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Lou_NC

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About Lou_NC

  • Birthday 11/30/1999

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    Raleigh, NC

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  1. Dumb question, but have you taken it apart and *tested* the switches? My EE career has taught me to always check the simplest fix first, and in this case, that would be the mechanical components (switches) before assuming the electronics have gone bad. (They might have, but the probability is lower than a mechanical issue). Good luck! Lou
  2. The narrator didn't mention it specifically, but obviously there is a finite "time limit" that you can hold a note until it.......just stops playing! Probably not that big a deal in an actual song, but still...... I had always assumed that they used tape loops not strips. Overall, quite an intriguing electro-mechanical design.
  3. If you have a friend with a drill press this is about 2 minutes "work", converting a blank filler plate to one with holes. Any dimension you want, any spacing.
  4. The Sam Ash in Raleigh NC hasn't had a decent keyboard department in the last decade. It's all guitars, cheap amps, and PA systems. I don't remember ever seeing a single drawbar organ in stock, regardless of brand, ever. I'm sure not all of the stores in the chain were this bad. I remember the one I used to visit on Route 4 in Paramus NJ in the 70's and 80's was much better. Sadly, the Guitar Center right across the street isn't much better, if they went out of business I wouldn't even notice.
  5. As an engineer I can certainly appreciate the technology and effort that went into creating this "Steinway player piano", that basically enables a highly accurate recording of the original player. But it kind of reminds me of driving a Corvette with an automatic transmission. Sure, it gets you where you're going, but where's the fun in that? πŸ™‚
  6. I keep a 3-ring binder of about 15-20 of my favorite fake book jazz standards (think Sinatra-ish tunes) on my music stand, and just run through them in order. Takes all the "thinking" out of it......... I also keep an old iPod (remember those?πŸ˜„) connected to my mixer, and it has all my MP3's on it. I hit "shuffle" and if the song strikes my fancy I'll play along a keyboard part to it. If I don't like the song I just fast forward past it. I keep myself easily entertained this way......... Lou
  7. I was able to accomplish what you're asking by using a "vintage" Ultimate Support Systems 2-tier A-frame keyboard stand. (These things were very popular in the 80's and I snagged a used one sometime in the 90's, if I recall correctly). I put my Hammond XK-3 on the top, and aligned my Korg DW-8000 to line up almost perfectly as the "lower" keyboard of a dual-manual organ setup. (I basically used the DW-8000 as a MIDI controller only for the lower keyboard of the Hammond in this case). If memory serves, I had to flip the support arms of the upper keyboard so that the "pins" were on the rear side of the XK-3, and I lined up the rear horizontal bar of the stand to give the XK-3 additional support. I was very satisfied with the "feel" of this setup, it was very close to a dual-manual organ (at least to me!) Lou
  8. Mel, If you think stereo imaging might be important to you at some point you might want to consider at least reading up on the Spacestation V.3 by Apen Pittman Designs. You should be able to find a used one in good shape for around $500. It's a novel design and often doesn't get the recognition it deserves for being a compact design with room-filling stereo sound. There's nothing wrong with buying two powered speakers for stereo imaging, which a lot of people seem to do these days, but personally I prefer the Spacestation for my needs. Good luck, Lou
  9. Hey for those of you who have sold through Sweetwater, please remind me........is it easy to get the proceeds of sale as cash into your bank account, or is it limited to "sweetwater credits" for use against future purchases? My recollection is vague but I looked into this a while back and can't remember their business model. I may be selling a clonewheel in the first half of 2024 and would consider listing on gear exchange if I can get $$ instead of "store credit" only. Thanks, Lou
  10. You bet I play bass. Both 16' and 8', in various combinations.........πŸ™‚
  11. You mean something like this? https://www.sweetwater.com/c819--AU_TS_to_TS?highlight=EBSPG10&mrkgadid=&mrkgcl=28&mrkgen=&mrkgbflag=&mrkgcat=&acctid=21700000001645388&dskeywordid=&lid=58700008506025409&dsproductgroupid=&product_id=EBSPG10&prodctry=US&prodlang=en&channel=online&storeid=&device=c&network=x&matchtype=&adpos=largenumber&locationid=9009736&creative=&targetid=&campaignid=20442635221&awsearchcpc=&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAwP6sBhDAARIsAPfK_waRg6_mW_lCjUHZN-xUvfA1vT7K12z1if-L_9cBCVpH9AGPP0rgsiAaAiS3EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
  12. I'm surprised nobody has mentioned "The Power of Love" By Huey Lewis & The News from Back to the Future. The first bars are iconic 80's synth.
  13. Thanks for the tip........I seem to recall reading about some folks on here using mixer stands for their keyboard (or was it as a substitute for a bench?). At any rate, would you mind sharing what stand you're using? I'm thinking that regardless of whether or not I ever find a "standard" placement for bass pedals, I'll want to get mine shifted left a bit.
  14. I have 3 "setups" for dual-manual portable clonewheels, and I'm trying to get the alignment / spacing of the bass pedals consistent with each setup, to help me develop "bass pedal muscle memory" for my playing. My most "stationary" setup at home is a Hammond XK-3/XLK-3 combination on a custom built wood stand. The left-right alignment of the bass pedalboard puts the high-C of the 13-note bass pedalboard just about even vertically with middle-C on the lower organ manual. I've been playing this for a number of years, and it's where my "muscle memory" is currently "programmed". One of my other (newer) portable setups is a Viscount Legend Live, sitting on a vintage Ultimate Support Systems stand, (I believe it was called a "versa table" back in the 80's when I bought it). I noticed that when I place the bass pedalboard under that stand, the spacing of the stand legs force me to place the pedalboard further to the right than with my Hammond XK-3 setup. This has been throwing me off a bit when I play the Viscount setup. I may switch stands so that I can slide the bass pedals farther left with the Viscount setup, to more closely match the Hammond setup. I haven't settled on a solution yet, but this got me wondering......... Is there an "industry standard" spacing for the placement of spinet pedalboards on spinet organs? (Left to right, and actually front to back as well?) I fully realize that in the 2020's, spinet organs are like Model A Fords, but still.......I was wondering about whether there was *ever* an "industry standard" for the placement of spinet bass pedals? If there is/was a "standard" I might want to try to get my setups as close to it as possible when I play them, so that my muscle memory is closest to the "standard" as possible. I did some web searching on spinet organs in general (photos), "spinet organ bass pedal placement", etc. and didn't come up with much consistency. Also, it's absolutely amazing to me how many web pictures of spinet organs are NOT taken from straight-on, facing the organ, but rather at an angle, making it difficult to figure out (by observation of the pictures) whether there was *ever* a standard! πŸ™‚ Thanks, Lou
  15. I wouldn't change a thing about my brief musical "education" (learning to play "keyboards" by taking lessons on a Wurlitzer spinet organ in my parent's living room). However, my first organ *purchase* would have been considerably different.............In hindsight, I would have borrowed the $500 in 1981 to be able to buy the used Hammond B3/122 combo I looked at for $1700, rather than buying the used Farfisa Professional Duo for $1200. πŸ™‚ What a dope I was......... Lou
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