Always told to demo before buying...

[Geddyleewannabe]

It seems that rental places (including Dreamhire) do not want to ship a Neve 1073. It is so often recommended to rent gear, get to know it, and then decide whether to buy it, but how do you suggest I get my hands on a 1073 to test at home in the environment I plan to use it in?

The Demo Gospel is constantly being preached like it's a simple thing to do. Who do you know of that makes renting a Neve 1073 a do-able task. I don't live in a major metropolitan area where I can drive to pick up a 1073 at their office door.

HELP!

[Matthew Murray]

I totally agree. It seems to be a near constant refrain from some of the good folks on here ... "Try it out for yourself" -- but when you live in a sh*t town like I do, the logistics of getting something in on demo (or working out "return" agreements) gets really difficult, especially with border policies being so lame. Sometimes I do wish that the "demo it yourself" recommendation were less commonly uttered all the time ... isn't it a presumption that if we could we would?

Erm, sorry, I had a shoddy sleep last night, I guess I'm ranty.

[djwayne]

I rely upon sound samples of products I sometimes can hear on the manufaurer's website.

Recently I demo'ed a bunch of acoustic guitar pickups, not knowing what I wanted, and ended up getting the LR Baggs M1A, which sounded great to me on the website demo, and once I got it, even better in real life, so I found the website demo to be very helpful.

These website demo's are a great selling tool, I wish more manufacturers would do them.

[Lynn Fuston]

Originally Posted by Geddyleewannabe

The Demo Gospel is constantly being preached like it's a simple thing to do. Who do you know of that makes renting a Neve 1073 a do-able task. I don't live in a major metropolitan area where I can drive to pick up a 1073 at their office door.

Honestly I decided to record the first preamp CD samples partially because someone in Edmonton had to drive 4 hours one way to a music store and wished he could be with us in the studio in Nashville to hear everything. So I recorded them so he could hear them long distance.

[gwailoh]

The major gear retailers all allow you demo equipment. If I remember, Vintage King gives you 48 hours, Mercenary allows "a reasonable time". Even Sweetwater has an unconditional return policy. I mention these three because I remember their policies off the top of my head. Just buy it, use it, and return it if it's not right for you. To be polite, inform your retailer that that's what you're doing.

[Rep]

You hit a nerve with the Way things are going in the "On line" trend lately..
I really dislike the way things are going with these On-line- Stores as well...

There are no "Good" return Policy's anymore,

they Make you feel Like you are a Common Criminal,
... trying to Evade rental fees... !

If you actually try to return things from them ,
they give the 3rd degree.
" the gaba iz Da-bomb-ness"
They Asking why , and where,
... if you "know what you are doing"... 'cuze So&so from,
Wez-are-it Studio , Works with that crap,
and they do So and so Crap all over the Radio...

SO " you just cant really want to return it''
.... Or maybe you Can , ......if you trade it !
and Get the Latest greatest / Hyped up - POS thing,
... from the Great and Highly Renowned So and Such Has been...

[gwailoh]

Originally Posted by Rep

You hit a nerve with the Way things are going in the "On line" trend lately..
I really dislike the way things are going with these On-line- Stores as well...

There are no Good return Policy's anymore,
they Make you feel Like you are a Common Criminal,
... trying to Evade rental fees...

If you actually try to return things from them ,
they give the 3rd degree.
" the gaba iz Da-bomb-ness"
They Asking why , and where,
... if you know what you are doing... 'cuze So&so from,
Wez-are-it Studio , Works with that crap,
and they do So and so Crap all over the Radio...

SO " you just cant really want to return it''
.... Or maybe you Can , ......if you trade it !
and Get the Latest greatest / Hyped up - POS thing,
... from the Great and Highly Renowned So and Such Has been...

I've never had an experience like that. I've bought, demo'd and returned from Mercenary, Sweetwater and Vintage King. In fact I just wrote to Vintage King a few days ago to ask for a price on a vintage mic, and the second sentence of the reply was "You're welcome to demo it."

[Rep]

Originally Posted by gwailoh

I've never had an experience like that. I've bought, demo'd and returned from Mercenary, Sweetwater and Vintage King. In fact I just wrote to Vintage King a few days ago to ask for a price on a vintage mic, and the second sentence of the reply was "You're welcome to demo it."

good 4 you ,

Like I said ... MY experience Differs ,

especially with Sweetwater , You can pull a Search with my $8-grand Fiasco with Them ..

[mtstudi@pacbell]

Originally Posted by Geddyleewannabe

It seems that rental places (including Dreamhire) do not want to ship a Neve 1073. It is so often recommended to rent gear, get to know it, and then decide whether to buy it, but how do you suggest I get my hands on a 1073 to test at home in the environment I plan to use it in?

The Demo Gospel is constantly being preached like it's a simple thing to do. Who do you know of that makes renting a Neve 1073 a do-able task. I don't live in a major metropolitan area where I can drive to pick up a 1073 at their office door.

HELP!

I think you can trust this one, no need to rent, Neve 1073's have proven the test of time. You can take others word for it.

Demo new stuff.

www.bluethumbproductions.com

[gwailoh]

Originally Posted by Rep

good 4 you ,

Like I said ... MY experience Differs ,

especially with Sweetwater , You can pull a Search with my $8-grand Fiasco with Them ..

I can understand being bitter after having a bad experience. Here, though, the advice is specifically about buying to demo. If you tell your sales rep at Sweetwater "I'm buying these three units to demo them, and will return at least two of them, maybe all three, depending on what I like," there won't be any questions or hassles. At least not with the reps I've worked with there. Note also that VK, Mercenary and others specifically build the buy-to-demo process into their business. Here's the language from Mercenary's web site:

When you get something from Mercenary®, take as long as you'd like (within reason) to play with it, make sure it's what you really wanted. If you're not doing backflips with glee over your purchase, we'll take it back, actually, we want it back (don't like the idea that someone got something from Mercenary® that isn't making them insanely happy)...it's that simple. Ok, so you're out a coupla bucks for shipping, but there are no restocking fees, nor any other hidden nonsense.
Yeah, it's kind of a strange way to do business, but it's how we'd like to be treated... so what the hell...

As someone else noted in this thread, this process assumes you've got some headroom on your credit card. But it's a good way to ensure that you get the gear which is right for you, and it's a standard practice for these merchants.

[thethrillfactor]

Originally Posted by mtstudi@pacbell

I think you can trust this one, no need to rent, Neve 1073's have proven the test of time. You can take others word for it.

Demo new stuff.

www.bluethumbproductions.com

Wrong.

Definitely check it out for yourself.

Any High End piece that you haven't heard or tried first hand should be tried out first by you.

By the way if you can't rent it in town than book 2 hours in a studio that has one.


It would probably work out to be the same price wise as renting.


Plus you'll also support the studio community.

[2leod]

Originally Posted by thethrillfactor

By the way if you can't rent it in town than book 2 hours in a studio that has one.


It would probably work out to be the same price wise as renting.


Plus you'll also support the studio community.

Good advice, that!

[thethrillfactor]

Originally Posted by 2leod

Good advice, that!

[theblue1]

Originally Posted by mtstudi@pacbell

I think you can trust this one, no need to rent, Neve 1073's have proven the test of time. You can take others word for it.

Demo new stuff.

www.bluethumbproductions.com

Ah, but not everyone loves the Neve sound equally.


I'm sorry if it's not practical for some folks -- but with some types of gear, there's no substitute for checking out the real thing if at all possible.


That said, it's certainly NO moral failing if that's simply not practical. Then, I guess, you have no choice but to put your faith in someone else's eval and hope for the best.