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Winwood new Gimme Some Lovin' video - shitty organ sound?


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Any of you happen to catch the new socially-distant GSL video by Steve Winwood and his band? I love him to death, but I was never fond of his organ tone since the "About Time" record... That Stop instead of chorale thing never did it for me, but the monster playing and singing compensated it to me. But on this new video, the cheapness of the tone got into new heights. And looks like i's a UHL or Viscount black clone he is playing, both top shelf clones. What could have resulted this horrible sound (IMHO, of course)?

 

[video:youtube]

My drawbars go to eleven.

Gear: Roland VR-09, Nord Electro 2 61, Korg CX-3. Hear my music: facebook.com/smokestoneband

 

 

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The original was also played on a Harmony H-22-1 bass. The Fender ain"t cutting it.

 

If it wasn"t for clonewheels and apps most of us elder statesmen wouldn"t be playing at all. If he can live with it so can I.

 

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 agree about the stop setting. Not a fan. But, Steve's been doing that a while now. How bout a little overdrive? Or a lot even? Not that it has to be just like the original, but....damn that's a static tone.
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The clone is not the thing on question, and I agree with the clonewheel quote. The issue to me is the sound. I'm sure it can get much better with tweaking. But that sounds almost like a rompler there. Recording issues or personal taste? Or I'm the only one who thinks it sounds like shit and should'nt? LOL

 

The original was also played on a Harmony D-21 bass. The Fender ain"t cutting it.

 

If it wasn"t for clonewheels and apps most of us elder statesmen wouldn"t be playing at all. If he can live with it so can I.

 

Jake

My drawbars go to eleven.

Gear: Roland VR-09, Nord Electro 2 61, Korg CX-3. Hear my music: facebook.com/smokestoneband

 

 

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It sounds like more overdrive would solve some of the problem. But hey, color me impressed that after singing it for 55+ years he only dropped it a half step to sing it now!!

 

Me too! The thing I feared when clicking onto the link was that Winwood would be doing a Blues Bros. copout and drop it to E. We all love that organ riff, but what sold the song originally was Steve's soaring vocals. Speaking as an older man who's struggling to hang onto what little range I have left, I am more than super impressed. What vocal chops!

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Who Cares!!!!!

 

Charlie Parker because of his demons played a lot of crappy saxes, but no one cares because it was what Charlie was playing that mattered. Same with guitar legend Wes Montgomery listen to his early and probably his best albums he had to borrow guitars to do sessions because his was even worse. And many other great musicians it's what they played is all that matters.

 

This obsession with tone that started about a decade ago is something the music instrument industry started fanning the fires of to sell products. I like it better in earlier days when there wasn't a ton of instruments and people only owned one maybe two, but you sat and worked to make it fit whatever you were playing. It wasn't this constant I need another amp, pedal, speaker, plugin, cable, etc. I came from the guitar world and it's really bad with guitarists.... I made a couple mistakes I better find a pedal to fix it, no you need seat time practicing, but it happens to all players today, it's my reed, you know a new mouthpiece would fix it all, if the club only had a better piano.

 

So going OG "get off my lawn" but all this tone stuff is insane.

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Agree with Moe that his real Hammond tones have been similar in the past decade (or 2!)

I imagine his tone is exactly how he wants it to sound (or maybe his ears are so shot, it sounds different to him!) Either way, I don't think anyone here is saying he needs this piece of gear or that.

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I've heard him play it on a B3 in recent years and it sounded just as wimpy. Crank that darn Leslie amp!

I'm starting to wonder if maybe the distortion in the original recording was unintentional - an artifact of whatever organ was available in the studio perhaps - and maybe SW didn't much like it. So now, when he can dial in any tone he wants, he sets it the way he wants it.

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.

-Mark Twain

 

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Surprised he would choose that sound for this, but I actually like a reedy, "stopped" organ sound on occasion. It seems everyone nowadays uses the exact same settings (888, C3, chorale) and after awhile it sounds mushy to me. It's refreshing to hear something else, to me in spite of not having much OD it's still more in your face- it reminds me of the earlier days when there was more variety in organ sounds.

 

I definitely like C/V settings more on "stop"- never have been a fan of the way chorale interacts with C3. Just the opinion of a piano player who spends way too much $$ I don't have on organ gear because I love the Hammond sound.

 

I was reminded of the solo in this old Charlie Musselwhite cut.

 

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I'm not a fan of stop either, and it pretty much sounds like it is supposed to sound with no overdrive and no chorale, I just don't like the stop sound, never did. When I purchased my latest 122 someone removed the slow motors; that lasted one day, it is back to 2 speed.

57 Hammond B3; 69 Hammond L100P; 68 Leslie 122; Kurzweil Forte7 & PC3; M-Audio Code 61; Voce V5+; Neo Vent; EV ELX112P; GSI Gemini & Burn

Delaware Dave

Exit93band

 

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Yeah, Steve's loved that one-speed fast/stop Leslie thing since back in the days of playing on Jimi Hendrix records. It's not for me so much, but it works for him. That said, I see what you mean about the very sort of sterile "direct" tone on the video, it sort of emphasizes the aspects of the organ sound that lay there when the digital Leslie isn't moving. I've seen videos of him performing at his B3 in that same room in his house, but this must have been easier for this particular project, or that organ has been relocated.

 

The thing that surprised me more about the video was to see a bass player. Live performances of his from the last twenty years or so that I've seen, including the one time I was lucky enough to catch a few songs of his live at a festival, he (and the other keyboard player, who doubled on reeds) covered the bass parts on the Hammond as well, which meant that at times Steve was pulling triple-duty, covering basslines, comping chords and licks, and singing his ass off. His voice is truly an unbelievable instrument; he's one of the finest singers I've ever heard, and age has diminished his range and vocal quality very, very little. Also, telling that in his mind an auxiliary percussionist is a more essential member of the band to have than a regular bassist...

 

Spotted on the wall behind Mr. Winwood: just a few of the notable albums that he has been a part of... and also Hotel California is there too?

 

Anyway, here's a live performance of his I was watching just last week:

[video:youtube]https://youtu.be/aN-Q8QAivZ8

Samuel B. Lupowitz

Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado.

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Traffic in 1967. Winwood is still playing an M102 and now has four Marshall stacks behind him. I don't think he was using a Leslie at all in live performances until a couple of years later.

[video:youtube]

C3/122, M102A, Vox V301H, Farfisa Compact, Gibson G101, GEM P, RMI 300A, Piano Bass, Pianet , Prophet 5 rev. 2, Pro-One, Matrix 12, OB8, Korg MS20, Jupiter 6, Juno 60, PX-5S, Nord Stage 3 Compact
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The OP clip is fine. But I"m an appreciator of fine transistor combo organs. Hammond is not the absolute be all end all of electric organ.

 

I also like stop better than slow. In Pop mixes Yamaha Motif organs are great pad layers.

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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