Hamichord MkII to be released in one week

The BG Musical Instruments website is now updated. Looks like a MIDI controller only unit similar to the original Hamichord:

Hamichord MC-3

Along with an optional 1U VST Player (with VB3 installed by default):

Hamichord EXP-Edition

I think that this is a very exciting product, even just as a controller for a software organ running on a computer. The only thing that gives me pause is the Behringer sound card in the specs for the EXP-Edition.

It even has an 11-pin out!

I will try to e-mail them and ascertain pricing.

There's a dealer in Eindhoven which is about 30 minutes from where I live. I'm going to check it out and report back in a week or two.

That dealer also has the Hammond\Suzuki organs as well ... and original Hammonds. If I hit the lottery I'll buy something.

edit - the showroom which I stated was in Eindhoven has moved and is now located in Reusel. The factory site needs to update their dealer list.

Specs say it's only 23 kg (approx. 50 pounds). Can that be true? At that weight, it doesn't seem like it could be all that sturdy. A big, Joey D-sized fella would surely squash that thing like a soda can.

That website is so difficult to read that I could just barely skim it without getting dizzy, but it looks like it's a full organ clone as is, running Windows on a standard chip and being loaded initially with VB3, which is a very good clone (though I can't use it currently as it is incompatible with Digital Performer on Mac OS X).

I didn't notice any prices, or US availability. Also, I didn't see any info on a single-manual version. But I'm getting a headache trying to read the info on their website, so haven't delved that deeply.

Okay, I had BG Musical Instruments price two packages for me:

Hamichord MC-3 + Exp-Edition = $3,996.00 + shipping
Hamichord MC-3 + Gig Bag = $2,720.00 + shipping

I think BG is pricing themselves out of the market here. For $4K, I can get a real B3 + Leslie here in WV.

If the MC-3 would have been priced at around $1,000.00 or so, my order would already be placed.

If the Queen had balls she'd be King.

Touche - still ridiculous pricing, though.

Since we're in the middle of a clonewheel roundup, I'm contacting them about getting a unit. Not to cast aspersions on what may be a very cool product, but I tend to start out a little leery of things made in Europe (especially Italy) that have no established North American distribution yet. Still, we should definitely include this, because if not us, then who?

I am very happy with GSI's VB3. I'm just not happy about the XK-3's ability to control it, even with the XK-3 Drawbar Mapper VST workaround.

Someone really needs to create a controller of this type, or even a single manual version, for a decent price.