New Clonewheel: DMC-122, Mojo or Legend?

[AnotherScott]

My info was per Guido a few years ago. It's possible I may be misremembering somewhat, but it seems possible that a firmware change might have been desirable for adjusting the velocity response to the lighter action for the non-organ piano sounds.

Ah, yes, once we're talking about "adjusting the velocity response...for the non-organ piano sounds" that could be another variable. I was only talking about the non-velocity sensing organ sounds.

[mate stubb]

One thing that I did notice is that playing the lower manual was more comfortable than the upper, so I may have been sitting too low. I think I basically set it up so the lower manual was where I would normally have a piano keyboard. The fatigue in my right arm might have been partly from holding it at an unnaturally high angle for too long. Will have to experiment with this tomorrow. It's separating out what is specific to the Legend from what is general about moving from piano to organ.

 

You may be on to something. The bench on a Hammond is higher than a piano bench and the lower manual is pretty much in your lap. Actual measurements that may help you out:

 

Hammond console bench height: 23.75" from the floor.

 

Lower manual white key playing surface height: 32.25" from the floor.

 

So if you want to try an authentic seating position, try these numbers. If you are not playing pedals and want your feet flat on the floor, pick your comfortable bench height and put the playing surface 8.5" higher.

[confidence]

Thanks, will play with that tomorrow.

 

I don't normally use a two-teir keyboard setup, but when I have it's always been with the lower tier at comfortable piano-playing height and the upper a bit higher. But then I probably wasn't ever playing just on the upper for hours at a time, hence the fatigue difference.

 

And you know it's the strangest thing, but I could swear that the upper manual action on this thing is stiffer than the lower manual. I've tried adjusting both height and distance from instrument so my arm's at the same angle on each, and I'm sure I feel a resistance in the upper keys that I don't feel in the lower. I'd say the lower manual is basically comfortable (or at least enough within the range of "acceptable" not to bother me, given how much else is awesome about this instrument). It must be my imagination (after all, if you were going to make the two manuals different, you'd surely make the upper manual lighter to accomodate fast and fancy melodic playing) but I can't seem to get over it.

[Losendoskeys]

" ..BUT here's the thing: I REALLY don't like the action. it feels MUCH stiffer than I remember the Mojo feeling in the store..."

This has been mentioned in this forum dozens of times. I'm not sure how you could now be surprised by it.

 

I'm not surprised as such - indeed if you look at the beginning of this thread it was one of the things I asked about. But these things are hard to quantify until you actually play them yourself. So the Legend is heavier than the Mojo. How much heavier? There's no number for that, or for trying to predict how I will react to it.

 

As usual, none of these instruments were ahead of the others on every single specification, so I chose the one that I felt was ahead on the most. Obviously I would have preferred to play it first if possible, but as I said above there's literally nowhere in the country to do that.

 

Unfortunately action is a pretty fundamental factor - more fundamental than MIDI spec, number of presets etc. I'll play it a bit more tomorrow and see how I feel but if it's still not comfortable, it'll have to go back.

 

One thing that I did notice is that playing the lower manual was more comfortable than the upper, so I may have been sitting too low. I think I basically set it up so the lower manual was where I would normally have a piano keyboard. The fatigue in my right arm might have been partly from holding it at an unnaturally high angle for too long. Will have to experiment with this tomorrow. It's separating out what is specific to the Legend from what is general about moving from piano to organ.

 

I have followed this thread with interest - especially people tying themselves in knots to explain why one DSP is better than the other blah blah.

 

I've had an SK2 since they were launched and just changed to an SKX (see parallel thread)

Comparing the clones by spec (you won't be able to do so in ANY UK store) and on balance I could not consider buying anything else under the circumstances.

The Hammond sound, flexibility, MIDI spec, weight and the limited support available in the UK for anything else (even by Hammond) means this was a no-brainer choice.

 

I have an SK2 for sale on EBay at £650 below new price, in excellent condition - anything else is just a copy

[confidence]

UPDATE ON UPDATE:

 

A used Hammond SKX came up on Ebay for a good price, so I nabbed in and sent the Legend back. I'd played it for several long sessions trying to talk myself into getting used to the action, but it wasn't going to happen.

 

One play on the Hammond and I know I made the right decision. Not that it's particularly fantastic or anything (I don't think the action is quite as good as the mojo that I remember playing) but it's in the ballpark enough that it doesn't get in the way. I now realise it wasn't me; the Legend action was just WRONG. Shame, as it's a great instrument in terms of sound. Some have mentioned they don't mind the action so I don't want to put anyone off. Just be prepared.

 

Haven't dug deep enough into the Hammond to say much more, but I like it a lot so far. Will be glad to have all the preset functionality etc. that I did think was a shortcoming of both Legend and Mojo. Much quicker and easier to bring up known drawbar settings for particular sounds.

 

I'm happy with this. Hammond came with a warranty, stand, basic pedalboard and expression pedal for a couple of hundred quid less than the Legend was new. It's also smaller, both in width and depth, so fits better into the odd bit of wall space I have for it in my studio. Time to play!