You just had to ask . . . . .
I should have known when no road musicians out of here wold take them on the bus / semi.
So . . . . after a lifetime of cobbling rigs together used, I decided to once-and-for-all buy something brand new. (Bear in mind, this is the time period when Eden was in a boom time, and Nordschow was selling the company)
So I ordererd a new Metro and 115 extension cab from Corner Music, THE store here in town, run by friends of mine. Told 'em, 'when it comes in, call me, I want to open the boxes myself', had told 'em it was my first brand-new purchase in who-knows when.
Fast-forward a few weeks. They call me. I go down there, and JD had both boxes sitting there like Christmas morning. Both boxes as clean as if they'd come from next door. Open it up, both pieces, not a mark on them. Plug the 115 into the Metro, plug the AC in. . . . . the Metro sounded like a transistor radio with almost dead batteries, then it went 'KaBang!'. Never heard anything out of the 115 even before the bang. Plugged a different Eden head into it, nothing. Pulled the grill off and the speaker was frozen. Brand new out of the box. . . .
They obviously called Eden, and got me another setup. It worked out of the box. A week later, the 10's in the Metro sound funny. Pull off the grill, the paper cone had separated from the dust cover about 1/2 the circumference of the cone. Well. Eden DOESN'T warranty drivers. And all I'd done was play at home, no gigs yet. For a week. I take it back, they 'black glue' the paper surround so I DON'T have to shell out $160 for a new 10. Well.
In the five years I owned it, it never sounded right. Changed preamp tubes three times. Pots were always noisy. XLR out terrified good sound men. Internal fan always sounded like the bearings were about to seize, and at times, you could hear it at the bar . . .Could never keep casters under it. I did like the covers, though . . . . After spending $2k for this pile, I recently was tickled to get $500 out of it on CraigsList.
With the musician population here, there are several world-class amp repair only shops. The one that does Eden warranty work (besides my dealer) intimated that these things were putting his kids through college !
The funny thing, all those years I played lots of Peavey as that's all I could afford (while wishing I had some COOL stuff), IT NEVER BROKE DOWN. Not once. I realize it's never cool to admit you like Peavey, but geez I'd like to hang with Hartley some day.
So now, he's (Nordschow) in business as DNA. Lord Help Me, I hope I never run into him at NAMM . . . . As a designer, he did all the orginal SWR cabs for Steve Rabe (as well as others), and man do I wish he'd stayed a designer-for-hire.
J o e y
