Members Moogasaur Posted August 28, 2011 Members Share Posted August 28, 2011 Has anyone been to Three Wave Music in NJ? I just saw their stock of vintage keyboards and was shocked. Check it out: http://www.threewavemusic.com/index.php?p=1_2_Products I wonder how they came about that mass of synths? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sad Darwin Posted August 28, 2011 Members Share Posted August 28, 2011 Awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Conbrio Posted August 29, 2011 Members Share Posted August 29, 2011 Road trip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DJ RAZZ Posted August 29, 2011 Members Share Posted August 29, 2011 We never get stores like this around KY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blood5150 Posted August 30, 2011 Members Share Posted August 30, 2011 Ive been there a few times.. the owner used to run a shop in Manhattan called "dr sound".. he has since closed that down due to the high costs of operating in NYC... I bought an Oberheim Stretch DX from him back in the day at Dr. Sound... I also had him repair my Roland Space Echo since he opened Three Wave.... its a really cool place... One thing, the prices are NOT CHEAP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members liliththekitten Posted August 30, 2011 Members Share Posted August 30, 2011 OH! Dr. Sound. I remember that place. LIKE A MUSEUM. Might as well be, they were really overpriced but the gear was nice. It was in Soho too... so yeah couldn't have been cheap. Very cool place. Makes Rogue Music look like slim pickins (esp these days, Rogue is cool though) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Franz Schiller Posted August 30, 2011 Members Share Posted August 30, 2011 I have been there several times, and had (attempted to have) a synth fixed there. Firstly, Three Wave is located in a warehouse in an industrial park on a weird side street. When you get there, you have to buzz the door, and the proprietor lets you in. The Proprietor is a very nice, very polite Japanese fellow (I guess formerly Dr. Sound). So he lets you in, and then turns on the lights to the warehouse. NONE of those glorious synths you see are plugged in. So, if you want to play one, you ask Dr. S...uh, the Proprietor, if you can play it. Then, the gaunt, slight Proprietor picks it up, carries it over to general use stand, with an amp (a Roland KC of some sort methinks), and then, he sort of mulls around while you play the synth of your choice. This interaction is more than a little awkward. It is definitely NOT like Sam Ash or Guitar Center; you cannot just wander around anonymously and try out a Minimoog or Prophet 5 or whatever. You get the feeling that, if you want to try it, you have to have serious intentions of buying it. The Proprietor is a very nice man, don't get me wrong, he certainly doesn't INTEND to make a person feel ucomfortable. That's just sorta the way it is. Also, those pictures might be a little bit misleading. I suspect that many of those keyboards are for parts; like for example the three Emulator IIs sitting on top of the three Wurlitzer 206s. Also, I think a few of the synths are the Proprietor's personal collection (like the Minimoog, for example). Anyways, I also had a few repair experiences. One where he repaired a few broken keys was ok; the hourly rate is reasonable. One synth he successfully fixed, his communication was terrible. He said he would quote me repair by the end of the week, and when I didn't hear from him for a month, I started calling him constantly. Once I started badgering him, it took him another two weeks to fix it, and it turned out to be something small. I figured I'd give him another chance, so I brought him a different synth. Again, his communication was terrible, worse than before. I wouldn't hear from him for two weeks, so I'd call, and he'd be slow to get back to me. Then there were periods where it seemed he clearly ignored me. Also, he was clearly out of his depth with the synth in question. He stated that a certain X part was impossible to find, and the synth was trash. I then went on the internet for twenty minutes, and FOUND THE PART MYSELF. Frankly, I found it offensive...I mean, this guy is the REPAIRMAN and an "expert" at synths, and idiot-me can find parts and information more easily. So I started asking around about Three Wave, and I heard confirmation from several other synth/organ players all of whom had terrible repair experiences at the place. Bottom line is, if you want one of those synths he has, and are prepared to pay the price, Three Wave is probably just fine. Just make sure the keyboard is in perfect working order. The Gentlemen who owns the place is very nice, but is not very good at repairing keys. Sorry if that's harsh, but that is my personal experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Suilebhain Posted August 30, 2011 Members Share Posted August 30, 2011 He also never responds to emails because I wanted to get a price/condition on one of his synths so I could consider buying it. I grew up in Hawthorne, NJ. That place used to be a Garden State Farms, which was sort of a grocery based on dairy products and some of the best ice cream I have ever eaten, even better than Blue Bell. Used to have actual cows in a field across the parking lot, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Conbrio Posted August 30, 2011 Members Share Posted August 30, 2011 NONE of those glorious synths you see are plugged in. That's kinda what I gathered after looking at the pictures. And if he has to set up every synth I'd like to check out, and then hover... forget it! Road trip: cancelled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Purity_Control Posted August 30, 2011 Members Share Posted August 30, 2011 Also, he was clearly out of his depth with the synth in question. He stated that a certain X part was impossible to find, and the synth was trash. I then went on the internet for twenty minutes, and FOUND THE PART MYSELF. Frankly, I found it offensive...I mean, this guy is the REPAIRMAN and an "expert" at synths, and idiot-me can find parts and information more easily. Did he offer to take the trash off of your hands? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Franz Schiller Posted August 30, 2011 Members Share Posted August 30, 2011 Did he offer to take the trash off of your hands? Ha! It never got that far. He said, "It's not worth fixing." And I immediately demanded to know why. He said that X part was broke, and it was impossible to get. And then I went and found the impossible part. Also, the synth in question is worth a good deal of money, so actually it IS worth fixing. Either way you look at it, it's not good: either he's not skilled enough to fix it, or he was trying to scam my synth, as you suggested. Personally, I think he was simply not good enough to get the job done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Conbrio Posted August 31, 2011 Members Share Posted August 31, 2011 Too bad the place isn't set up differently, with more keyboards plugged in and ready to audition. It would be a much more pleasant environment. Doesn't sounds like a place where musicians want to get together and hang out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Suilebhain Posted August 31, 2011 Members Share Posted August 31, 2011 After visiting the local Guitar Center, with its haphazard arrangement of gear in poor condition (there was a Marshall head that had missing knobs and frozen pots) and general skeezy atmosphere, I would say that this is most likely the way music shops will become as we advance into the 21st century. Consider that musical instruments are a luxury for most and local musicians generally care more about squeezing out a good price than whether the carpet has been shampooed in the last ten years (otherwise there would be a whole lot less traffic in pawn shops), anything not associated with a chain will probably start a slide toward this aesthetic by 2020. Think Metro Holografix. By 2050 you will probably be talking to someone through a slot in an armored door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Suilebhain Posted August 31, 2011 Members Share Posted August 31, 2011 He probably hovered because he didn't want to shoot you as you picked it up and ran for the door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jnurp Posted August 31, 2011 Members Share Posted August 31, 2011 ive been there a bunch of times and have bought/traded tons of gear to him. SAm is a very nice guy and yes his prices are very high, but he is negotiable on almost everything and is very fair in comparison to the major stores when it comes to trades. I highly recommend doing business there. I already bought an Xpander and a prophet 08 from him among other things and Im buying my tempest from him as soon as they start shipping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoccoD Posted September 1, 2011 Members Share Posted September 1, 2011 I am currently getting my JP-8 repaired at TWM for the second time. My first experience was not too bad and Sam seems pretty trustworthy. The synth was unstable and was constantly re-initializing itself. He replaced the main processor chip and backup battery. Took him about 2 weeks to diagnose and an additional 2 weeks to fix the problem. About a year later I am having a similar problem, but since I use it sparingly, I couldn't determine if there was more to the problem the first time around and it was not completely diagnosed. This time I intend to exercise the synth more rigorously. We're pushing almost 4 weeks for a diagnosis this time around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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