Fusion $500 at GC?

[blakeq]

Forgot to mention that mine also has the 80 gig hard drive...

[valomatic]

Mine came with an 80 gig hard drive as well.

 

The 6HD is remarkably small compared to the Motif ES6 (my other synth).

 

After playing with the board for three days, I realized that reviews of synths are so subjective....I really like the sounds coming out of this baby! I also have the motif es and the fusion definitely kicks its but regarding the synth / pad sounds.

 

The acoustic sounds are inferior to the ES but in all fairness, that is not anything new.

 

There aren't enough PM patches on the unit though. The VA and FM patches are fantastic. Additionally, the Hollow Sun patches are a must.

 

This weekend, I am going to try the DAW features. I would like to record background vocals so I can use this board at gigs.

 

The icing on the cake is the free monitors!!!!

 

I think you would be a fool to pass up on this offer...

[SaltyDogg]

I might actually go test one out (again). Does someone mind letting me know:

 

How do you upgrade the GB capacity? how do you check what the machine already has?

 

How do you get the hollowsun patches?

 

Thanks!

[Guest Anonymous]

 

Originally posted by SaltyDogg I might actually go test one out (again). Does someone mind letting me know: How do you upgrade the GB capacity? how do you check what the machine already has? How do you get the hollowsun patches? Thanks!

 

 

http://www.alesis.com/index.php?id=56,30,0,0,1,0

 

http://www.alesis.com/index.php?id=21,74,0,0,1,0

[mrcpro]

 

Originally posted by blakeq When I talked to him, he said that since the other stores only had no more than one each, that he couldn't get another one ordered. This was at Clackamas (Portland, OR) and the other store nearby (Beaverton) didn't have any remaining. I'm not sure if that was the guy trying to make a sale or what, but take it for what it's worth...

 

 

Man, I was going to try to get one in Portland next week. It's two hours out, or I would have done it already. So what you're saying is that there's no more in the two area GCs and no way of ordering one?

[Crawling Wind]

I spoke with someone in the Beaverton store yesterday and he said he could order one but they are going VERY quickly. I suggest you call them today.

[mate_stubb]

Again, let me say:

 

I have one on order from Alesis after a helpful salesguy at GC (Edina MN) called the factory to see if he could still get them.

 

As to upgrading the hard drive - I was reading Fusion forums like crazy last night and found a good doc that showed step by step upgrading of memory and hard drive with pics.

 

The drive is just a standard ATA drive, you can buy one at Office Depot. The Fusion can format up to 128GB, so buy one that size or larger.

[Diametro]

I'd suggest you wait and see if you need to ...

 

Unless you plan on putting every sample you have on the Fusion and do tons and tons of multitrack recording (and never port anything back to your computer) the 40 gig is more than enough ...

 

Personally, I think the memory upgrade is more significant (haven't done it yet) ... but apparently, that's a bit trickier ... though, I know I'll be doing it eventually ...

[SaltyDogg]

Well I just did some shopping and demoed the Fusion again... I tried both 6 and 8HD. I liked it... but I didn't like it enough I suppose to warrant putting down a G and trying to sell some other gear off. It's got a lot of neat stuff about it but I'm thinking if it ain't calling my name, then it's not meant to be. One thing I do notice, judging from my A6 too, is that Alesis loves sounds that sound a bit "airy", a bit on the bright and brittle side. That's just my perception of course. Not to Fusion-bash, I am not trying to put it down. But I do see why some folks say the sounds weren't developed as far as they could be. I see this same sales girl all the time, wouldn't mind demoing and fusing her next.

[sizzlemeister]

 

Originally posted by Diametro Personally, I think the memory upgrade is more significant (haven't done it yet) ... but apparently, that's a bit trickier ... though, I know I'll be doing it eventually ...

 

 

+1

 

I fully expect that IF there's a blow-out on memory upgrades for the Fusion one of us will post it here RIGHT AWAY so we all can get out memories upgraded.

[Diametro]

.oops.

[TheFoosa]

Man, I've dealt with stupidity at GC a lot, but it still never stops amazing me just how stupid they can be.

 

 

So on Wednesday I call 3 GC's around here, only one of them has the fusion in stock...one of each. So I thank the guy I talked to and think about whether I can afford it right now or not and if I even need it...that stuff. So I call back Thursday and talk to another guy and ask him to hold it for me until Friday evening when I will be there. He says ok. I call Friday evening before I leave, making sure that they haven't messed up and sold it to someone. This is the THIRD PERSON that I'm talking to telling me that they do indeed have a 61 key fusion on the floor, and that they will sell it to me at $499. I tell him I'll be down in a bit.

 

 

I get there, all I see is the 88. I go talk to the sales guy and tell him I was the one on the phone shortly before asking about the 61 key fusion. So he tells me its in the back and he's gonna go get it. Disappears for 20 minutes and then comes and tells me that it is waiting to be shipped out for repair. So three people had no {censored}ing idea about this and all told me they would sell it to me, and it took this guy 20 minutes to figure that out. I ask him how long that might take and he said forever because they need to ship out a lot of stuff at the same time etc etc etc.

 

My reaction is basically "Oh well, I tried," but he asks if I wanted that keyboard specifically or just something like it in the price range. Well first of all, there isn't {censored} like that in the price range...not on the GC sales floor anyways. I told him I just wanted that keyboard, mainly because of the 4 synthesis types. In GC sales droid fashion he just stares at me like "Of course. Totally understand what you just said (not at all)" {censored}er didn't know that different synthesis types even exist, I bet. He tells me that they have the 88 and I tell him I can't afford it and I don't like the key action on it at all. He offers to sell it at cost...$800. I tell him its just a little too much, but I could stretch, depending on what he gave me on some things I had to trade in.

 

I had an SY85 and JV-1010 out in my car. The SY has original manuals and floppy disks, and I had them with me. When I told him what I had he had NO {censored}ING CLUE what either one was, and I told him what they were and when they were made. He said he would have to check ebay and I told him I already did and had printouts for him in the car, and I also told him right there what they were selling for. From what I saw mid-week, I figured $300 for the SY and $200 for the JV...$500 total, I would like at least $250 worth for them being trade-ins. I know that music stores have an unwritten policy of 50% if you sell it to them for cash, and then a little more worth if it is a trade in. After telling him the price of the two, without asking for any amount, just telling him what they could SELL them for (and they would inflate each by $150 I'm sure), he offers $200 for both. I politely make it clear that that won't fly and he says just bring them in and he'll check them out.

 

Bring them in, he's helping someone else. Tells me he's going to the back to get something for them (with haste, as before), and then he'll come out and check them out. I'm walking around and playing with other {censored} in there and he winds up helping one or two other people before even looking my way. I'm sitting down at a Motif playing some Wurly patch and he walks in the room helping yet another lady find a case for her son/husband's keyboard...I'm the only other one in there and he doesn't even acknowledge me, just keeps helping this lady with a {censored}ing case. So I get up and grab my keyboards and walk out without even looking at him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It bums me out because I really shouldn't be buying anything else right now anyways but thats SUCH a good deal, and with the monitors it is UNBELIEVABLE. I was real excited about that, even if I wouldn't see the monitors for 4 months. Can't happen though because people don't know what they have in their stores.

[SaltyDogg]

Originally posted by TheFoosa He offers to sell it at cost...$800. I tell him its just a little too much, but I could stretch, depending on what he gave me on some things I had to trade in.

 

 

AWOOGA AWOOGA:eek:

 

Time for Old Salty to throw a {censored} fit in a GC and try to get it for 800.

 

Seriously though, it sucks the sales service just plain... sucks!

 

Nothing worse than feeling like you're ignored in a mega-store and having all these strangers pouring past you.

 

I am contemplating if I should get a MKS70 and my recent disappointment with demoing the Fusion relieved my GAS. But, it was a relative disappointment. I just don't need it to do stuff I can already do in some form or other.

[TheFoosa]

Yeah man...if I had the cash, and if that action didn't suck, that would have made my year. I would MUCH rather have the 61, regardless of price, because those keys feel much better...I'll take nice semi weighted over something that feels as lame as the 88 any day.

 

It was a 45 minute drive out there and 90 minutes in the store to have the guy tell me nobody knows what the {censored} they have in stock (that works) and to give me that apathetic lowball corporate bull{censored}. I couldn't even get pissed in the store because the guy wouldn't have given a {censored}. He'd just try to sell me a Triton or something to cheer me up.

[echomonkey]

Sweet, I just called my GC and they said they're out of stock but that someone put one on layaway a long time ago. He's gonna call that person and see if they still want it, if they don't he said I can have it for $499

[jbrannon7]

TheFoosa, that sounds like every visit I have had to GC. That place is the absolute last resort on my shopping list.

 

BTW I got a Fusion 6HD 2 weeks before I heard about this sale. I paid 875. But I like it and I have no remorse.

 

Joe

[TowJam]

Originally posted by echomonkey Sweet, I just called my GC and they said they're out of stock but that someone put one on layaway a long time ago. He's gonna call that person and see if they still want it, if they don't he said I can have it for $499

I wonder if GC will honor the $499 price for the person who has it in layaway...?

[mate_stubb]

You know, I find GCs to run the gamut from great to terrible. The closest one to me in Iowa used to be the one in Edina, MN (suburb of Minneapolis). I have bought equipment from three different guys up there. They have all been professional, friendly, and knowledgeable. They have called me back when they said they would.

 

A GC opened last year in Des Moines, right down the road. Great! I thought.

 

It couldn't be more different than my other experience. They won't stock Nord, won't call you back, and wouldn't make more than a desultory effort to locate a Fusion for me.

 

So I called Edina, they called Alesis, and made a sale.

 

So I guess the moral is, there are at least a few good GCs out there. It all comes back to the owner and the standards they demand from their employees.

[BillyWa]

Originally posted by mate_stubb ... It all comes back to the owner and the standards they demand from their employees.

This seems to be the standard in any service industry now-a-days.

[SaltyDogg]

the guy on the phone at GC promised he'd call me back in 20 minutes with a list of Fusion availability in the local stores.

 

Well, I ain't holding my breath since that was 2 days ago.

 

Btw - any way to get better piano sounds in the Fusion? I have never owned a sampler (!) so I really don't know if its feasible to use it for great piano. In case you haven't noticed, my GAS is not totally dead. It is a pretty nifty board and if I had the dough lying around I'd snatch it up.

[XorAxAx]

Having bought a Fusion and other things at the GC in OKC, I can say there is exactly one really helpful and knowledgeable person there. I usually only buy things when he is in the store. Most everyone else there is an average GC salescritter. They know what the Tritons do but couldn't tell you what a Waldorf or a Buchla are. There is one guy there who is particularly unhelpful and rude. The most informative comment that comes out of him is "Whoa dude, now that is like some awesome piece of machinery." I have overheard him get off the phone with a customer and exclaim to the entire keyboard department front desk area, "Jeesus, what a f**king retard!". I'm never buying a damn thing from that guy, not even a magazine.

 

They all do the "Well, looks like I got you sold, so now I'm going to go help these other people while you wait patiently for an hour" thing. Pisses me off.

 

I'm going to a GC in Dallas on the 27th, so I'll see what they have there. From past experiences, that store has a much better selection of synths.

[TowJam]

 

I'm going to a GC in Dallas on the 27th, so I'll see what they have there. From past experiences, that store has a much better selection of synths.

 

There's a new GC in Lewisville (the closest GC to you if you're coming down I35). Avoid it. The keyboard department is as useless as tits on a nun - and the salesdroids can't even tell you what brands GC stocks. As an example, I was asking about the availability of the Hammond XK-3 and the salesdroid told me that GC doesn't carry Hammond. I also asked about the possibility of getting a Motif ES-7 in the box (I don't buy anything off GC's showroom floor). He told me that the only GC's that only their Houston stores had any additional stock. Had he taken 90 seconds to check their computer, he'd have seen that the Arlington store and the store on LBJ freeway both had ES-7's available.

 

For what it's worth, the Arlington store seems to have the best synth selection and they've got a couple of players in there who know their {censored} and will actually spend time with you.

 

my $.02

[XorAxAx]

Thanks, TowJam. I'll try the Arlington store. So far in DFW I have only been to the GC near Highway 75 and Lovers Lane.

[TowJam]

Originally posted by XorAxAx Thanks, TowJam. I'll try the Arlington store. So far in DFW I have only been to the GC near Highway 75 and Lovers Lane.

If that's the one I'm thinking of, it's not too bad and in fact, was one of the first GCs in the D/FW area. On the other hand, the Lewisville store is new (about 2 months old) and has a very limited amount of pro keyboard stock.

 

I'm dating myself but I remember when Arnold & Morgan music was THE place to buy keyboards if you lived in this area. I purchased my Helpinstill Roadmaster , Moog Source and Juno 60 from them when I was first starting out.

 

Sigh... good times.

[keyman_sam v2.0]

Diametro, thanks for this notice. I'm grateful AND mad at you at the same time.

 

I picked up the Fusion 6HD yesterday. I checked it out in the store to see if the buttons worked, and they did. I brought it home but i havent opened it yet.

 

I also bought a Kawai K5000W for myself just last week.

 

 

 

I'll upload some demos maybe sometime later, but thanks for letting me know of this deal. I certainly dont NEED the fusion since my Fantom S does everything I want to, but for this price, i cant pass up.