Zzounds/JBL G2/defect and repair

[BINARY]

Just a quick few notes for those that care...

I had one of the initial JBL EON G2s that was defective.
Getting it fixed was as easy as calling JBL, getting the name of the local service center (Pro Sound in Waltham, MA)and bringing it in. It was finished the next day (today), and the guy (John) was nicer than I ever could have asked for (especially since I didn't buy my speaker there, but brought it there to be fixed...).

So while I'm there, I start chatting with John about the SRMs and the G2s and he gives me a little demo of 4 different models and mentions how sound-wise, there's not an enormous difference between the models he's showing me.

He explains the particular differences in wattage, etc., and then hops through the prices, mentioning that the G2 "runs about 650-700 depending on where you buy it."

So of course I'm beaming when I tell him I bought it for 531.90.

He looks at me kinda funny and says,

".........what?"

Then I tell him about our little Zzounds scam, at which point he takes off into the back room and comes out to tell me that the "dealers price" on the G2s is 510 bucks.

He's like, "so....they made 21 dollars off that sale....I couldn't touch that price."

So I know that some of us have had our issues with Zzounds, but I just thought I'd tell my tale, if anyone's got something to buy, I'd give them a whirl.
For those of us that bought the G2s with that post I did a while back, we ended up saving about a hundred and thirty bucks over what we'd pay at Guitar Center or someplace similar. That's pretty good for something that's 650 dollars to begin with (20%....?).

As an odd coincidence, I ended up getting the second G2 that was back ordered from Zzounds the day before I brought the other one back for repair, so I finally got both of them.



BINARY

I'll send a shout out (I hate that phrase) to John from Pro Sound in Waltham, MA if anyone in MA needs any Pro Audio Equipment, go there, they have TONS of stuff (just pro audio though, no instruments).

[Tom Berry]

Binary,
If you've seen my other post .... I've had 4 Eon G2s go bad on me. The factory said they would send me 2 more that they had checked. I said no thanks and ordered 2 of the Mackies. They came today and I set them up... Guess what.... ? One of them does'nt work!! I'm about ready to go back to my old Peavey PA. I NEVER had a problem with it. EVER! I hope you have better luck with the Eons than I did!

[drmoze]

Binary, Glad you had no hassle. When did zZounds ship your G2? I never got mine, finally cancelled it 2 weeks ago (order was placed in September!!). My G2 is fine so far, but I should give it another workout to make sure, eh? $^) I got mine for $550 shipped from a guy in Chicago, if anyone is still looking for them cheap.

I also didn't notice a huge difference between the Eons and Mackies, except that the Eon 15PAK didn't have the same punch at higher volumes. High ends were a bit different, but wrt the v-drums I couldn't say one was better than the other. ANd both sound fine with keyboards, btw...

Just in case my G2 fries (knock on wood!), I hope there's a JBL service center local to me....

[BINARY]

It was definately an easy process, like I said. The guy said "Can I help you?" Then he looked at my speaker and before I said a word, he was like, "No high Frequency, right?"

He was really great and fast with the repair.

Tom -
I'm definately getting the feeling more and more that we're dealing with newer technology bugs here. Self-powered loudspeakers aren't cutting-edge certainly, but I think that they seem new enough that bugs are still being dealt with. I considered a traditional old-style PA for a while, but didn't want to spend that much money, and wanted less to carry around. The G2s seemed perfect....

Hopefully they'll work out in the end.

drmoze -
The other post here ("ALERT!") has the serial numbers for the affected units, you should check. Better than having it go in the middle of a show...
Zzounds shipped my second G2 tuesday, and I got it wednesday (which was a surprise). The guy John at the store played me the G2s, the Mackie's that are 300/150W and the Mackies that are the lower wattage (don't remember exactly).
He also showed me 2 models from a company that made the SRMs(they weren't called SRMs)before Mackie bought them out. One of them was HUGE.
They all sounded pretty nice (he was just running a CD player through a mixer, though) He only mentioned that the lower end Mackie doesn't sound as good at high volumes.

As of now, I'm not upset at my purchases. Hopefully it will stay that way.

BINARY

[sepdrums]

Gotta add my $.02....
I had the toasting problems with a set of G2's. Funny thing was that the highs smoked at the same time on both speakers.
Unfortunately my closest JBL service center was half way across the state - a serious downfall of living in the amish lands of PA (but I have Road Runner cable modem sevice where most don't have elctricity...don't ask - I'm not complaining).

So I sent my JBL's back, emailed a choice letter to JBL, and got my money back since my truck broke and I needed to fill up my furnace fuel tank.

Last night I played out using a borrowed Crate 8 channel self-powered mixer and cabinets with Crate 12's in it. It was a small club (my family owns it) and the thing really sounded great!!

I am going to attempt to carry Mackies with my edrum lineup sometime after NAMM. If that falls through, I might look into the Crate systems. It is less money, has a mixer w/ effects, and is somewhat portable. Not bad.

Erik
SEP

[drmoze]

Binary, So your serial number was between 00300 and 00440? I'll check mine when I get home! If it's in that range, I may call and see if they'll do a 'pre-emptive' fix, knowing that there was a bad run. Thansk for the info!

[BINARY]

I don't mean to sound snobby, but I'm not buying Crate ANYTHING.

Crate is inexpensive because it's cheap stuff for beginners. I own a crate amp (got it free), and know several people who have them, and at loud volumes, they all sound like ass.
Maybe the powered mixers are different. I guess running with the G2s hasn't proven all that happy a time, but I'm still staying away from crate.

drmoze -
To tell you the truth, I have no idea what my serial number is, I never looked. Even when that post went up I didn't check. When the speaker blew, the guy at the store said that JBL knew the numbers of the defective units, and replaced it free, so I'm sure mine was on the list.

If yours is in that number range, I'd bring it to a service center and tell them you'd rather not have it go out in the middle of a show.

BINARY

[drmoze]

my SN is 05612, so no problem! (I hope...) $^)

[sepdrums]

I thought it (the Crate) sounded decent. Maybe they are made cheap, but it lasted longer than my JBL's.....it didn't break. But I do get your point. They are not for professional use on big gigs, but it worked good for what I needed it for. I would buy one just for that.

Erik
SEP

[This message has been edited by sepdrums (edited January 12, 2001).]

[Tom Berry]

Drmoze,
I guess I don't understand how serial numbers work... . How does 05612 fall between 00300 & 00440? I'm not trying to be a smart ass, I really don't understand. All 4 of the G2s that went out on me were in the 05000 range. I know that the last G2s were part of the second shipment my dealer recieved. By the way, I just got my Mackie sub.... yeow!! It kicks butt. If I can get another srm450 that works I think I'm in business. Although it sounds pretty good with one 450 and the sub.

[Keith Nealy]

Hey Binary

Glad you finally got your G2 situation resolved. As an update...

Since I got mine replaced I have been using them regularly every week on gigs since september with no problems. I love the 3 input mixer and loop through feature as I use them as monitors for my congas as well as percussion mics which all get looped with my vdrums ( in stereo 'cause I have two G2's) to the main mixer for a FOH mix.

I have found that using them tilted back as floor monitors on either side of my throne really puts me in the sound of the kit (in stereo for a spacious positional sound) and it lets the sound of the kit eminate to the other players more like the omnidirectional sound of an acoustic kit, rather than coming from a unidirectional speaker source.

I'm primrarly a jazz player, so finesse and accuracy are really important to me and I am always tweeking to perfect the sound.

My new bass player "was" a real stickler for acoustic sounds but now he keeps shaking his head and says "when I close my eyes... I can't tell the difference." I was doing cymbal solo the other night and I fully incorporated using my acoustic cymbals (3) with my v's (4 w/TD-10, 8 w/TD-8 via octapad, plus v HH) and even I was blown away at how seamless the sound was between the acoustics and v's.
I owe a lot to the G2's and the placement setup I mentioned.

good luck,

Keith

[DJourg]

Keith,

I remember you posting a question several months ago regarding V-drum use in a jazz-trio setting. You were trying to decide whether or not to purchase them, and you had some natural concerns about how they would fit in this context. The above post certainly indicates that you bought them and they work O.K., though you include acoustic
cymbals. One of the concerns you had was about using brushes. Well, now that you've done some jazz gigs with the V's, how well do the V-brushes work?

[Keith Nealy]

re: vdrums for jazz and brushes.

Yeah I got my vrums last september and have been gigging ever since at least two gigs a week plus practice and rehearsals.

I am very happy with the decision I made to finally go with the Vdrums-pro. If you're going to play jazz you need to most sensitive, best drums available with full positional sensing and full control over parameters. Also they look more like real drums so you get less hassle from other players.

I only use the acoustic cymbals for brushes and mainly for adding to the appearance and acceptance.

As for brushes this is where the rubber meets the road.

Number one is that you can't use wire brushes. You must use plastic blastiks or equivilent (IMHO). but in order to get a smoother sound I found I need to round off the edges of the bristles.

They are cut square and flat leaving edges that get caught in the mesh weave. I took the brushes out to the cement pavement and rubbed them in a circle while rorating them to wear off the edges. I'm sure sandpaper would work fine... I just didn't have any at the time.

Then it's a matter of adjusting the brush kit to get the right balance of drums to cymbals for the style of music you are playing.

"But do they work" ... to answer my own question...

Yes and no. It all depends on the level of the band, the amount of brush work you have to do, the sophistication of the audience, etc.

right now, I can get away with it because most of the brush work I do is with bossa novas using a brush crosstick combination ( though I don't use a cross stick anymore... see below)

If I had a gig with really good players where I had to do ballads all night... I think an acoustic kit has the finess you need pull that off. At least cymbals, HH, and snare. the rest is no problem. There is just so many techniques and subleties that aren't available with the v's for that kind of playing.
But If werre doing gigs like that I'd get a small acoustic kit just for that.

Maybe the new stuff will address all that. I hope so cause I just love these drums.

I have also played with a sixteen piece big band in an outdoor jazz concert recently and the band thought they were great. Other musician in the audience said they were the best sounding drums in the festival. They sounded crystal clear even in the back of the audidnce. I just fed a stereo output from my G2 monitors to the FOH snake/DI and lst them do the rest. No mic wind noise, no feedback... I was a happy camper.

I hope that answers your question.

Bottom line... I love'em, the audience thinks thay are fantastic, my band partners can't get over how "real" they sound, and I regularly switch kits mid-song to play a timbale kit or pot drum kit for world sounds, and back to my main kit.

I also have a Roland octapad with a TD-8 on my rack for percussion sounds and added cymbals, etc.

I feel sorry for some acoustic drummers who are stuck with just one kit. I have a friend who keeps upgrading his cymbals only to be disapointed at the sound... and then he is stuck with them. I just dial in a new one and tweek away.

I live on the Big Island of Hawaii where there is not much available I came from 25 years in NYC where I depended on Manny's and Sam Ash for stuff. Not here.

I bought the vrums having never heard them or played them. The only thing I went on is six months of research on this site, so thank you all for making this possible.

Keith

[JBLPRO]

Hey guys!

For those of you who have had problems with your EON G2's, I apologize. As I posted in the "Zilla- Monitor systems" post, the problem we had with the initial production run of EON15 G2's was a finite problem that we identified and isolated within 30 days of the first production. It was limited to the first 500 units off the line. It was not the compression driver but an IC on the amp board. We sent out the fix, parts and N/C Warranty instructions to all JBL Authorized service centers. Anyone experiencing this problem should have had both the compression driver AND the amplifier board replaced free of charge and you should have experienced no more problems. If the service center you went to only replaced the compression driver, the problem will persist and the compression drivers will still blow after little use. If you or anyone you are in touch with has experienced this problem, feel free to contact JBL Service directly and you will be taken care of immediately with no further issues.
For those of you who hung in there, thanks for hanging in there with us. We appreciate your business and support. Should you have any other questions, pleas feel free to contact me directly.

Thanks~!



------------------
Phillip L. Manor
Product Manager
Portable Products
JBL Professional
1800.8JBLPRO
www.jblpro.com

[sepdrums]

To add to that, I spoke with them at NAMM about that subject. Apparantly is was a manufacturing defect, not faulty engineering. I can buy that. They assured me that they had it fixed and thanked me for the info. I admit I need to reconsider my thoughts about JBL and respect their concern and customer support. If the problems are all resolved and contained then JBL has won my respect back. Especially since they have admitted the problem and are fixing them for free. That is a lot to ask sometimes.

Erik
SEP