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JMcS

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Posts posted by JMcS

  1. On mine, over time the belt for the low rotor stretched and the spring tensioner pulled the motor assy. far enough that it started to tap against the frame. It's easy enough to replace. Luckily, I bought replacement belts back when I bought the 3300 so I didn't have to find/wait for the replacement. The rotor's top bearing needs to be removed but the rotor doesn't. Be careful because if the rotor comes out it can be a PITA to get back in.

    • Thanks 1
  2. 30 minutes ago, kanefsky said:

     

    The first thing I said is that it was a silly complaint and even before that I made it clear I'm about as far from the "keyboard/Hammond guy" as you can imagine.  I'm halfway decent at photography though, and I thought it was something interesting to point out and a nice alternative to the usual discussion about which Leslie sim is infinitesimally better than which other Leslie sim :). I couldn't comment on that anyway.

    Then my comment didn't pertain to you. It was just a general comment primarily regarding those who feel unimportant/immaterial issues affect their playing. I have also commented that "if one can play, the gear doesn't matter and if one can't, the gear doesn't help" in the past as well. 

     

    Edit:

    Some years ago, I read an interview with IIRC Joey DeFrancesco where he mentioned that he once showed up to a gig and one of the keys didn't work. I think it was an important one like the G above middle C on the UM. The interviewer asked him what he did about it and Joey said he didn't use it.

  3. A lot of the weaknesses in instrument sounds mentioned above seem to be the result of a low velocity value generated by the key strike. It is hard to generate a high velocity value on the Hammond keyboards so attack harmonics etc. are often missing or dull. This goes all the way back to the Extra Voices in the XK-3/c. Hammond added the Velocity Offset parameter to correct for this in an early update to the SK-1 and it continues in all models since. In the SKX-Pro it is on Pg. 93 #8. A set value can be added to / subtracted from the velocity value generated by the musician to dial in the desired keystrike velocity needed to get a value of 127. The Velocity Curve may help some but if the hardest you hit the key is less than the selected curve can boost the value you still don't get the attack harmonics. Also, the less hard the key is struck the less its velocity value gets boosted. 

  4. 12 hours ago, kwyn said:

    How does one fine tune the tonewheel taper?

    In the Equalizer section of the manual/menu there is a Tone Control parameter (SK-1 manual Pg. 100 #1). It curves the frequencies above 200Hz down. The higher the frequency the more it can be pulled down. There is an explanation and graphic in the manual. 

  5. It's been a long time but IIRC, it is possible to add the pedal tones to the lower split portion of the XK-3 keyboard (not the preset keys). It requires setting an external zone for the pedal MIDI channel, setting MIDI Mode to In1/In2, and connecting a MIDI cable from the out to an in. There may be some other steps involved but if so, I don't remember them. Good luck.

     

    If you can find the old XK-3 Tips thread, there may be more detailed information about doing this there.

  6. 17 minutes ago, Jr. Deluxe said:

    Setting the penis thing aside for a moment, adding pedal tones next to the manual bass would be great when my band plays Big Bottom. Or Battle Scar. 

    It might be great if you could do it but as they say, if the queen had balls, she'd be king.

  7. 10 hours ago, Jr. Deluxe said:

    I wish those keys could be set to play the foot pedals. It's a total waste that Hammond Suzuki didn't do that.

     

    Why? Unless you have a prehensile penis, you can only play 2 things at once on an XK-3 keyboard. The XK-3c has a Manual Bass feature that allows you to layer the pedals with the lower manual when the keyboard split is turned on. Or when a lower manual is connected and MIDI In is set for Lower/Pedal mode.

  8. 17 hours ago, Jim Alfredson said:


    Hi Jim! Good to hear from you! The velocity offset doesn’t really change much in terms of the length of the samples or the velocity levels. Near as I can tell, the piano samples only have three velocity levels, which is early 1990s era sample quality (think Kurzweil’s infamous Triple Strike pianos).

     

    My biggest complaint with the SK Pro when I first played the prototype several years before it was released was the quality of the acoustic pianos. I pleaded with Hammond to address them but to no avail. If they really want to compete with Nord and the well-established Electro line, they need to up their game when it comes to the non-organ stuff. 

    Thanks Jim, Boosting the Velocity Offset on my SK-1 made a big difference in how the various voices sounded and I didn't have to beat the keys. I think I wasn't hitting the keys fast/hard enough to trigger the attack harmonics. I thought it might have a similar effect on the newer models. 

    • Like 1
  9. 19 hours ago, Jim Alfredson said:

    I can live without string resonance if the samples were longer with more velocity levels.

    Does tinkering with the Velocity Offset parameter have an effect on the harmonics etc. that are produced? 

  10. They are before and after pictures of the same organ. Both organs have the same scratch on the lower left side wall (Left of the Leslie switches/where they used to be). Also, the wood to the right of middle C on the lower manual has the same grain pattern. One of the sale offers is "probably" a scam.

    • Like 3
  11. 13 hours ago, mwheels said:

    So excited to unbox my sk pro yesterday, but to my disappointment I knew within a couple hours that it had to be retuned. I really wanted to like the sk pro, but there was no comparison.  Compared side by side with my electro 5d the Leslie simulator on the Hammond is better, organs are very comparable when you set them the same - but everything else, the Nord blows the Hammond completely out of the water. Nord pianos, clavs, and rhodes make the Hammond sound like a toy 

    Find the Velocity Offset Parameter (It may now be called something different) and adjust that. The velocity offset allows the user to add (or subtract) values to/from the actual generated velocity. It can be difficult to hit the keys hard enough to generate a high velocity value. This causes the key strike and other initial harmonics to not sound.

    • Like 1
  12. I was hoping to like the APs and EPs enough to use on gigs and tried them on a gig and a rehearsal but find them dull and uninspiring

     

    On the other SK's it can be difficult to generate a high velocity value without playing whack-a-mole with the keys. This causes the various instruments to sound dull and lifeless since the attack harmonics etc. aren't produced. The SK-Pro probably has the same issue. Shortly after the SK-1 was introduced an adjustment named "Velocity Offset" was added that allowed the musician to add (or subtract) a value to the values generated by their normal playing. This greatly improves the quality of the sounds of the pianos and other velocity dependent instruments. The Velocity Offset adjustment is a system parameter (Pg. 81 #24 in the SK-1 manual). Velocity is a patch parameter in the Extra Voice menu (SK-1 Pg. 77 #7).

     

    Good luck.

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