Mitch Towne

That is a huge compliment!! Have you tried AudioStretch on the iPhone or iPad? It is my favorite transcribing tool because you can scrub back and forth on the audio with your finger. It is a game changer. Check it out!

Thank you all for the great comments and compliments! The Seven is very inspiring to play. The main thing for me when it comes to any type of clone (Hammond, Rhodes, piano, etc.) is how close the instrument sounds and feels like the real thing. The closer you get to the top of that pyramid, the more inspiring I find the instrument to be and it comes out in my playing. I know that there are players who can destroy on anything. For me, I play better when the instrument is giving me what I want to hear. It is kind of like the scene in "Beautiful Mind" where the equations seem to appear right in front of his eyes. When I am playing a real Hammond or Rhodes, more ideas seem to develop on their own, which connect to other ideas, etc. When I am playing a clone of any type, less ideas seem to appear. When I am playing the Seven, the ideas are there just like when I am playing the real thing,

The Seven has different model bases to start from, including a Dyno"d version. The amount of personalization you can do is unlimited.

I captured a couple performances where I am playing the Rhodes model on the Crumar Seven. I really think this is the closest to a real Rhodes that I have ever used. It just responds right. I was wary of the TP-100 keybed since I mostly have organ chops these days, but the marriage of the heavier action and the way the physically modeled Rhodes responds is a perfect match. In this first demo, I am playing the Seven straight into a Fender Deluxe tube amp - no internal amp sim. [video:youtube] In the second demo, I am running the Seven into a Motion Sound 612 with the amp simulation on. I am surprised at how close it sounds to the clip above with the real tube amp. [video:youtube]

I wish there was an easy way to share the screen shots of my settings. Can anyone suggest a good way?

Here"s the contrary view of the TP-100. The combination of the Crumar physical modeling and the TP-100 (which I thought I"d hate) make the Crumar Seven the most realistic fake Rhodes I"ve ever played. I seriously get fooled by it. I ran it through a Fender Deluxe a couple weeks ago and couldn"t believe how realistic it sounded and felt.

Mitch, as a fellow Iowa grad, you are missing the larger question. Why is she wearing a Hawkeye jersey? Fess up.. are you two dating? Ha ha!!!

Interesting that almost all the comparisons so far are to Hiromi. It"s like she can only be compared to another female pianist. Sort of like how, for a long time, black quarterbacks could only be compared to other black quarterbacks, or all white basketball players had to be compared to Larry Bird. Domi is one of that most amazing musicians I"ve seen in a long time. She isn"t a YouTube musician. She"s touring all over with some of the most happening bands in the business (Louis Cole, Ghost Note, etc.).

Plus, the 610 has the Speakon output that can run a passive sub if you want even more bass.

I can"t answer these questions, but I do highly recommend you make sure your Crumar Seven has the latest OS updates. I think there were some squirrelly issues with MIDI that have been corrected.

Dave, I confirmed that the 408 is 40lbs. Mitch

There is no fan noise in the new ones because there are no fans! The new amps are so efficient that they don't generate the heat the old amps used.

The 612 comes standard with casters. They can be added to the 610 for $40.

I had a FANTASTIC time at Sweetwater this week! The Sweetwater campus is amazing and everyone is incredibly nice and knowledgable. Jeff Bollinger, head of Motion Sound, and I went there to do a demo of the new KP lineup (612, 610 and 408) for the sales reps so they would be familiar with the product and so they could hear first hand how great these amps sound and what the differences between them are. Here is my general overview: KP-408 - In my opinion, this is a fantastic amp for anyone who is playing piano, EPs, synths, pads, etc. It is loud and clear. I used this one as the start of the demo because the amount of sound this amp puts out is very impressive (the expressions of the sales reps confirmed that). I would not recommend the 408 to a player who needed a lot of bass in their parts. I wouldn't want to do a jazz organ gig with it, for example. But for anything short of that, this amp is great KP610 - The next step up from the 408, with 10 inch speakers. Obviously, the larger speaker surface offers a bigger sound, and the 610 projects more than the 408. However, here is where it gets interesting. The 610 and the 612 have a Speak-On output that pulls an additional 250 watts to drive an additional passive sub. So, you have 250 per side in stereo AND an additional 250 for the sub. This makes the 610 a very attractive amp for a modular system - take the 610 when you don"t need as much bass, bring a sub when you need MOAR BASE!!! (Seriously, though, this is a big feature KP-612 - The big one. Huge sound and plenty of bass. I would easily use this one for jazz organ gigs with pedals. Here are the main differences between the 612 and the KP500 - 1. The 612 is a few pounds lighter (56 lbs vs 49). 2. The new MS amps have an improved crossover. One user on this forum who has both says the 612 is warmer and rounder. I haven"t put them side by side yet, but I will next week. I"ll be able to speak more about that then. 3. The Speak-On output. 4. The 612 is front-ported, while the 500 is rear ported. This gives you a more direct forward sound. Those are the things that come to mind. So, the bottom line for me is that all of these amps are fantastic and I really wish there had been something like this 10-15 years ago. Motion Sound is definitely full-steam ahead and has a great future. This company is a labor of love for Jeff and he really cares about the user experience. You can feel good about the support you'll receive after the purchase. Let me know if you have any questions.

I will be there all day on Wednesday, July 17!

I will be at Sweetwater next week doing an in store demo of the 612, 610 and the 408, so I should be able to offer a better opinion on the differences.

Lou, It looks like Jeff answered your question at the Motion Sound site! For those of you who might be curious about the KP-500, here is the answer: The KP-500 will stick around to at least the end of the year, maybe longer.

I will be at Sweetwater with Motion Sound in July. As for your questions about the 612 vs the 610: The 610 can have castors added for an additional $40. It doesn't normally come with casters. The amps in the 610 and 612 are the same with the same amount if inputs (8 inputs = 4 stereo pairs). The difference between the two will be the amount of bass output of the 12s vs the 10s. The 12s are going to give you more bottom end than the 10s. Both amps have a Speakon connection for a non-powered sub, so you can add bass to the 610 that way if needed. I should get a 612 soon, and I can offer a hands-on review vs the 500 then. Let me know if you have any other questions! Mitch

Crumar endorser here: I use the Yamaha FC-7 straight out of the box and it works perfectly.

Thank you, everyone!!

Here is a recent run through "Monk's Dream." [video:youtube]

Also, does it have pedal connectors? And, if it has the original preamp and not a Trek, does it utilize the original expression pedal or is it just a Morley volume pedal? Thats a deal-breaker for me.

From what I understand, one of the big updates is in the crossover.

I cant wait to get mine!

The Joey D and Tony M videos are well worth it.