rogs

I still get to play together with an old guitarist friend, who I first met in the 1960s. We played together in our first 'rock' band in 1964. Mind you, here was a gap of almost 50 years in the middle where we had lost touch we each other! Still playing some of the same tunes actually... 🙂

Seemed a slightly unusual title?... for those of us in the UK the 'Beano' is a kids weekly comic book.... Goes back at least 70 years! ...🙂

One other aspect is that - being a Yamaha 'synth' keybed - the YC61 has 159mm octaves instead of the 164mm octaves used by most (all?) of its competitors. Personally I'm fine with the narrower keys, but I know some folk can find it a bit strange.

I've had my YC61 for almost 4 years and have not had any real keybed issues. I like the action. I do find the sideways movement of the black keys a bit disconcerting - and that does make the black keys a bit noisier than the white ones - but it's only 'nit picking'. It hasn't affected the performance of the instrument. I don't think Yamaha is likely to do much more with this keybed..... The YC73 and 88 both use weighted keybeds -- which I find a bit strange for an organ based instrument - especially for the YC73? I think this was Yamaha's first vernture into a waterfall keybed -- could well be their last?

This group has some knowledgable Hammond 'Techs' .... https://www.facebook.com/groups/467940163416921 (It's a private group so you do need to join)

Some songs are blatant copies of others - and usually end up in court! (I'm thinking of George Harrison's 'My Sweet Lord' and the Chiffons 'He's so fine' ..... or Richard Rodger's 'Mountian Greenery' and Lionel Bart's 'Fings ain't what they used to be'.. ) but the similarity here seems a lot more tenuous?....

I'm guessing this guy has done just that with Yamaha -- for real! Looks like he's chosen a Montage 6, a YC61, and a CP88 (or that YC88 ?) Probably what they've told him to 'promote' of course, but not a bad selection, IMHO...Sort of what I would have chosen I see he's put the YC61 through a real Leslie though..... https://youtu.be/gScT34vshEI?t=1913

I was working in a hotel band back in the 70s, here in the UK. We were a Union band and duly paid the MU fees . The Union rate was increased for some of the Christmas gigs one year, and the hotelier refused to pay the extra. We contacted our local Union rep, who advised that there was not much he could do, and we would be best advised to 'get the best rate we could'. Didn't bother to pay any further Union fees after that.... It was often siad that the MU had very little 'clout' outside London, and I think that was probably true - certainly back in the day. Not sure what it's like these days?... There are so few local live bands compared to back then, I suspect the MU still has very little influence outsde the big cities...

My biggest gripe with wall warts is the number of different types available. OK, the output DC voltage and current capabilites need to be matched to the device to be powered, but there are a bewildering number of different connection options that also need to match. • 2.1 mm 'power plug' connctors • 2.5 mm 'power plug' connectors • Various other diameter 'power plug' connectors (less common) • Centre terminal positive • Centre terminal negative Some wall warts come with a selection of output volatges available , and some with 'reversible' power plug connections, but these tend to be pretty unreliable in my experience. Shame there doesn't seem to have been any attempt at standardisation? You can bet your life that when you need to replace a wall wart urgently the only 'spares' lying around will have the wrong output voltage -- and/or the wrong size/polarity connector!

Couple this up with an old Yamaha HC2 organ as a MIDI controller (usually one or two to be found on Ebay, at around £50 or less) and you'd have a pretty good Hammnond M.100 type 'clone' for less than £100.... not bad!

I do wish the first instrument I had learnt was the piano. I leant to read treble clef for violin and clarinet. When I tried to learn piano some time later, I had real trouble with reading bass clef. I had quite a good ear, so quickly picked up busking..... The result of course is a poor technique - particulary the left hand. Had I learnt to read 2 clefs right from the start, and maybe acquired some 'proper' piano technique as a young child? - things might have been different. I do think that if you come across a really good keys player, almost inevitably they will have started playing keys when they were pretty young.....

I use just two pedals -- A Yamaha FC4 which I use for both sustain and Vent speed switching. (I made little interface to allow the pedal to do both jobs - (some notes HERE ) ) And I use a Yamaha FC7 as an expression and/or volume control.....

I've had mine for 3 years now. No problems with the keys so far. Only used at home though...

Ah, I missed the bit about the switch itself being changed in your first post .. sorry about that. For my own use I didn't want to use a second footswitch - just for Vent speed control - so I use my Yamaha FC4 sustain pedal as both a sustain pedal and a speed change switch. Problem with that is that the FC4 polarity is wrong - so I made a simple interface to deal with that problem.....Works very well. (Some notes on that project here: https://www.vent.jp137.com ) Only suitable for those who like to have a little 'dabble' with electroincs though! My answer to the OP's query above doesn't involve any mods or soldering at all to the 'off the shelf' items I suggested. Some folk like to do their own mods -- others are not so keen....

The problem with the FSC384 is that it has a latching switch. Activating the speed change on the Vent (don't know about the Burn?) requires a normally open switch to be momentarily closed. With a latching switch that means pressing one to close the switch, pressing again to release it and then pressing a third time to re-activate the closing contact required. So - with the possible exception of the very first time - you would need to press the switch twice every time you want to change speed. Probably not an ideal solution, I would think? --- Better to use a momentary closing switch......