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Keyboards in the days before great PA?


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Wonderful pics, stories, and memories gents. Early 70's I had a single manual Farfisa, can't recall which model and that's just fine! Cheese grater for sure. My amp of choice was a black rolled Kustom K 100 guitar amp twin 10 or 12" speakers which was loud and had the pull switch for "bright" and it was. It was a portable rig that I could afford and move around. A couple years later I bought a great 147 Leslie and Hammond L-101 which was great for a rock n roller back then. Sorry, no pics to be found.
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This is the first specifically designed Keyboard amplification system I remember seeing. I used one at a rehearsal studio around 1976. I believe the mixer had a channel optimized for Rhodes Piano.

 

http://www.preservationsound.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Acoustic_Model_500.jpg

 

I had that mixer. Actually was pretty good for keyboards.

 

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I knew I had some pics of my older stuff. Here they are in no particular order:

 

The MTI Rotophaser that actually moved air:

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/792815/4063775/414388736.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/792815/4063775/414388737.jpg

The home made stomp box controller I made when the original plastic one went tits up:

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/792815/4063775/414388739.jpg

 

 

Wow! You are the first person I've ever seen who had one as well. I had the MTI Rotophaser too! I ran my Crumar T2 into a 12 inch PolyTone Bass amp to drive it. It was all I could afford then. I eventually found a Leslie 147 with a preamp pedal for $125.00 in 1981 under a blanket in the back corner of Red Bank Music. Drove it home down the Garden State Parkway sticking half way out of the back of my Plymouth TC3 hatchback. Eventually got a Yamaha EM-150 mixer so I could mike the Rotophaser and run my Juno-6 and Moog Rogue into the mixer and send a feed to FOH.

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This is the first specifically designed Keyboard amplification system I remember seeing. I used one at a rehearsal studio around 1976. I believe the mixer had a channel optimized for Rhodes Piano.

 

http://www.preservationsound.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Acoustic_Model_500.jpg

 

I had that mixer. Actually was pretty good for keyboards.

I still have that mixer! Collecting dust in my Mom"s basement, although I think I have a cover over it. Was definitely the shiz back in the day. Really liked that on-board EQ.

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."

- George Bernard Shaw

 

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I knew I had some pics of my older stuff. Here they are in no particular order:

 

The MTI Rotophaser that actually moved air:

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/792815/4063775/414388736.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/792815/4063775/414388737.jpg

The home made stomp box controller I made when the original plastic one went tits up:

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/792815/4063775/414388739.jpg

 

 

Wow! You are the first person I've ever seen who had one as well. I had the MTI Rotophaser too! I ran my Crumar T2 into a 12 inch PolyTone Bass amp to drive it. It was all I could afford then. I eventually found a Leslie 147 with a preamp pedal for $125.00 in 1981 under a blanket in the back corner of Red Bank Music. Drove it home down the Garden State Parkway sticking half way out of the back of my Plymouth TC3 hatchback. Eventually got a Yamaha EM-150 mixer so I could mike the Rotophaser and run my Juno-6 and Moog Rogue into the mixer and send a feed to FOH.

 

OK Doc, here are some more memories. I broke the stupid foot controller the second time I stepped on it, so I made a wooden housing patterned after my Leslie preamp pedal. This was moving air, but no adjustments for speed or balance. Maybe this where the Leslie 2101 came from ( I have one of those also).

 

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/792815/4063775/414389087.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/792815/4063775/414389088.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/792815/4063775/414389089.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL96/792815/4063775/414389090.jpg

 

 

Jake

 

1967 B-3 w/(2) 122's, Nord C1w/Leslie 2101 top, Nord PedalKeys 27, Nord Electro 4D, IK B3X, QSC K12.2, Yamaha reface YC+CS+CP

 

"It needs a Hammond"

 

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Seeing the Rotophaser reminded me. During the time I used the EV S15-3 for the CP70B & my D6 Clav, I had a 49 note solid state Hammond that I ran through an ElkaTone. I believe it was the 615. Had a rotating horn on the top half, and the bottom half had a 15" speaker with a simulated drum. Built in solid state amp, I think 100 watt. The motor was a DC motor that was controlled by a footswitch that acted as a preamp, in much the same way that the foot preamp for a 147 Leslie did. I had that with the EV on top of it.

 

It was separate cabinets, but I bolted them together

 

Worked really well.

 

My Rhodes Piano bass I ran through the bass player's rig. It was a country band, and the bass player doubled on fiddle, guitar, and electric mandolin, so I had to play bass then.

 

He played an Alembic bass, so he could make it match the sound of the Rhodes, so the switch was seamless.

 

His rig was an Alembic 2-channel tube preamp, with a Shure active crossover. Lows went through a Yamaha P2201 Power amp into a pair of JBL Cabaret series bass cabinets, with 1 15" each. Mids/highs through a Crown D150 and a pair of handmade (by me) Thiele design 12' cabinets with JBL speakers,

 

 

 

 

"In the beginning, Adam had the blues, 'cause he was lonesome.

So God helped him and created woman.

 

Now everybody's got the blues."

 

Willie Dixon

 

 

 

 

 

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Viewing these posts is fascinating. I am too young to have been there at the time (I'm not young at 37 but didn't start gigging until late 90s) but god we have it easy these days! Laptop/controller (or hardware board), small mixer or DI and plug into FoH. Tablet or phone to control our in-ear monitor mix - job done!
Nord Stage 2EX | Nord Wave | Mainstage | Key Largo
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Watch YouTube videos or look at still pictures of Yes's Rick Wakeman back in the '70s. Count the keyboards. Note the Hammond, the grand piano, the Mellotron, etc. Tally up the pounds.

 

Feel for the roadies...

 

Grey

I'm not interested in someone's ability to program. I'm interested in their ability to compose and play.

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I posted this in the past. My first rig (1976). Univox Multiman on a homemade stand. 100W Univox bass amp. Homemade speaker cabinet w/two 12" Celestions and two piezos. This setup served me well for the first two years.

 

Multiman.jpg

 

This how it looked like during a gig.

 

Steve-Misty-Blue-Crop.jpg

Steve Coscia

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I started playing gigs in the early 80's, but as a teen I had a Hammond L100 that I took the preamp out from and ran it into a Kustom guitar amp to keep up with the guys in our garage band. I had the Tapco/power amp/speaker setup a lot of you guys have already mentioned. I was using a CS800 for an amp and a Yamaha PA cabinet that was a 15 and a horn. My rig was the L100 and a Rhodes that I ran thru a Boss chorus stomp pedal.

 

Things are so much easier now. That Hammond/Rhodes rig is self contained in my Electro, which I can plug direct into my powered monitors. 50lbs of gear vs 500!

Live: Korg Kronos 2 88, Nord Electro 5d Nord Lead A1

Toys: Roland FA08, Novation Ultranova, Moog LP, Roland SP-404SX, Roland JX10,Emu MK6

www.bksband.com

www.echoesrocks.com

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There was a time, not too long ago, where I needed a pickup with an 8' bed to carry all my gear

 

Korg SP200 piano, Hammond XB-2 Organ, Korg N364 organ, Hot spot monitor, Mackie 1202VLZ board, 2 X 1-15 Peavey Passive PA cabinets, Motion Sound Pro3TM, Behringer stereo 31-band EQ, Behringer effects, Yamaha P2100 power amp, 8 space rack. I would put the speakers on stands on either side of the rack, sitting on its own stand, place the Pro3TM on top of the rack, and the Mackie on top of that.

 

I have 2 rigs now, one for each band.

 

The classic rock band is the Yamaha MM8 & Hammond SK2, Soundcraft Notepad, QSC K10, Neo Vent, and Mackie SRM150 monitor

 

Funky blues band - Hammond, Soundcraft, QSC, Vent, and 2 12" Mackie Thumps.

 

I went from having to use a pickup with an 8' bed to being able to fit it all, including hand truck, into a Kia Soul.

 

And the schlep only takes one trip.

 

"In the beginning, Adam had the blues, 'cause he was lonesome.

So God helped him and created woman.

 

Now everybody's got the blues."

 

Willie Dixon

 

 

 

 

 

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... I was using a CS800 for an amp and a Yamaha PA cabinet that was a 15 and a horn.

 

Killer !

 

2 of these Yammi "white cone" 15" w/ horn cabs sounded so damn good for the CS80,- and they were LOUD!

And these cabs just only handled 100W each.

 

A.C.

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This was about 1983 I think. At least I wasn't carrying my B-3 anymore.

 

http://www.hotrodmotm.com/images/gallery/overhead.jpg

 

It's hard to tell from that picture Moe, but are you using two clones? Single and dual manual Korg's????

 

That's gotta be the equivalent of $50K in todays dollars??!!

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It's hard to tell from that picture Moe, but are you using two clones? Single and dual manual Korg's????

 

That's gotta be the equivalent of $50K in todays dollars??!!

 

Good eye.

 

Left: Yamaha CP-70, Prophet 600

Mid: Rhodes Chroma, Korg CX-3

Right: Korg BX-3, Arp String Ensemble, Minimoog

 

I did not carry 2 Korgs - another kbd player and I combined rigs for the gig.

Moe

---

 

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Watch YouTube videos or look at still pictures of Yes's Rick Wakeman back in the '70s. Count the keyboards. Note the Hammond, the grand piano, the Mellotron, etc. Tally up the pounds.

 

Feel for the roadies...

 

Grey

 

Not sure if this was more than that, but Geoff Downe's Asia tour rig was 21 keyboards, with some of the same as above. His solo consisted of running across this wall of keyboards playing each one as he went :)

 

Hearing "CS800" just made me twitch a bit...we were not a wealthy band, no roadies just a "frat band" and our amp rack contained a few of those things. NOBODY wanted to move the amp rack.

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22 years ago I had some hair..... and here"s proof:

 

[video:youtube]

 

Korg X5, Roland R5, Stage 4 string Bass, and the Chainsaw 500.

 

Jake

1967 B-3 w/(2) 122's, Nord C1w/Leslie 2101 top, Nord PedalKeys 27, Nord Electro 4D, IK B3X, QSC K12.2, Yamaha reface YC+CS+CP

 

"It needs a Hammond"

 

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I posted this in the past. My first rig (1976). Univox Multiman on a homemade stand. 100W Univox bass amp. Homemade speaker cabinet w/two 12" Celestions and two piezos. This setup served me well for the first two years.

 

Multiman.jpg

sweet looking build

 

[video:youtube]

 

I could not find one for sale. Many of the 2/S variety, which run around 500. Was that a newer one?

 

Paolo demos the 2/S......Nobody does it better :)

 

[video:youtube]

 

My first exposure to these early Crumars. Do you remember what yours cost?

 

RT-3/U-121/Leslie 21H and 760/Saltarelle Nuage/MOXF6/MIDIhub, 

SL-880/Nektar T4/Numa Cx2/Deepmind12/Virus TI 61/SL61 mk2

Stylophone R8/Behringer RD-8/Proteus 1/MP-7/Zynthian 4

MPC1k/JV1010/Unitor 8/Model D & 2600/WX-5&7/VL70m/DMP-18 Pedals

Natal drums/congas etc & misc bowed/plucked/blown instruments. 

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I posted this in the past. My first rig (1976). Univox Multiman on a homemade stand. 100W Univox bass amp. Homemade speaker cabinet w/two 12" Celestions and two piezos. This setup served me well for the first two years.

sweet looking build

 

I could not find one for sale. Many of the 2/S variety, which run around 500. Was that a newer one?

 

Paolo demos the 2/S......Nobody does it better :)

 

My first exposure to these early Crumars. Do you remember what yours cost?

Hey uhoh7,

 

The Univox Multiman came out first (built in Italy for Univox) in about 1975 and was distributed by Unicord. I paid $835 for my Multiman in 1976. Not long afterwards, the Crumar keyboard brand emerged and the Multiman was re-branded. By about 1978 or so, Crumar re-engineered the Multiman into the Orchestrator and the sounds were different. My preference was the original - it had the sweetest strings. Very versatile keyboard - a real workhorse.

Steve Coscia

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... I was using a CS800 for an amp and a Yamaha PA cabinet that was a 15 and a horn.

 

Killer !

 

2 of these Yammi "white cone" 15" w/ horn cabs sounded so damn good for the CS80,- and they were LOUD!

And these cabs just only handled 100W each.

 

A.C.

Yes, that's what it was, the white cone 15... heavy as heck!

 

Regarding the comment about not wanting to move the rack of CS800's, we had a similar rack. I think it had 3 and then a smaller Yamaha amp that drove our top end for the PA.

Live: Korg Kronos 2 88, Nord Electro 5d Nord Lead A1

Toys: Roland FA08, Novation Ultranova, Moog LP, Roland SP-404SX, Roland JX10,Emu MK6

www.bksband.com

www.echoesrocks.com

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Keep 'em coming folks. Just when you thought you were done with me, here's another keyboard I had for a few years (this pic is not of my exact unit). I still have this, but it's in a storage facility far from me and hasn't been seen or touched in years â so the chances it works are slim. Thanks uhoh7for jogging my memory with the post about your Crumars!

 

As I remember, this is a "semi" Hammond clone, at least due to having drawbars & percussion. Dig the row of percussion buttons above the drawbars - looks like way more than the 2nd & 3rd harmonic is available. It also had some synth features which included a bass sound in the lower octaves. Also notice the pitch bend lever â I never saw anything like this on any other synth.

 

CT1.jpg

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My rig in the '62 - '65 period consisted of a Wurly 140 with micro switches under the keys triggering a Lowrey Organo. Sound options included Wurly alone, Lowrey alone or both combined (my fave). Sound reinforcement consisted of a beastly Stromberg Carlson AU58B tube amp driving a home-built 2 x 15 coaxial cab. Biggest issues: replacing broken Wurly reeds and replacing blown tweeters on the coaxials. Don't recall being overly troubled by schlepping around the combined 250 lb load-in
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I don't know if this is of interest or not, but it is sort in keeping with the topic of the thread. It's an example of the lengths to which touring bands went to get more stage volume.

 

Some years back, I did some work on a couple of Leslies that had belonged to Stephen Miller (rip 2003), the organist for the southern rock band Grinderswitch (late 70s?). They had been extensively modified. The motors were the only thing stock in them.

 

  • Externally powered - I don't know what Steve used at the time, but later he used a Macintosh.
  • Hand made electronic crossover
  • Redundant motor switching relays
  • JBL 15" with a baffle insert to prevent cone rub
  • Altec 290 "Giant Voice" horn driver
  • Circular locking multipin connectors for audio and switching signals. AC power was though a separate twist-lock.
  • All trim had been removed, though one had 3/4" wood strips affixed to the periphery of the top. I imagine it was to allow them to be stacked on stage without the one on top rolling off.

 

The owner now wants to turn these back to stock-ish.

 

hp83cxf.jpg

 

This was Steve's B3 and two Leslies at a memorial concert named for him. You can see the wood trim on the one on the right.

 

gDx7vyK.jpg

 

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Is that Kenny Clarke playing there? I've played that rig. When Steve passed, Kenny got the rig because Steve's wife knew that Kenny would put it to good use.

 

Kenny's an old friend of mine, and a great player.

"In the beginning, Adam had the blues, 'cause he was lonesome.

So God helped him and created woman.

 

Now everybody's got the blues."

 

Willie Dixon

 

 

 

 

 

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