Your fave hardware companies & why?

Re:Your fave hardware companies & why? (Spaceduck)

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:44:20 GMT

The Kiosk Project

Marshall, I have bought a couple of second hand amps on ebay over the summer, each one had a knob missing and one had a plastic foot broken off, the amps were basically as good as new otherwise so I got them for a song because of these "blemishes". So I call Marshall, speak to the spares department. They find out I only live a few miles away, so all the spare parts I need to restore the amps to mint condition are left for me in a bag with my name on when I get to reception, I get offered a coffee, and then a factory tour. Oh and by the way, no charge at all for the spares. Thats the way to treat your customers.

That story's so cool, I've decided to become a guitar player.

Looks like Rode gets some nice props, too. Didn't someone have a story here not long ago about a mic that got sunk in a flood, and Rode repaired it, no charge?

Re:Your fave hardware companies & why? (smallstonefan)

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:22:57 GMT

Rode for taking care of me when I've had problems. Mackie for making great gear (1200f, 800r, and Universal Control) and Lindy Fralin for his pickups and service. I actually visited his factory once and took him out for Tai food - super nice guy! Also, props to Andrew at Sweetwater - he's always taking good care of me. :)

Re:Your fave hardware companies & why? (The Maillard Reaction)

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:46:03 GMT

That is a nice story. :-)

It sounds like a fun way to spend a day!!!

Re:Your fave hardware companies & why? (Lanceindastudio)

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:31:42 GMT

wowww nice marshall story

Re:Your fave hardware companies & why? (Garry Stubbs)

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:34:28 GMT

Marshall, I have bought a couple of second hand amps on ebay over the summer, each one had a knob missing and one had a plastic foot broken off, the amps were basically as good as new otherwise so I got them for a song because of these "blemishes". So I call Marshall, speak to the spares department. They find out I only live a few miles away, so all the spare parts I need to restore the amps to mint condition are left for me in a bag with my name on when I get to reception, I get offered a coffee, and then a factory tour. Oh and by the way, no charge at all for the spares. Thats the way to treat your customers.

Re:Your fave hardware companies & why? (Genghis)

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:45:12 GMT

Fractal Audio Systems - Partly because the Axe-FX stands above anything else I've ever played through and partly because Cliff keeps releasing firmware that makes it that much better. I've never had anything that has had that kind of support and improvement after the sale.

Re:Your fave hardware companies & why? (DerGeist)

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:39:22 GMT

G&L. Fabulous guitars

Empress FX. Local Ottawa company. Their superdelay and tap tremolo are unbeatable.

Retrosonic. Another local ottawa FX company. They make the best ross-type comprosser around (and I'm including ROSS).

Gibson -- ok they make some real nasty geat but their Custom VOS series is great. Love my 58.

Re:Your fave hardware companies & why? (Johannes H)

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 13:32:19 GMT

I have to say Boss since I have a lot of their stuff. Stomp boxes, multi fx, microrack units and an old drum machine. Rock solid.

Best, JH

Re:Your fave hardware companies & why? (The Maillard Reaction)

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 07:10:19 GMT

I like the small pro audio companies where the owner is still happy to speak on the phone.

I am also very impressed when the business doesn't waste all it's money on fancy full page advertising in magazines.

I like companies that build a better mousetrap... and have earned customers that have beaten a path to their door.

That's where I think the true value range for quality gear at a reasonable price occurs.

best regards,
mike

Re:Your fave hardware companies & why? (Lanceindastudio)

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 04:30:09 GMT

digidesign? lol

Re:Your fave hardware companies & why? (Rbh)

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 01:07:51 GMT

Lexicon

Re:Your fave hardware companies & why? (Dave Modisette)

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:30:12 GMT

Frontier Designs. Manufacturer of the Dakota, Tango, Sierra, Alphatrak and Tranzport lines. I like them because they never break. This may actually be the company's downfall because of the six pieces of hardware of theirs that I own, three of them were bought used - sight unseen.

Re:Your fave hardware companies & why? (AT)

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:57:21 GMT

Roland, because I'm hoping for brownie points.

Re:Your fave hardware companies & why? (Lanceindastudio)

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:40:04 GMT

echoaudio.com - excellent products at crazy reasonable prices, awesome support, drivers, and just overall great company with great stuff. Ive never needed support, but these guys have helped a lot of poepl. Ive read stories and also have a personal friend that had his old mona interface fixed and shipped free by these guys.

Rode microphones - These guys will bend over backwards. I broke the screen that surrounds the diaphragm on my NTK recently, and they gave me an RMA and said send it in, they will "take care of me", no questions asked. Furthermore, they told me to be sure I send the power supply and cable too, so they can test it to make sure it is operating optimally!

Presonus - I have a eureka channel strip which I LOVE.
The analog meters lights were blow on it, and I was talkign about it in gerslutz chat, and a presonus rep told me to give him an address to send new bulbs and extras FREE of charge.

Thats my list at this point :)

Re:Your fave hardware companies & why? (Wiz)

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:32:59 GMT

ditto on rode

Wiz

Re:Your fave hardware companies & why? (derkoi)

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:17:20 GMT

Line 6 - When i used to play live in my band i blew up a few Marshall amps, i made the switch to Line 6 & after many years & many gigs, i still have the amp, working perfectly & sounds awesome.

Re:Your fave hardware companies & why? (zungle)

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:49:22 GMT

A.R.T.

1. They have freely supplied me with parts for several products.

2. They have always made good gear at a realistic price.....sometimes out performing gear twice the cost.

Re:Your fave hardware companies & why? (craigfowler)

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:21:31 GMT

I know I'm not alone, but Rode have come through for me twice and fixed problems of my own making at no charge (including shipping).

Your fave hardware companies & why? (Spaceduck)

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:29:02 GMT

I just had a great experience with UA & thought it would be cool to have a thread dedicated to great companies & customer service.

Universal Audio - I have a couple UA units, and a few weeks ago when I stacking them on top of each other & making a little UA village for my army men, I noticed that one unit had a slight reddish tint instead of jet black like the others. The thing is 6 years old, bought used, but I figured I'd call UA anyway. No questions asked, no charge, they sent me a set of new overlays, and their hardware rep called on the phone to follow up & emailed me detailed instructions on how to install them. Absolutely 1st class service!

Groove Tubes (now part of Fender) - I needed some 20-year-old parts for some GT equipment I bought on ebay. Little stuff like rack ears & knobs that aren't worth more than a few bucks but are impossible to find. I called GT and talked to the owner himself (great guy), and he personally went down to their storage warehouse and dug thru all the junk to find the stuff I needed. He threw in a couple cool trinkets for free and sent it right out. GT rocks!

Echo Audio - Too many good experiences to list. But they all involve getting free parts (cables, etc), design information (schematics & circuit diagrams just for asking), and once, no charge, they sent me a new PCI card to replace a dead one I bought from a rip-off music store after the store refused to give me a refund. I can't say enough good stuff about the folks at Echo.

I'm a customer of all 3 of these companies for life. How bout yall... you have any good stories to share?