Wes Taggert.
But not Synthwood.
As for George, I do believe he is honest and talented, but perhaps a bit naive to believe that all Pro-Ones would be the same or that Stephen Jones would make a good business partner.

[Technician Larry]

If I need any wood work in the future, I'll contact Larry or Wes Taggert.
But not Synthwood.

Thanks for the mention Kevin. My dominant Pro One service memory might be worth mentioning here. Upon removing the side screws for service access, the case and chassis tended to twist, flex and bend such that the screw holes no longer line up. I remember having to call for assistance during reassembly to torque the unit back to align the holes enough for screw insertion. I was not so much into woodworking back then, but it occurs to me now that a cabinet clamp might be just the right approach to rack things back into alignment with the screw holes.

This was not always the case - maybe 50% of the time things lined up without effort. The bottom line is that I would not want to make a cool custom wood case for a SCI Pro One without fitting it to the instrument in front of me.

What was the Synthwood price for a Pro One case? I don't see any prices at the site.

[Kevin Lightner]

What was the Synthwood price for a Pro One case? I don't see any prices at the site.

I don't know. My client had bought his separately and had Synthwood send it to me directly.
If http://www.archive.org has synthwood.com archived, you might try there. (I haven't tried.)

As long as we're plugging our products or ourselves , I'm just completing installation of one of my optical "Opto-Key" contact systems in a 37 note keyboard. It was designed for the 44 note Minimoog D, but I cut one down to 37 notes.
Nicely, it will play that extra 1/2 octave I cut off from it through MIDI in though.

This means it may soon be possible for me to not only add optical key contacts to SCI Pro-Ones, but also to provide both simple MIDI in and Out.
So far this is still at the prototype stage.
I have no Pro-One here to attempt an installation yet and of course, Pro-Ones were built with 2 different types of keyboards.
It's mostly suited for early, whiteface Arp Odysseys, but is unfortunately going to be mono, not two-voice.

I'm also just finishing up a custom Moog type module for a Moog forum member here that has two original Minimoog env gens, two LFOs, a reversible attenuator, noise source and a sample and hold w/glide.
It was inspired by the Emu modular's "Potpourri" modules which as the name suggests, has a little bit of everything in it.