Moog Music Forum

Hey everyone. Just thought I should post a few pics of my LP Stage 1 [OS2]. Stephen over at http://synthwood.com sent these out to me the other day and I must say they look AWESOME. They also smell really really great [love fresh wood]. These particular ones are a semi-gloss Mahogany.

If anyone is looking to add wood sides to their LP [or really just about any synth] this is your guy. Enjoy!

-Brad


100_0341 by Brad Dollar, on Flickr


100_0339 by Brad Dollar, on Flickr


100_0338 by Brad Dollar, on Flickr


100_0335 by Brad Dollar, on Flickr


100_0337 by Brad Dollar, on Flickr

Those look nice and I'm glad you got yours. But many people have had serious problems with getting any product out of synthwood or getting very subpar product. Do a search on muff's, AH or any of the other major synth forums and you will read horror story after horror story. (Which is a shame because the business idea is really very cool.)

Just Me wrote:Those look nice and I'm glad you got yours. But many people have had serious problems with getting any product out of synthwood or getting very subpar product. Do a search on muff's, AH or any of the other major synth forums and you will read horror story after horror story. (Which is a shame because the business idea is really very cool.)

Really? My experience with him was everything but negative. I had zero prior knowledge of synthwood, contacted him on a whim and out of curiosity and got a reply right away. His price was totally fair, and he steered me away from buying a more expensive set that ultimately wasn't what I wanted anyhow. They came super fast in the mail [shipped FedEx], went on and matched up without a hitch and really do look great.

Bummer to hear people have had a not so great time.

Have a look at this thread if you want to see how rubbish they can be:

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

Again, bummer. I guess some things are just hit or miss. Still couldn't be happier with mine though.

My experience with Synthwood was horrible.

Stephen Jones wrote to me to ask if I'd build his clear lit wheels after seeing some I made and shown in a video.
He said we could make some money together going into a partnership.
At the same time, I had an order for a client of many SCI Pro-One items: a new case, knobs, name plates, etc.

I waited weeks for the SCI items to arrive along with a some wheels he wanted me to develop for lighting.
No response for a long time, but in the interim, his tech and woodworker (George Mattson) wrote me to show me the new lit wheels he just did at Stephen's request.
Yep.. not only didn't I get the products I ordered, he took the idea he asked me to do and had someone else do it.

Finally the Pro-one parts arrived.
The knobs were loose. (the internal "grabbing" piece of steel was even missing on one!)
The nameplates were not like the originals and poorly finished.
But worst of all, the wood case didn't fit.
The front panel wouldn't fit into it because the wood case was made too small.

I wrote to Stephen several times and he didn't reply even once.
He's never replied, apologized or anything. Just fell off the face off the Earth once I expressed a problem.
So I wrote George Mattson.
At first, George didn't believe me when I told him the wood case didn't fit.
He defended Stephen and basically said the problem simply couldn't exist.
However weeks or months later after he received this defective case back, George did write back, admitted it was cut wrong and apologized.
Props to George for admitting the fault.

The upshot?
My client had to return his Synthwood items himself, fight for a refund and I never did any project as Stephen originally promised.
My first dealing with his company was also my last.
And yeah, there's no shortage of horror stories out there regarding Synthwood.
Muffwiggler has their own thread.

One final note: I noticed an auction where the seller mentioned that Synthwood has refurbished their Minimoog D keyboard.
They included photos. (which I grabbed.)
Not only did Stephen pay no regard to which direction the key bushings were supposed to be installed (he had many upside down), he also paid no mind to the fact that sharp keys and naturals used different tension springs. (that's why they're color coded... duh!)
He mixed them all up, paying no attention to what spring should go where.
So basically he charged someone to mess up their keyboard action in terms of key tension and key heights.
Total fail in my book.

I have to agree with you that this is indeed a very great piece of instrument that you are having here. In fact, I am so envious of you that you actually got yourself something so neat. This is awesome. Hopefully that we could actually hear you play as you have already got yourself something that is so awesome. Hopefully that you will have your recording ready soon for us to enjoy and listen to it.

Hey BradDollar, take a look at your own photo's. Especially the last one. Those custom wood sides don't fit. Not even close. I had the same thing happen to me. I ordered custom LP panels from Synthwood and paid $100 (!) for them. They arrived pretty fast and everything seemed okay - untill I opened the package. I noticed at once that the panels were EXTREMELY bad made. They were not flat, not properly sanded, had sawmarks, were not square and didn't even remotely fit my LP. Just like yours. Get your money back! I did. I offered to ship the panels back, but Synthwood didn't want them. I eventually found a way to use them: as firewood. They fit nicely in my fireplace. When I asked Synthwood what might have happened (it actually looked as if a CHILD had made the panels), he claimed that a "hired hand" had done them for him externally and had shipped them out directly. Bad quality control in other words. But judging by all the negative experiences people have with this "company" I'm starting to believe that he did in fact do them himself and that he is just simply completely and utterly incompetent as a woodworker.

I don't have any pictures that show the sides being flush with the back panel, but... http://www.flickr.com/photos/32147775@N08/3597206798/ when seen from the back, this is what mine look like. These were done by a hobbyist who works exclusively with exotic woods. The side panels on mine are coco bolo.