Crumar Mojo 61 Review - (LONG)

[Joe Muscara]

Welcome to KC, Frank! Great clip, as per your usual.

[LX88]

Since this thread is up again, I was wondering how well the Mojo 61 would pair up with a lower manual.

 

I have been doing this with a Numa 1, but the bottom rail is a bit deep. That seems to be an issue. But I have been using the Numa with a Hammond XK2 for a lower and it works quite well.

 

Anyway I would like to have the option of single or dual manual. Dual works better for home use but I have a lot of need for single for gig situations.

 

Any info appreciated. By the way I SAW the Mojo 61 at NAMM but had very little opportunity to demo it. The Space Station people ( sharing the booth) were very uptight about anyone messing with their amp. I actually wanted to turn it OFF and just listen through phones, but they frowned on it.

 

I won't be buying any Space Station amps.....

[Doerfler]

excellent first post, Frank.

[Joe Muscara]

Since this thread is up again, I was wondering how well the Mojo 61 would pair up with a lower manual.

 

I have been doing this with a Numa 1, but the bottom rail is a bit deep. That seems to be an issue. But I have been using the Numa with a Hammond XK2 for a lower and it works quite well.

 

Anyway I would like to have the option of single or dual manual. Dual works better for home use but I have a lot of need for single for gig situations.

I believe there was a lower manual addition coming from Crumar. It was probably supposed to be out by now, but you know how those things go.

 

Meanwhile, I've been using it with another keyboard for lower manual and it works fine. I'm not sure if you were asking about spacing, how easy it is, or both. I can't speak to the former as I haven't tried. The Mode button and the drawbar selection buttons let you determine which manual the keyboard plays and which manual the drawbars control. It's pretty slick, actually.

[drawback]

By the way I SAW the Mojo 61 at NAMM but had very little opportunity to demo it. The Space Station people ( sharing the booth) were very uptight about anyone messing with their amp. I actually wanted to turn it OFF and just listen through phones, but they frowned on it.

 

I won't be buying any Space Station amps.....

 

Just a sidebar.

 

IIRC it was Aspen's booth, and he graciously shared the space with GSI.

 

I already owned a SSV.3 so for me, NAMM was a perfect setup where I got to meet Aspen, and get a reasonably thorough demo on the Mojo61 through headphones (maybe I was the last straw?). I left there with no doubt about buying the Mojo61 and felt like meeting the big man on the mountaintop was icing on the cake.

 

Sorry your experience was the opposite.

 

Peace.

 

 

 

 

[Barryjam]

Great playing and sound! Frank, was that the internal Leslie?

[Dave Bryce]

Since I saw people asking for audio/video I figured I could join and post my latest video here which gives a pretty good impression of the organ & tines piano sound I think.

 

Enjoy!

Welcome to KC, brother Frank! Good to see you here!

 

dB

[mate stubb]

Great playing and sound! Frank, was that the internal Leslie?

.

[MusicaL]

The FB page says it's the Mojo straight into the computer.

 

This demo is showcasing the Mojo 61, straight out of the box into the computer, using the Organ and Rhodes sounds. For the backing track I used Keyscape (wurli and clavi) , Trilian for the bass and Stylus RMX for the drumloops.

[Markyboard]

By the way I SAW the Mojo 61 at NAMM but had very little opportunity to demo it. The Space Station people ( sharing the booth) were very uptight about anyone messing with their amp. I actually wanted to turn it OFF and just listen through phones, but they frowned on it.

 

I won't be buying any Space Station amps.....

 

Not to impede your freedom of speech here but...do you think that comment serves your best interest? You know, the inevitable near begging again for a NAMM pass in the next few months?

[LX88]

That's just what I experienced. I am not sure why they were so concerned if I turned the amp down but I wasn't about to give a live demo in that situation. I am not that interested in showing off for one thing.

 

By the way, I also think that there is a difference between begging and asking. And so sorry.... I am not affiliated with any organizations at this time that would help me get a pass. So I have put out the word here and fortunately I have been able to go in the years past , which I am very grateful for.

 

However, my experience at that booth was not good. I was and am genuinely interested in the Mojo, but it became next to impossible to adequately demo it. If you were back more than once, it was obviously frowned upon .

 

I did enjoy meeting Guido and Andrea, and had several friendly encounters with them.

 

But I will say this. Implying that I have been begging is name calling, which I don't appreciate. Just like I didn't appreciate being treated like a bad puppy by the space station people.

 

[Markyboard]

 

But I will say this. Implying that I have been begging is name calling, which I don't appreciate. Just like I didn't appreciate being treated like a bad puppy by the space station people.

 

Fair enough - I apologize for that. I do think those of us non-manufacturer reps (and I'm one of them) that get to attend NAMM should show the utmost respect for those that are paying a substantial amount of money to have a booth at the show. Whether we agree with them or not it is their show.

Again, apologies for my snarky response.

[Markay]

By the way I SAW the Mojo 61 at NAMM but had very little opportunity to demo it. The Space Station people ( sharing the booth) were very uptight about anyone messing with their amp. I actually wanted to turn it OFF and just listen through phones, but they frowned on it.

 

I won't be buying any Space Station amps.....

So by way of comparison how many other speaker manufacturers that paid for a booth at NAMM to showcase their product immediately turned their gear off when you asked them, and then welcomed you back to their booth for a second or third time?

[HammondDave]

NAMM is the absolute worse place to audition gear. It has gotten so crowded and noisy that it is almost a waste of time if you really are interested in hearing what a new instrument sounds like. I am sure that Aspen would agree that the Space Station was not set up in an ideal environment for this purpose.

[LX88]

Thank you for the above apology, which I accept.

 

I want to clarify a few things. I drove a long way to the NAMM show last year, and being able to finally hear the Crumar Mojo was a top priority to me. I had never had a chance to hear one after all the time it has been out.

 

I also really enjoyed meeting Guido and Andrea at the KC hang , and we had a lot to discuss.There were some favors that they needed during their visit, and it was a privilege to try to accomodate their requests.

 

But as I said.... you would have thought that it would have been a no brainer to be able to demo the Mojo with headphones. For me that is always the first thing to do. Plus, I did not want to add to the sonic chaos that always seems to happen on the NAMM floor.

 

I don't want to say too much more about the incident with the other company sharing the booth except that they did not make demoing the Mojo an easy matter, headphones or no. Therefore I can't say that I was able to spend that much time with it, which was a major dissapointment. Spending any more than a few minutes was not encouraged , I will say that much.

 

OK...enough is enough. My last comment on this. My apologies if I have treaded on sacred ground.

[Delaware Dave]

"OK...enough is enough. My last comment on this.."

 

Thank god for small favors....

[Dave Bryce]

I don't want to say too much more about the incident with the other company sharing the booth except that they did not make demoing the Mojo an easy matter, headphones or no. Therefore I can't say that I was able to spend that much time with it, which was a major dissapointment. Spending any more than a few minutes was not encouraged , I will say that much.

 

OK...enough is enough. My last comment on this. My apologies if I have treaded on sacred ground.

You didn't tread on any sacred ground - you're just not understanding the situation.

 

Crumar was not sharing the booth with Aspen - Aspen was paying for the booth entirely. The Mojo61 and Casio PX-5S that were in the booth were placed there to make sure that people could hear the Space Station using both a weighted piano type board and a non weighted organ type board. I arranged that - as a matter of fact, they were both sitting on one of my Apex keyboard stands.

 

When Guido and Andrea found out we were doing that, they decided to come over to the show...which was great having them here, of course; however, that was not a Crumar/GSi booth, or even really a formal share. If it had been, there would have been a regular Mojo and a DMC 122 and a few other GSi products.

 

FWIW, I regularly use other manufacturer's products in some of my booths. I'm not sure how I'd react if someone walked into the Amphion booth and got upset at me because I wouldn't let them take the Amphions off line so they could listen with headphones to the D/A converter that I'm using between my computer and the speakers, especially if the request happened while I was trying to to speaker demos. I wasn't there when you were having your issues, but I do know all the other people involved and feel very safe in saying that no one in Aspen's booth was doing anything they were not supposed to be doing.

 

Also, in the future, if you're having an issue at the show with one (or, in this case two) of the companies I work with, you might want to try asking me - I may be able to help.

 

....and now - hopefully - back to our regularly scheduled thread.

 

dB

[drockfresh]

Hi there,

 

Do you think the MoJo 61 is a good fit for a project studio?

 

It seems most of you use it just for gigging but I am looking for something for recording.

 

Does it have enough balls and warmth to make the cut (without harshness in the high frequencies).

 

I know the software sounds great, but what about the converters.

 

I recently had to get rid of my unreliable vintage combo organs and would like to get an organ workhorse.

 

The Electro is tempting because of all the sounds but I LOVE the sound of the VB3 plugin.

 

I used it on some demo compositions and just LOVED the sound of that plugin.

 

I don't have the space or time for vintage but I do have a Leslie 147 I could run it through to add some *balls*

 

Do you think the Mojo will stand the test of time, or be surpassed by next year's model?

 

That's happened to me many times (NORD!) when buying digital boards. Things like WiFi seem a bit weird to me, because that technology might not be here in a few years.

 

I also have an Old Korg CX-3 that amazingly is still ticking and sounds great, but it's starting to show its age. I will probably stack that on the bottom and use it as another manual.

 

So... Mojo 61 for studio workhorse?

 

[vanderSchoot]

If you love VB3 the Mojo61 (VB32) is better in all aspects....... a no brainer i would say !But the experts will comment on that soon

 

What got me intrigued is that i have a portable Tascam DP24 and did record several hammond clones and choose the one ( in a specific song that is....) that sounded thin in isolation, but was breathing the most in this specific full mix, without having to eq much.

I realised that i should take the DP-24 more out to musicstores i frequently visit and wouldn't mind me recording a few soundbytes on the fly...........

 

I don't record much lately, but with even smaller deveices around than the Tascam, one would expect people to do this more frequent....... Bring your musical scetch to the store and record some.......

 

[Aussie_Chicago]

Ive just had the fortune of test driving the Mojo61 for a week. I had all the intention of buying it. I put it on top of my xk3 pro system while getting to know it and right away comparing the action, the mojo is like butter ! Feels so good compared to the xk3c. The Mojo Hammond tone is great and with all the different available organs as well as changing generator settings, I got a very ballsy full tone. The overdrive is very authentic , as is the C/V and leslie, I doubt I would ever need the vent using this guy.

I dialed in a fantastic Rhodes sound, very reminiscent of my 72 stage using hard tines and backing off the bark/bite and hardness. Probably one of the better Rhodes sounds Ive heard, even better than my SV-1.

I even played around with the pipe organ, wow, using the couplers and generous reverb, this sounds very full. Wurli sounds ok, not the best Ive heard, as is the APiano, ok not great.

The things I would like to see that drove me nuts-

Having the ability to assign 2 knobs for tremolo speed and depth rather than using the editor.

Also when switching between Rhodes and wurli, having the effects change along with it. When you set up the tremolo for the Rhodes, and switching to wurli, the same settings follow on , which is not correct for a wurli.

I would rather have had a clav sound than the farf or vox but it is what it is.

If you are looking at this as a dedicated clone, its pretty hard to beat as well as the Rhodes stands out. The board itself has some nice heft to it , dosnt feel at all like a plastic fantastic like so many are these days.

Heres the caveat-I just had a meeting with my band leader on Sunday and he is dissolving the band,-a whole other story I'm pissed about , which means right now I'm out of a gig , so as much as I want this, GAS v's common sense , I have to return the mojo for now. And I thank Paul ( wd8dky ) for allowing me to test drive this without a commitment , that's why I love the members here.

[dsetto]

The things I would like to see that drove me nuts-

Having the ability to assign 2 knobs for tremolo speed and depth rather than using the editor.

I thought I read that some physical screen add-on editor is available for the Mojo. Is that right?

 

[Delaware Dave]

I purchased the Gemini module rather than a Mojo or DMC keyboard. The tremolo speed and depth are assignable to CC's. I assigned mine to two sliders on my PC3 and the tremolo on/off to a switch. The Gemini gives you everything that the Mojo gives you (plus more) and at a reduced price. The only thing missing is the new, improved keybed on the Mojo that my PC3 doesn't provide. With all of the older clones that people have purchased in the past I'm a little surprised that the choice of purchasing yet another clone is the first choice when they could purchase the Gemini and still use the older clones (or any keyboard) as controllers of the module.

[Aussie_Chicago]

The things I would like to see that drove me nuts-

Having the ability to assign 2 knobs for tremolo speed and depth rather than using the editor.

I thought I read that some physical screen add-on editor is available for the Mojo. Is that right?

 

I believe that's for the dual manual mojo, not the 61. The 61 uses a wifi connection for the editor.

[Aussie_Chicago]

I purchased the Gemini module rather than a Mojo or DMC keyboard. The tremolo speed and depth are assignable to CC's. I assigned mine to two sliders on my PC3 and the tremolo on/off to a switch. The Gemini gives you everything that the Mojo gives you (plus more) and at a reduced price. The only thing missing is the new, improved keybed on the Mojo that my PC3 doesn't provide. With all of the older clones that people have purchased in the past I'm a little surprised that the choice of purchasing yet another clone is the first choice when they could purchase the Gemini and still use the older clones (or any keyboard) as controllers of the module.

 

Trust me, the idea of the Gemini being run by my xk3c is very appealing. But its the action of the keybed on the new mojo's that are one of its strongest points , it really is as good as everyone says it is . I just really wish there was a dedicated output / 11 pin / or 8 pin for the organ tone, and stereo outs for the rest of the sounds , for both the 61 and the gemini. I do use Leslies on occasions. Its all a mute point for me right now anyway.......no GAS for a while

[Delaware Dave]

I just really wish there was a dedicated output / 11 pin / or 8 pin for the organ tone, and stereo outs for the rest of the sounds , for both the 61 and the gemini. I do use Leslies on occasions. Its all a mute point for me right now anyway.......no GAS for a while

I wish for the same, i.e. the ability to at least globally pan the engines since there is not a dedicated out for the organ. What I've done is pan the organ left and all other sounds right on a patch by patch basis. It's a pain but gets the job done; except I lose stereo for the non organ sounds but presently I'm not running stereo. It is just the hassle of remembering that every time I want to add a sound I have to go in via the editor and pan that sound to the right. If there were a global engine pan option then this step would not be necessary.

[bjosko]

If it only was possible to route or separate the Organ, or the other sounds to the headphone out, I would be a happy camper.

[phattbuzz]

I am looking at the GSi DMC-122 with the Gemini module. They say it's an upgrade from the Mojo. The YouTube videos are great. I do wonder about hooking up MIDI pedals to this unit though. I believe in organ mode the pedals will work but I don't think they will with the other engines. Also since there are only two engines you can't layer and use both keybeds. A lot of times I like to layer the pianos with strings or pads and on my Kronos I can use a volume pedal for only those sounds while keeping the pianos at regular volumes.

[mate stubb]

Joined the club today!

 

http://www.hotrodmotm.com/images/misc/mojo61.jpg

[Doerfler]

Cool stand.

[drawback]

Joined the club today!