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Hi calvero,

Thank you. The Promega 3 has been out for around 3 years now. It is still the flagship instrument of the DRAKE powered models and is still being used by the likes of Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, Herbie Hancock, Don Grusin, Myron McKinley (EWF), John Tesh and others. Since the release of the Promega 3 we have introduced a slightly scaled down model called the Promega 2 and have integrated our DRAKE processor and modeling capabilities into our RP Series home digital pianos.

At the upcoming NAMM this month we will introduce a new portable digital piano called the pRP800 . The pRP800 has internal speakers and is also available without speakers called the pRP700. If you are interested in hearing this instrument and would like to see some of its capabilities, click HERE to view the online video for the RP800 home model. The new pRP series are exactly the same as the RP800 but in a portable package.

Thanks again for your interest.

Best Regards,

Dave

From a sales pov, these days within the EU [dunno when you were looking at the pro 2] buying from Italy is probably cheaper and not really any different. Except for trying one first of course.

"Cheaper", at one time, that you could have nearly bought 2 promega 3's and used one for spares

But yeah, the lack of dealers is a pain.

OTOH, the service / repair for GEM is all done by someone else though, so the correlation may not be valid. http://www.panicmusic.co.uk I've not used them, but google groups seemed to suggest their reputation is good and they seem to be an authorised repair place for Yamaha, Roland and others too.

I don't understand this thing about the difficulty
of contacting GEM USA, or the availability
of the instrument. There's a toll free no.
on the website 1 800 323 0280. You can
get a live person immediately. I called
them before Xmas and they had plenty of
Promega 3's on hand ready to ship.

As for looks, I think the thing looks terrific.

One of our members, markjpcs, has a GEM RealPiano Pro2. I think he would take issue with that statement. I'll point him to this thread.

In the meantime, in the spirit of unity, here's Keith Emerson's hands playing your product.

Hi,

I searched the user name markjpcs and came up with three threads that he posted in. None of them mentioned the Pro2. "?"

I was also going to search his e-mail address in my data base but it is not listed in his profile. However, I don't recall anyone from Wisconsin contacting me about a Pro2 since I took over the position of product support manager back in 2001.

If he has a problem with his instrument, please point him in my direction. I will be happy to help him.

Best Regards,

Dave

I did. He might have already emailed you. Thanks.

Yes, Mark has been in touch with me via PM and has explained the situation.

I wouldn’t normally post information that is part of a PM, but since the question was raised concerning the validity of my statement regarding customer support, I felt it would be alright in this case.

Mark said that his Pro2 had a display problem a couple of years ago so he took it to a local service center who was an authorized GEM dealer at the time. He told me that it was at that service department for over a year. I told him that it is absolutely ridiculous for an instrument to be in service for that long. I am fairly certain that this had nothing directly to do with Generalmusic Corp. and our service department. And I am positive that I was not involved in this situation. BTW- The dealer (not to be mentioned) in question is no longer an authorized GEM dealer.

Mark also said that he lost his power supply and sent e-mails to Generalmusic but never received a response. My guess is that he may have been e-mailing Generalmusic in Italy and not us here in the U.S. I could be wrong, but to reiterate, all support e-mails come directly to me and I have never received an e-mail from Mark in the past.

I have asked Mark to explain to me in detail what problems currently exist with his Pro2 and I will see that they are taken care of.

gryphon, thanks again for putting markjpcs in touch with me.

Best Regards,

Dave

Thanks to Gryphon for alerting me to this thread.

Thanks to Dave for a very quick re-assuring reply to my PM.

I believe Dave is going to get this issues handled professionally and timely.

I look forward to a fully functional Pro2 again.

It is a great instrument with awesome piano (among others)sound and feel.

Thanks Guys!

Mark

Hi :-)))...My name is Kaley and this is my first post here at Piano World. I searched two years...for the piano of my dreams...and purchased a Pro-Mega 3 in Philadelphia... The Hammond Organ Dealer Opened his shop just for us...(On December 26)...as we were going to be in the City on that date. We drove a little over 4 hours and traded in our GEM Real Piano pro-1.

I am by no means an accomplished pianist...but
I love the feel and sound of the GEM products.
(I'm a songwriter who writes melodies by ear). I tried out a lot of local digital pianos....the Yamahas, The Rolands, The Korgs and Casios...but I loved my Gem Real Piano....and wanted to try the Pro-Mega 3. ( I don't care about its looks
...I love it so much it doesn't matter<G>)

I,too, struggled a bit with the sales concept...
It would have been much easier for me to purchase one of the more well known name brands. I wish there would be more dealers about. I believe GEM products are one of digital pianos best kept secrets.

I'm still finding my way around on it...as I'm mostly interested in just using the piano sounds...and...am admittedly..a technological
dummy...when it comes to anything electronic....
So., I just turn it on, and find the piano sound that sounds right to my ears...lower the key so it fits the song......and start playing.

Best to all......
a happy...GEM...owner
Kaley.....

Hi Kaley,

Welcome to the forum and thanks for your post. It is always great to hear from a fan of GEM digital keyboards.

I used to have a Pro2 and the piano sound for playing in a live band was terrific. I love the fact that my Promega 3 not only has the Steinway and Fazioli acoustic pianos to choose from but also has the original Pro1/2 piano sound as well.

If you have any questions about the operation of your Promega 3 please do not hesitate to contact me here, via e-mail or on the GEM Community Forums.

Best Regards,

Dave

David,

Any chance there's a dealer in the Toronto, Ontario CANADA area?? I was looking for a Promega 3 a couple of years ago, but was directed to a music shop in Windsor Ontario which is about 225 miles from Toronto (the largest city in Canada). I thought it was strange at the time that no music dealers in Toronto (~4 Million people in the greater Toronto area) actually sold GEM hardware.

Rodney

*EDITED 10 February 2007*

Hi Rodney,

Thanks for your interest in the Promega 3. The new Canadian distributor of GEM is;

Jendan Music
90 Nolan Ct. Unit 30
Markham Ontario
Canada L3R 4L9
Phone: 905-946-8104
Contact: John Mackie

I suggest contacting them for the closest dealer. If you have any problems, please let me know.

Best Regards,

Dave

Hi there all.

I'm endorser of GEM. To me, it's the only thing that does the job ( can seriously only compare to Fantom-XR and Triton ).

WDMcM: The video about promega3 was awesome.

I had some questions too, not perhaps the right place but i never received reply from GEM, if they got my mail in first place. I hope some of you have pro 2.

Sorry for my poor description btw, i'm not native english speaker.
__
There seems to be somekind of problem with sound "balance". I can't produce as hard and loud string resonating sound in note range near middle C than i can produce with keys halfstep to those notes. Now i'm very sorry that i don't have the pro2 infront of me so i could tell exact keys.
Basicly, some keys are quieter than others, when moving only halfstep up or down. Is this known bug? Is it supposed to behave like that? :p

Perhaps it's just my imagination.

yeah, i really don't see anything corny about the video, seemed to be a very informative presentation and i enjoyed it..

Update for Rodney:

The Canadian distributor has changed. Please see my edited post 3 above this one.

Best Regards,

Dave

Thanks for saying so.

Quote

I can't produce as hard and loud string resonating sound in note range near middle C than i can produce with keys halfstep to those notes.

Do you mean that these keys do not respond to velocity in the same way as surrounding keys? Please describe in more detail the problem you are having.

Best Regards,

Dave

Thank you as well.

Best Regards,

Dave

Wow thats amazing the sounds from the pro3, is the sounds as good on the home digital pinao-rp800, cant tell even though I have listened to both demos. Wonder how many sample layers are used, the most I have heard of is 4 in the clavinova range, how much memory alone is used for the piano samples? Can you buy gems products in the UK? It sounds better than the CLP270/280 I was going to buy! How much is the rp800?

Thanks
MWF

Why don't you talk to the fellows at Hooter's Music and let them fill you in.

Best Regards,

Dave