Peter Grenader

Vicmod is calling for people “ripped off” by EAR/Plan B to complain to the government:

Peter Grenader is ripping off customers, distributors and now employees!

http://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4907&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=105

http://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5291&highlight=

If you are affected by Plan B and Peter Grenader please I urge you to make a formal complaint to http://www.ftc.gov/ Even if you are outside the US ..It takes about 2 minutes to fill out. You wont see your modules again so this is justice!

I don’t have any direct experience with Plan B – but the comments of former employees suggest that the company is completely self-destructing:

I would like to say one very important thing.

There are a number of modules in the shop for repair. Most of those modules have been sitting there since i arrived in February. Rather then making an attempt at fixing them peter instead pulls parts from them, or instructs us to pull parts, which we then use to make *new* modules. I’ve already talked with a fellow synth manufacturer about this and he recommended informing people about this pronto since it is clearly wrong. I decided to wait until i was officially out, and for that i apologize.

That’s about all i would like to say for now. I still have a friend employed at plan b who is waiting for a paycheck tomorrow, peter already stiffed me on mine this week. Thus, i don’t want to say anything else that might effect roger buying peter’s stuff this week and thus fucking over yet another plan b employee. One a week is enough i would hope. (roger if your reading this, please buy peters stuff tomorrow so a least one employee can get paid, luckily i have a family in new york i can go back to, but the other employee is very much dependent on that check.)

If you’ve worked with Plan B, feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts on the situation below.

The video on this is pretty static – but it captures a live synth jam by Alessandro Cortini, Peter Grenader, David Wright & Steve Roach at Camp Tape Op, Tucson 2007. Read more…

Vicmod, the blog of synthesists Ross Healy and Brett Maddafor, says “DO NOT DEAL WITH PLAN B“, Peter Grenader’s Electro-Acoustic Research:

This information is to protect others.

I wish to advise anyone interested in purchasing modular synth modules to not deal with PLAN B and/or Peter Grenader.

With the time I have spent dealing with modular companies I have never come across a person who abuses his customers and STEALS MONEY from them and/or never replaced faulty stock like Peter has done.

ELBY DESIGN (Once distributor for Plan B)is owed $6k from Peter.

MANY other customers have paid for modules that have never arrived or modules sent for repair that have not been returned.

There are reams more posts from people with complaints about Plan B at the Muff Wiggler forum.

It’s terrible to see so many unhappy customers, when Grenader has some great ideas about modular synths.

Have you dealt with EAR (Plan B)? If so, leave a comment with your thoughts on the experience and the gear you got.

Electro-Acoustic Research and Plan B have announced that they will be returning to the Los Angeles metropolitan area and reopening the PLAN B DIRECT sales portal at www.ear-group.net:

Before and after this launch our products will continue to be available at a number of dealerships both domestically and abroad and a list of those dealers will be updated on our site in the coming days.

I need to stress that this decision had everything to do with business and nothing to do with our successful and strong relationship with Noisebug, a partnership which bore immeasurable growth during it’s tenure and one which I hope will continue in the future. It isn’t about that. It’s about Plan B this month entering it’s fifth year. We’re all grow’d up now…and it’s time to stand on our own.

Look for a PLAN B DIRECT update early next week on the purchase tab at http://www.ear.group.net. Only products currently in our finished goods will be included. For those not listed, links will be provided giving immediate access to dealerships currently stocking products which may not be available at PLAN B DIRECT at any given time.

As always, I look forward to the future, to sharing your experiences with our products and the art created with them. On behalf of Sam Hernandez, Kateri Lirio, Dylan Sang and Brian McKinnon, I thank you for your continued support.

via the awesome Stretta blog of electronic musician Matthew Davidson

At the 2009 Winter NAMM Show, AnalogSuicide’s Tara Busch got the rundown on Plan B modular synthesizers from Plan B’s founder, Peter Grenader. Read more…