SK-1 and 2 Tips, Tricks and Other Cool Stuff.

[JMcS]

that's not on the Hammondusa site yet. I wonder what the actual improvement is?

 

The website information hasn't been updated yet but the file the Hammond US site links to is the new 8.3 update.

[DanL]

ok cool. I'm not going to install it today as I have a gig tonight, but over the weekend I'll do it.

[B3bluesman59]

Has anyone A/B'd these two pedals, or are there any advantages that the EXP 50 has over the FC7?

_________________________________________________________________I have not A/B'd the two pedals...I do use the FC7 with my SK1-73. I have noticed that you have to have the pedal pushed to about 3/4 position to pick up all the harmonics of the notes/chords you are playing. With less pedal open it seems the highs start to drop out. I have owned two B3s and I don't recall this happening with them. But for the price the FC7 works.

[OB Dave]

When using the FC7 you have to change a setting in the control menu. Set the volume pedal control to REV PEDAL. FC7 works great with SK-1 when you do this.

[jpgxk3]

You can adjust the high and low volume drop off points independently of each other to your liking. It's in the pedal menu parameter, can also change the level down to a whisper/zero if you like. Try a couple of the settings to get as close to the B you had. Joe.

[JrussoC]

I recently notice that if you play the pedal notes and add the P. Sustain a hiss can be heard. It is very easy to notice and I've played the sk1 in various amps and it continues. Does anybody here have the same problem?

 

E.g (fist with normal treble then with full treble): http://vocaroo.com/i/s0LFVO4s8BW7

[JMcS]

What do you have the Attack set to? (Pg.75 #14)

[JrussoC]

The attack is set to normal click.

[JMcS]

At first I thought you meant the key click but when I turned my computer speaker volume up and put my ear next to the speaker I could hear the hiss. With headphones on and the SK-1's volume at max I could hear the hiss noticeably with the mid range eq. at the highest setting and the volume at max along with the treble at max. (This was the master EQ on the control panel.) With it set where I usually have it, Volume at 10:00 and all eq (Control Panel and Patch parameters) at the 0 point I couldn't hear it. When holding a note past the decay/sustain fade out the hiss would suddenly stop so maybe it is produced in the DSP that generates the sustain and decay. In my normal use it isn't something I would hear. IMO, YMMV, Yada Yada Yada.

[Craig MacDonald]

I recently notice that if you play the pedal notes and add the P. Sustain a hiss can be heard. It is very easy to notice and I've played the sk1 in various amps and it continues. Does anybody here have the same problem?

 

E.g (fist with normal treble then with full treble): http://vocaroo.com/i/s0LFVO4s8BW7

JrussoC,

 

If you go back and look through this thread beginning in the first few pages you will see a number of SK1 owners, myself included, that were posting on a noise that was very similar to this (although mine was worse and it made the SK1 entirely unuseable).. It was excessive hiss in the Extra voices.. it starts with posts #2368201 by pawel and myself #2368711.

 

At that time, my local retailer told me that Hammond tech had advised them that this was a known problem, the degree of noise varied from one keyboard to the next (barely noticeable on some but quite noticeable on others). They said that they considered it to be acceptable but offered to exchange mine for a new SK1 (I wasn't interested because I didn't like the EV's). Mine was quite a bit worse than yours, but this is basically the symptom I experienced. Excessive hiss in the EV's that was extremely noticeable when using the sustain pedal.

 

I'm not sure what to suggest because I don't think that there is a solution (ie updating to the newest OS did not resolve my problem at the time) and I was not interested in EQing the hiss out, because the EV's already sounded mediocre to me, and EQing the highs would only worsen the problem so I returned mine.

 

JMcS may have some ideas for you, but I'm pretty sure this is the same/known problem that I had. Good luck.

[JrussoC]

Thanks for the answers Craig and JMcS. Personally, at least in my sk1, the hiss is very loud for quite songs. In live situations it does matter if it's a big place, in studio it matters but can be solved with a little editing.

[HAMEGZ]

SK2 here with no discernible hiss on the EVs

[JrussoC]

In my case, the problem isn't in the EVs but in the bass pedal notes. If you can, decrease the p. bass decay, in 3 or 4, put p sustain, increase the treble and tell us if you can hear it.

[JMcS]

Why do you have to turn the treble up? Does the rest of the organ sound dull otherwise through your Leslie/amps or whatever you play through?

[JMcS]

For anyone looking for a USB drive for their SK or XK-1c, I've been told that these Verbatim drives work:

 

Verbatim 4Gb USB drives

[Six-string-man]

For anyone looking for a USB drive for their SK or XK-1c, I've been told that these Verbatim drives work:

 

Verbatim 4Gb USB drives

 

 

 

Integral 4GB drives work too.

 

 

 

SSM

[JrussoC]

JMcS, it's just to make the problem more noticeable. In big amps, it can be heard with normal treble.

 

-----------------------------------------------------------

Now, talking about the hardware: Has anyone notice problem with the keys?. Since january I had to clean 3 times some parts inside the sk1 because some keys don't sound with the propper attack or simply don't sound if you don't hit them strong enough.

 

 

Just to know if its normal or it's just me who isn't treating the sk1 right.

[JE62]

Just ordered an SK1. I see I can buy an EXP 50 expression pedal from Hammond for £139. However, I could also buy a Yamaha FC7 pedal for £59. Now, I use an FC7 on another keyboard, and I love it.

 

Has anyone A/B'd these two pedals, or are there any advantages that the EXP 50 has over the FC7?

 

The advantages would have to be fairly significant for me to shell out well over twice the price!

 

Thanks,

 

 

SSM

 

Well, the Hammond pedal is just much better - in response, and as being said earlier, built like a tank. But, it's quite heavy too. If you got the bucks, buy it.

[JMcS]

There will be a live webcast of a clinic for the SKs being held at Long and McQuade in Toronto Tues May 6 @ 7Pm:

 

Hammond Webcast

 

Long and McQuade webpage

 

 

[keyguy]

I'm having a problem using the FC7 with my SK1. I have been using the Ashby adapter and today the pedal stopped controlling the volume/expression. So, I removed the adapter and went to the control menu and changed the expression parameter to REV, but still no volume/expression control. I can wiggle the adapter cable and get volume so I figure it's not the pedal. Is there any other setting in the expression menu that could cause the REV setting not to work by directly plugging in the FC7? Is there a process whereby the REV setting needs to be "saved" ?Thanks!

[garnermike]

Yes, the Hammond EXP 50 is a great pedal with the SK1 in terms of feel and sensitivity. And it is built well. One issue, however. The connecting cable is very lightweight and thin---not what you'd expect to be attached to such heavy-duty pedal. I noticed this shortcoming right away after purchase. My cable, despite great care, crapped out after 150 gigs (happened right near where the cable enters the pedal box. I gerry-rigged a fix while waiting months for Hammond to send a replacement cable. Ultimately, Hammond did right by me and, as they did not get any new supply of cables from Japan, Hammond sent me a whole new pedal. It had the same thin cable when I got it, however, so I immediately wrapped about a 1-inch section of it (immediate to the pedal box) with some of that self-fusing electrical tape). Just trying to reinforce it and apply a little preventive voodoo.

[Jazzmammal]

I'm a brand new owner of a used SK1 I just picked up from forum member Brad. As a long time B3 guy I'll just say this. This thing is the bomb. The feel of the keys is way better than either the XK1 or my VK8. Those are ok but nothing like this SK. What impresses me is how I can still dig into the AP and EP voices. It literally took me all of 30 seconds to get used to the feel for AP and I'm loving this board. No issues with any noises some have talked about. For now I've just been playing with the presets, no tweaking at all and it sounds great. As a long time PC3 owner I can say the SK isn't as good as that for a lot of sounds but the EV's are better than I expected, not bad at all and very usable. I also really like a keyboard with EQ knobs right on the panel.

 

This is first and foremost an organ and it's outstanding and I haven't done anything to it yet like load Jim's tonewheel set or anything like that. It already sounds so much better than my other clones it's not even close. I think the leslie sim is pretty good but I'm going to try it with my Burn and see how that sounds. I'll post some thoughts on that soon.

 

First impression is very good and it appears to have the latest OS with a whole lot of EV's and I'm looking forward to figuring out what it has for libraries and what others are available.

 

Bob

[JE62]

Yes, the Hammond EXP 50 is a great pedal with the SK1 in terms of feel and sensitivity. And it is built well. One issue, however. The connecting cable is very lightweight and thin---not what you'd expect to be attached to such heavy-duty pedal. I noticed this shortcoming right away after purchase. My cable, despite great care, crapped out after 150 gigs (happened right near where the cable enters the pedal box. I gerry-rigged a fix while waiting months for Hammond to send a replacement cable. Ultimately, Hammond did right by me and, as they did not get any new supply of cables from Japan, Hammond sent me a whole new pedal. It had the same thin cable when I got it, however, so I immediately wrapped about a 1-inch section of it (immediate to the pedal box) with some of that self-fusing electrical tape). Just trying to reinforce it and apply a little preventive voodoo.

 

Thanks, good to know, gotta check out that - every once in a while.

[JE62]

Welcome to the Sk - series admirers club, Jazzmammal. It's an fine instrument. And, if you have questions, here you'll find the answers, mostly courtesy of JMcS (whom i hereby salute).

[B3bluesman59]

Question to you Sk1 and SK1-73 owners....I have the 73 and when playing the EV Eps and Aps I notice that some keys when struck give out sort of a "metallic sound"...kind of like the old time Eps with the reeds when you hit them too hard. Does this mean I am hitting the key to hard or is their some kind of adjustment such as "velocity" that will take away this harshness?

[JMcS]

There is a velocity offset adjustment (pg. 80 #24) that can be adjusted to make it easier or harder to hit a high velocity value. That adjustment adds or subtracts the selected value to/from the generated velocity. You can make the voices pop without having to play "Whack-A-Mole" with the keys or not.

[B3bluesman59]

JMcs: Thanks...I'll give it a try.

[Leo Dutra]

How I would find some of those very shorty (low profile) pendrives that works. I really don't like the aesthetics of a long pendrive attached to the rear panel. Also, it seems to be prone to break the port as someone bumps on it.

[Leo Dutra]

Exactly what I done when I received mine (self fusion reinforcement). And for wrapping the power supply as well.

 

Other thing that bothers me in the EXP50 is the absence of the Leslie switch as in the EXP100. If I can go backwards, I should bough it and adapted for the SK.

[JMcS]

There is no way to adapt an EXP-100 to work on an SK.

 

It probably would be easy enough to buy a metal bracket and doorbell switch at a hardware store and mount a kick switch on the side of the EXP-50 or any other pedal for that matter.