I spent three days in Remscheid, Germany earlier this week and on the last day I saw there was a small music store across from the hotel. (It was across a large intersection and we only stumbled upon it; it was out of the way and that's why I didn't see it.)

At any rate, I walked in and was greeted by a very friendly young man and his wife. Right by the entrance was a chopped A-100. I started talking about B-3's and he tells me there's a 'new' B-3 upstairs, the Hammond Suzuki.

I sat down and played for about five minutes or so and I could not tell the difference between that or the sound or feel of a real B-3.

He also told me that folks drive hundreds of kilometers to try out that Hammond\Suzuki as he is one of the few stores that has one on the floor.

So, if there's any forum members who want to try one out, there's one in Remscheid.

The bad news - the price ... € 20,000.

Wow, That makes a $3,000.00 B3 seem like a bargain.

Dave
It's Europe
A guy in Athens sells his old, beaten B3 for 17000 euros, so i guess 20000 euros is a fair price for a brand new B3 (unfortunatelly)

I played Joey's a few times when he was still with them. It indeed sounded monstrous. Too bad no one will ever be able to afford it!

That's actually pretty close to what they run in the States, about $28k with a 122

I'm curious If these are wired for universal voltage or local voltage. Is that an option?

It probably is like the XK-3c and has a switch inside that can be turned to the local voltage. It might require a different fuse to go with that voltage and a power cord to match the local outlets.

I played the New B3 portable thru a new 122 - to me, it sounds just like my RT-3, perhaps a bit more treble, but the overall feel and tone are there. The keyboard is a perfect recreation of the old keyboards, and you can program it too. Caveats for me are A: the electronics - how long will they last? Not as long as tonewheels... and B: the price. I understand that the keyboard is very advanced, but they're VERY expensive. A new B3p costs as much as four of my 1959 RT-3...

But if you have the funds and want to gig a B3, the new B3p is probably the best choice. If it's good enough for Booker T, that's high marks in my book.

I'd really like to have one. Now where did I bury those Krugerrands?

After I tried the new B3, I really wanted one. Really have to admit, it souns amazing through 122. After deep look into mo wallet I compromised. I choose to make kind of look alike from XK3c and Leslie 3300. Well, it's not as massive, but sounds very good (ask b3'er;) and its much more flexible for different needs.

http://muusikoiden.net/dyn/users/56486.jpg

And the point is, it's half the price.

Eh, Mr. Dissent here.

I sat 3 feet from Joey and 2 feet from his twin Leslie XB's one night. He used stop most of the night as is his habit. This really exposes the organ tone, and to me the digital B has a whiff of sterility about it that I did not hear the night he played Cathy, my '59 C-3.

And it is almost surely true that a new B-3 will fail and become unrepairable long before my 50 year old tonewheel organs will.

... the digital B has a whiff of sterility about it ...

I think this calls for a double blind test.

Remscheid? I hope you have a good excuse for that

I played.a B3p and did not like it, it was going into a 3300. The action was plasticky noisy sounding keys, chorus/vib not great. Who on earth is buying the new ones? and I mean the full cabinet version?

Somebody tried selling a new B3 on UK Ebay for months and it NEVER sold on there.

I can't comment on the one you played. The one I played was two years old and as far as I'm concerned, it could have been a real B-3.

And the New B3 MkII is even better.

Have you tried it yet? Which kind of improvements have you noticed? Just really curious, becouse I have to think my 40'th birthday present very carefully...:)

I haven't played it yet. It has the new sound engine that is in the XK-3c which I own. The tonewheels are tweakable. It has a tube preamp with a 12AU7, a tube buffer with a 12AX7, a digital Leslie if needed (with a PR-40 simulation to use along with a Leslie). It also has 4-5 years of improvements in processor and DSP technology.


The owners manual is available here:
http://www.hammondorganco.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=50

Happy Birthday.

Thanks, still two years to go...

I just don't see the market here. Someone looking for a B3 clone almost always has one of two things in mind. They either can't afford to purchase and maintain a real B3, or they want an organ solution that doesn't weigh a few hundred pounds (portable).

If you're looking for a "real B3," would you really pay as much as you would for a new car (list price $27k!!!) to get a big heavy B3 clone? Or would you pay many times less for an actual, mint condition vintage B3? If it's me I'm going for the real thing every time.

It may sound outstanding, but again, I just don't see the market for this thing.

The market is churches. Specifically Southern Bapist Gospel churches. And yes, they do pay this kind of money for the instrument. And they also beat the crap out of them, so they buy a new one every 10 years or so. Even real B3s.

I agree.

Technology enables the production of these things but in reality, the potential clients i.e. clubs, studios, churches, schools, etc., are aware of the alternatives.

The digital B3, Rhodes Mark 7 and Hohner DigiClav (TBD-patent pending ) are boutigue instruments that will be bought by a handful of enthusiasts.

Well, this is a keyboard forum and as far as I can tell, only one person has bought the new Rhodes.

Anyone here buy the new B3?

Back when I was servicing electronic instruments, I did some work for several Hammond-Suzuki dealers. In the early 1990's, the B3 electronic Hammond did sell quite well - its price at the time was somewhere arount 20K to $25K including a new Leslie. The largest market in S.E. Virginia was the larger primarily black churches, of a number of denominations.
They had the money, and wanted something that looked exactly like a B3, and sounded as close as possible to a B3. Completely rebuilt original B3's (the kind of rebuild that a company needs a metal shop, good electronic shop, a supply of many values of resistors and generator capacitors, and the ability to fabricate a lot of parts) were being sold by the dealers for $15K and up.

Most of those churches would not even consider any other brand, or other Hammond-Suzuki models.

Personally, I thought they sounded better than a lot of the old B3's, but not as good as a few of the old B3's. There can be a huge variation between two B3', even ones produced about the same time.

Given the "how did you get your B3?" thread, I suppose it is worth noting that an original new B3 cost about as much as car did back then. The new pricing fits the old model. It seems most of us were lucky enough to be able to buy used and trust Hammond's build quality. With the new B3 and B3p there doesn't seem to be a used market (and I have looked regularly). I played a new B3 console back when they first came out. It was running through the new 122 and sounded a bit too trebley for my ears, but my original C3 has always had a fat midrange and that's what I'm used to. Certainly the "new B3" was within the realm of differences regularly found between vintage B's. It certainly sounded better than any other clone. When I heard that the Xk3 has the same engine, I sold my VK7 in order to get one. A B3p would still be cool, though. Oh well.

I could be mistaken ... and this was a long time ago, but I believe my father paid $1600 for a used B3 with a PR20 tone cabinet back in 1965 or so.

This just in - a reply from Hammond - Suzuki in the US regarding my universal voltage question ...

Hi Dave: Thank you for writing to us.

The Portable B-3 is only wired for the U.S.

Sincerely,

Hammond Suzuki USA
Customer Service

I remember that my C3 which was 14 years old when I bought it cost me about 1200. My 1967 Mustang which was 2 years old when I got it cost me 1350. Seems B3 and car prices were always pretty close. A 1970 B3 cost about the same as a 1970 Buick Le Sabre.

The Pro B3 is sold in Europe or at least the UK:

http://www.hammondorgan.co.uk/page20/page8/page8.html

I think each Hammond distributor is only allowed to sell in their own country. They receive the units set for their country or area in Europe. Technically the ones Hammond in Chicago receives are only wired for the US. People in Europe have purchased units (XK-3's) from American dealers and had them shipped over. Turning the dial to the correct voltaqe and replacing the power cord and fuse converted the unit to the local voltage.

The B3P service manual lists four voltages for the power supply, 100, 120, 220, 240 - 50/60Hz.

Thanks, JMcS,

I'll check one out in person soon and take a look inside.

My old Roland A80 could be switched for universal voltage. I'm guessing the person who responded to me was not a tech per se.

They probably were not.

I think:

A: You were recently reminded just how much fun playing a B3 is.

B: There is an ongoing resurgence in the popularity of Organ, particularly in Jazz.

C: There is money to be made, particularly for people who can play the B3 with both hands and both feet.

E: You like making money particulrly via playing music.

F: All of the above.

Good Luck and hold out for the MkII version or a real good deal on the original.


Also, I hear being Bi-keyboard doubles ones chances for a gig on Saturday night.

JMcS, yea, those thoughts have crossed my mind.

Last night on TV I watched about 30 minutes of the Steve Winwood \ Eric Clapton tour and Steve played B3 for some of the time.

He really didn't play much at all and the one lick he played that seemed impressive at first listen is not really all that much ... and he used it at least twice. My point, it's a lot easier to be flashy or sound more impressive on organ than it is on piano - it's just part of the instrument.

When I played B3 for my wife in Germany last week she was really impressed even though what I played was not much at all.

I'll check out the dealer who's not too far from my house and report back on the power issue of the PB3 ... and also report back on that Hammichord (or whatever it's called).

More info - I called the Piano Organ Depot in Olyphant, PA and was given a ballpark figure of $18,000 for a PB3 and the 3300 Leslie.

This is looking more attractive.

Mint condition vintage B3/Leslie combos can be found pretty easily for under $10k. If it's me, I'd still rather get the "original" instrument and pay less in the process.

HEY!

You're giving away my secrets, man, keep your voice down...

--Dave

I've known it all along but it just became glaringly apparent after watching Steve Winwood play a B3.

I just received an e-mail (in Dutch) regarding the voltage situation with the PB3. I was told the voltage is selectable and is easy to do. So, they come with a multi tap transformer and the user makes the change.

For the Dutch guys ...

Geachte Hr. Horne,

De B-3 Portable heeft geen universele voeding, maar moet afgesteld worden met een interne spanning carrousel.

De nieuwe B-3 Portable die we in West/Midden Europa leveren staan afgesteld op 230 Volt, voor het Groot Brittanie en Australie op 240 Volt.
Er is echter ook de mogelijkheid om de B-3P op 100 en 110 Volt (voor Japan en USA) te schakelen.

Echter het is wel nodig om het instrument te openen om dit te doen (boven/achterkap moet er even af) maar dit is niet echt moeilijk.

Wilt u de Nieuwe B-3P eens nader bekijken of in alle rust uit te proberen, dan bent u van harte welkom in onze distributeur/dealer-showroom in Vianen.
Als u dit wilt dan verzoeken wij u om hiervoor een afspraak te maken (tel. 0347-370594) dan zorgen wij dat het instrument voor u klaar staat.

Met vriendelijke groeten,

Jan Kok (sales manager Europe)
Hammond Suzuki Europe bv
Ir. D.S. Tuynmanweg 4a
4131 PN Vianen

Basically you turn a dial and line up the voltage you want with an arrow. Replace the fuse if necessary and possibly the power cord.

The fuses are either 125V 1.6A or 250V 800mA depending on the AC line voltage.

Good Luck.

Between the obvious words that are similar to English and a little bit of German knowledge, that was a fairly easy read.

Yesterday, I played a Korg BX3. It's good to know that if I start jonesing for a dual manual organ, I could satisfy it for less than $3k.