I first became aware of the L1 when I saw an acoustic band use a pair of them at a bar we often play at. I had a brief conversation with one of the guys and then hung around for a few songs of the first set.

I dunno if it was because the band didn’t turn me on or what, but I didn’t get that “gotta have one” feeling when I left the place.

Meanwhile, I was progressively feeling more and more discouraged with my current setup with my band. It was a drag having to setup all the time with no help from the other 3 guys. I was also always struggling to hear myself thru the floor monitors. Of course, one always had to wonder what the audience was hearing as we were behind the PA and had to rely on the monitors.

In fact, twice in my career, I’ve had the following nightmare take place: We returned from break, and tuned up to the monitors only, with the house sound still pumping break cd’s. Somehow, I’d get distracted and we’d start up the next set while forgetting to turn on the house sound and played only thru the monitors. Sounded the same to us…. wouldn’t you know it that we’d go thru almost the whole set like that until someone from the audience would say a word? I wanted to scream!

Well, that’s never happened since we got the L1.

Anyways, I stumbled upon this message board one day and started to dig for info. Guys like Tom Munch and ST were a huge help to me as I gathered all I needed to know. What really sold me on the system, though, was the in-person demo by Andrew Douglas. His belief in the product was so strong that his “half hour demo” stretched almost to 3 hours!

Hearing is believing. It was definitely the demo that got me hooked.

Not to mention that since I ditched the EV500’s and racks, that there is now NOTHING that my girlfriend can’t help carry to the gig!

Oops. Did it again. Gotta stop calling her “girlfriend”. She became “wife” a few weeks ago!!! Made me the luckiest guy on the planet!

JD

Couldn't let this go without comment.

JD please see Congratulations JD (JD1)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ST,

Hey Mike this is a great thread.

Back in 2004 I was working with a new band called John Shand and the B Side Band we were doing mostly corporate gigs and as the name implies we did b sides of top ten tunes from the 60s to the 90s. We were spending almost half our money for sound men who most of the time brought too much gear and consequently we were usually too loud for the venue.

I had used Bose before in a house band and thought I would check out their web site for pricing thinking we would do our own sound and pay for a system.

I joined the forum on November 21 2004 under the handle Rick P and asked about this new system. I was knocked out by the help I got from ST, Steve-at- Bose and Ken-at Bose. I printed up the responses and presented them to the band. They were sold.

Our next problem was getting a system. We tried Long & Mcquades but no luck they gave us nothing but grief to the point that we abandoned the idea.

Two years later and still never seeing or hearing one I found a used L1/1B1 on eBay and purchased it on the word of the three people I had never met but who’s integrity and belief in the system came through to me on this forum two years prior.

I rejoined the forum under starvin007 in April of 2006. Since then I own 2 L1s, 4 B1s, a packlite and a T1. Our band is 5 players into 2 to 5 L1s depending on the venue. We love our L1s and couldn’t imagine going back to the old ways. Rick

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Starvin,

I have been an owner and user of Bose home equipment since the 70's. Everything from the 101's, AM5's, 601's, 301's and now added in the Lifestyle 148, Tri-port headphones, L1 MII, 2B1's and T1. I have always been both impressed and pleased with the sound capabilities of Bose equipment.

In my performing experience, I have usually kept most purchases in the $1200. or under range, spending over $3000 at once just did not justify in my mind. So after amassing, large/heavy JBL's, separate amps, mixers, stands, monitors, ear buds, spare cables and a trailer to haul it all, I had a big job of transporting and setting up for each gig. I also developed a torn rotator cuff (from a fall), that did not make it any easier. I've mentioned before that my lack of skill in backing up with the trailer, provided quite a bit of amusement for observers that enjoyed that part of the show the best. Besides a blasting type sound, with hot spots, it was time consuming to set up and tear down.

I read about the Bose L1 (Classic) several times and clicked on the Forum. The early day comments were mixed and as I realize now, that was the great thing about it. I guess you could say "Fair and Balanced". They did not filter out negative comments, you read the truth, even the early days glitches and issues. But things were always addressed. It was interesting to see that Bose was committed to making this product successful.

I initially had a hang up about "Stereo", despite discussions about the "Listeners sweet spot effect" and other attempts including 4 speakers to achieve a cross point effect. Bottom line I was only fooling myself. It just doesn't work that way. I did get a somewhat mixed feeling when I heard 2 other performers use the Classic system. One performer was just doing karaoke and still used cheap microphones, along with poor choice of equalization for the venue. The other was a one-man band type of thing. He was reasonably good, but I think he was so busy, playing guitar, harmonica, singing, playing bass pedals and adjusting his midi and older harmony processor, it appeared he was missing the focus of entertaining.

I liked the overall sound of the L1 Classic, but did not feel they were being used to their best potential. I read these post as the L1, Model II was coming out, along with the T1 Tonematch module. The built effects were a big thing, as several had commented the Classic was too dry sounding for their taste. There was quite a bit of moaning about the price and leaving others behind. I was amazed at how well it eventually played out. It also appeared Bose had responded, very well to users requests for lighter, easier to transport, with the effects features I was looking for and then some. Wow!

I was familiar with the Bose satisfaction guarantee. My best bet was to try it myself on my gig's. I think that was a convincing factor to try it. "If it does not suit your need, bring it back". I did not want to do mail order and shipping, so when I found out the Orlando Bose store had the Model II in stock and on demo, a Saturday trip with the 60 mile drive was the answer.

Basically the rest is history, I have played over 90 gig's with the L1 MII, 2 B1's and T1 system I purchased at over 20 different venues. Several of them were significant challenges in acoustic balance, which the system easily adjusted to accommodate. It is the best system and absolutely the best investment I have ever made in my 30+ years of performing.

For additional frosting on the cake, after becoming a member of this Forum, I attended a Bose L1 conference (Little Switzerland). It was one of the most moving experiences in my life. The friendship and camaraderie was just amazing, with fellow musicians sharing their experience. Meeting real people like Ken, Chris, Cliff, Tom and Mike from Bose was a testament to excellence with that company. Never have I purchased a product and felt like I received a part of the company and friendships with so many Forum members to go with it. This experience has been a turning point in my musical life. All from following these past 5 years with the Bose L1. Thank you to everyone for this.

quote:

Originally posted by Ken-at-Bose:
Wow, getrhythm,

What an amazing story!

You simply MUST put your band in the new L1 Bands forum.

There's even a handy dandy template that ST made that means it takes just a minute to do.

Will you do it???

All the best,

Ken

Thanks for the push, Ken. I've been meaning to get that done but............... The demos are old on our site with no horns or female vox, but you'll get the idea.

I've told this before, but for the new forum members here it is again.

I have been gigging, mostly as a solo with guitar, for about 38 years. In late 2004 I became aware of the Bose L1 through ads, or maybe a MF catalog. I knew that each year the 15" speakers were getting more difficult to get up on their stands, and hauling them in my trailer was an additional hassle. I poked around this web site and got more and more interested in the new product.

At the time we didn't have a Guitar Center near my home to actually see and hear one. Pam and I planned one of our occasional three day pilgrimages to Memphis to get our fill of Blues and ribs. I called a Guitar Center east of Memphis that we would be passing, and confirmed that they had one to demo. When we got there, it didn't have a B1 or anyone who knew much about it. It did have a Variax Accoustic plugged in that, not knowing how to adjust it, I thought sounded pretty bad.

We went on to Memphis and the first night of "bar hopping" found a guy doing a solo piano act with an L1 and 2 B1s. We were blown away with the clarity and how the sound was even throughout a very difficult room with knee walls and floor elevations. He didn't take a break while we were there so I didn't get to talk to him, but I had heard enough.

On our way home, somewhere along the Interstate, I called Bose and, with the confidence of the 45 day return policy, and delayed payments, I placed my order. Two days later it showed up at my workplace.

And we lived happily ever after.

Respect,
Col. Andy

I won't repeat it here, but if you haven't seen it, here's my story, and I'm stickin' to it!

Reading through this thread has gotten me thinking about my decision regarding the L1 system. It has been just about two years ago now. I still remember the "decision point" and you can read about it here, if you desire.

What I didn't mention in that post was that I had lurked around the message board, off and on, about a year prior to this time and never registered to post anything. I kept looking for those actual owner reports and reading every one of them in hopes of learning about the strengths and weaknesses of the system. I noticed the board was moderated, which I liked. But, I was skeptical at first, thinking that negative posts would never see the light of day. The more I read though, the more I saw negative things being posted from time to time, but their frequency was highly out-numbered by the positive things people were saying about the L1. I also noticed the honesty in the discussions which ensued around problem areas. All this spoke volumes to me, as I considered the L1 system.

It would ultimately end up just being a matter of time before I purchased my first L1 system. Hearing was believing, and I took the leap immediately after experiencing it "live". Thanks to Pete (Drumr) for posting my email I'd sent him. He was the catalyst getting me here and I'll never regret it!

As Col. Andy said,

quote:

And we lived happily ever after.

John - Love the new avatar. Have you changed your hair style?

Bobarino, Tom Munch, captbanjo, Brian Beverage

Please see Space Efficient - Go Bose