ESFlash

Hello mjs -- cool website that you have; your fires are in a lot of irons -- pretty cool I use an old Priva PX330, which I love for it's action, AP's, EP's and some Organ for when I don't bring the SK1. I prefer going mono and keeping things lightweight and simple. For my needs, sounds great, quick set-up, plug-in and play without a lot of extra stuff. Here's what has been working for me depending on the gig and venue. Fender Rumble 40 -- lightweight 18 lbs, small footprint, and packs a lot of punch. It also provides an XLR out which is convenient for going into a PA - your Asheville GC shows it as being in stock which means you can try it. This amp is also pretty available on the local used market; I found mine used for $100. I know many folks disparage using a bass amp for ap and ep's ...... whatever ........ Here are my, "let's start here" Initial Rumble 40 Tone Settings -- I don't engage the overdrive circuit or the tone voice buttons, only the tone control knobs: Fender Rumble 100 -- slightly larger, plenty or power and your local GC shows it in stock. Also available used and the weight is great at 22lbs. BTW I recently had this up for sale on CL and then when I got a call from someone CIH (cash in hand) -- I chickened out and decided to keep it. These are the two Rumble 100 settings I start out with and adjust as needed -- the gaf tape on the overdrive controls are there so I don't grab them by mistake. I don't use the tone voicing buttons. The bottom settings, in the photo below, seem to work better if I'm using the SK1 along with the PX330, as the PX has an external MXR EQ attched to it, and I can give the AP highs a little more gas as needed When I use both the PX330 and SK1 with either of the above amps, they run into a, now identified as "legacy", ART PowerMIX I, passive mixer --- interesting name for an item not requiring power. Almost zero footprint, about the size of a cigarette pack -- sits on top of the amp and connects with a six inch patch cable to the amp's input. Mixer Chnls 1 & 2 are dimed. Anyway, with this mixer, the two board configuration works well for me going into a single channel. This is efx setup for the PX including the EQ -- the bleak box on the left is a power supply -- the LES K is only for the PX and not used with the SK1. All the components are hardwired to each other from the PS and mounted onto two pieces of aluminum flat stock, so only three connections -- 12v PS in, Piano in to the Carbon Copy, Out to Amp from MXR -- it all stays together as a single piece of kit. I outfitted the SK1 with it's own Leslie control which connects to the internal SK1 Leslie However -- for you; I'd suggest you try this little 9 pound beauty VOX VX50KB. I know -- it looks like a child's toy as in, "my first amp" I covered the yuck white trim on the front, and plastic handle with black masking tape -- just couldn't take that blinding white trim. The stand is a fold-up, modified, poorest excuse in the world for a piano bench I got the little VOX about two weeks ago and it works well for me with the blues, country, and americana style bands I gravitate to. The sound just blew me away. Me thinks that for the ensembles you play with, this could work out quite well. And Yuhp, I agree it looks like a toy as it is completely plastic, altho the speaker baffle is supposed to be wood or a wood composite. I bought it, sight unseen, thinking I'd send it back via the online ginormazon's liberal return policy. And as it turns out, I love this thing, 3 channels, weighs nothing, has plenty of tone and punch plus I can throw a 57 in front of it when needed and it also has a 1/4" (no xlr) line out. It sounds very good with AP, EP's and the variety of SK1's Organs and EV's. There's a single set of tone controls for all three channels. I keep all channels and master at maximum and control volume from the keyboards The amp is also very quiet. It looks like your local Asheville GC does not have it in stock; but it's widely getable (and returnable) online. It also seems to be available online used for under $200; list is $300. One downside, it uses a 19 V wall wart instead of an 120 V AC IEC cable. Lose, forget, or damage that PS, and you're down for the count Soooo if the looks and very small size don't scare you; give this little VOX a serious listen Good luck

I do a lot of sideman gigs and dont mind them at all. For some songs a few written notes suffice ie: Verse mimics Hit The Road Jack and Chr is Major: 4155 1515 For other tunes, I'll write out complete number charts of the song, scan them into my iPad, and then send the scans to UnReal Book all in all, a pretty simple system plus I have a paper back-up if the ipad goes down. And UnReal Book lets me keep all those songs filed under the Bands' or BL name, so if the opportunity with that band repests itself, Im good to go. And having everything in numbers simplifies things if/when performance keys change.

You mentioned: Mackie Mix12FX 12-channel Compact Mixer with Effects Under $150 and easy to return if you dont dig it. I agree with not wanting to mess with menus, encoders, layers, and apps. Give me a dedicated control surface for a gig Ive used an ancient origianl Mackie 1202 for years, which I purchased new. Built like a tank, and it keeps ticking; does the job and sounds fine (no efx tho) ... another workhorse mackie is the "newer" 2nd gen version, but still ancinet, 1202VLZ. Widely available on the used mrkt; no efx on that one either.

These three have become workhorses in the industry -- sturdy, easy to use, versatile, and records in various format resolutions (WAVs & MP3s) -- and easy on the wallet This one is based on their original, 2009, H4n, now called the H4n Pro https://zoomcorp.com/en/us/handheld-recorders/handheld-recorders/h4n-pro/ or in a six track version https://zoomcorp.com/en/us/handheld-recorders/handheld-recorders/h6-audio-recorder/ and this gives you 12 tracks https://zoomcorp.com/en/us/handheld-recorders/handheld-recorders/h8/ If you need more inputs, as stated in a post above, put a mixer on the front end. You can also interface to a mac or PC for addtnl capabilities

If you dig playing with this band. and the BL is not a jerk, keep it light, be flexible & go for it assuming the serious lack of bread is not an issue for you. A few thoughts and suggestions: Bring a tarp and some bungees in case you can stay setup on/off/back-of the stage. And perhaps figure out how you can make it all in a single trip. From your description of the gear you'll have, which seems to be not much, you might be able to bungee everything to a handtruck. I've placed a wooden board on the bottom of a handtruck to elongate the shelf and have been able to haul 88key keyboard in a soft bag, x-stand, fold-up stool, small amp and kit bag all bungeed together in a single trip. Be aware that most equipment accidents happen in these often unprofessional, poorly run, no experienced stage hand, multi-band get-em-on/off the stage as quick as possible, sorts of shows. Setup and strike is when stuff can get damaged or lost. And if you can pick a spot to set up in, that is not in a direct traffic path of folks getting on/off the stage that's a plus. You also might consider taking what I call a pack up bag; a decent sized canvas or plastic shopping bag that you toss all your pedals, cords, and loose stuff into. When you get back home, you can take the time to sort through and repack your gear for the next show. I also recommend you clearly mark all your gear, cables, pedals, keys, stand, stool, amp etc -- use colored tapes or whatever floats your boat. And make sure you do an idiot check of the bandstand once you have all your gear off the stage. These shows can be a lot of fun and a place where it's possible to meet other players and find out if anyone is looking for a someone such as yourself. I've played many a low rent rodeo gig where the band is 100% setup and they drag our sorry butts out on a sled pulled by a tractor and it's all you can do to hold onto your gear as you bumpNbounce towards the middle of the arena. They power up the sled/stage and you go for it.

Yes low to high GBDGBD Thankfully no pain ... the SK is at a comfortable playing height. I think the photos make it appear higher than it actually is.

I switch off on various instruments depending on the gig. Lately I've been doing more piano/organ and lap steel jobs. Recently, I came up with this idea which permits me to "slide" easily between keys and lap steel. Basic construction -- with a single tier stand I needed 7/8" OD tubing -- the double tier stand, above, used 1" OD The shelf is particle board covered in carpet The block at the headstock keeps the tuning keys from hitting the shelf, and also provides a good playing angle. Luckily my legs fit comfortably under the shelf Easy setup and tear down And in case anyone is wondering here's the setup specifics: I run both boards in mono. Top Board: original SK1 with FC7 Expression & Hammond/Suzuki Half Moon mounted on the front -- Audio Out from SK goes to the Audio In of the bottom board (no midi). Bottom Board, by now, a most likely considered ancient Casio PX330, that I love. It goes into a Carbon Copy -----> Lester K -------> into an 18 Volt 10 Band MXR EQ. All three are powered by a small LEEKY ISP 6 Isolated Power Supply that provides, 9, 18, and 6-12 variable, voltages. I don't use the LesK with the SK, only on certain PX330 patches. A Fender Rumble 100 handles both boards. Lap steels are: 1950's Oahu Supreme 6 tuned, G High Bass; and a newer (modified) Gretsch G570 in E6 --- no outboard efx except Volume pedal and what I get out of the amp, a very inexpensive Stage Right, which can go from clean to crazy, depending on the gain structure setting -- 12" Speaker, Verb, 15 watt triple 12AX7 / dual EL84 design . . . . close to as basic as one can get

One more ... Stage hand to Sound Petson.... asking: "Why do soundguys always go:'testing teting, one two, one two, one two' ??????????? .......... cause on three you lift!!!!! And one more:::::: What's the difference btwn a sound man and a toilet seat ...... ????? ..... a toilet seat only has to take sh....t from one a.....hole at a time

how many chick singers does it take to sing Crazy??????? ............. all of em what do song writers use for birthcontrol ?????? ...... their personality

What do you call a girl on the arm of sax player? --------------------------- a tattoo Why are drummer jokes so simple? ---------------------------------- so bass players will understand them

... no problem

@ Pa Gherkin -- I like the Rumble 100 with the PX330; quite a full sound and easy to transport and setup. My main setup is the PX thru the SpaceStation V3 and the SK1 thru the Rumble. I have also connected the Rumble to the SStation's sub output and that works quite well and it's easy to balance the two amps. Many folks have posted their problems getting decent acoustic piano sounds from that little SpaceStation, however for me it works and I can get a punchy piano sound. I (usually) use a small stereo graphic that the PX plugs into before hitting the SS. BTW the SS w/Rumble is a pretty slick organ setup. The SS alone with the SK1 just dznt do it for solid low end definition once you step on the gas, especially if you're playing with a pounding rhythm section. And getting back to the CK88 . . . . . . I hope the CK88 heralds Yamaha and other manufacturers in developing & bringing to the eager marketplace, more sub $2,000 Piano / B3 drawbar boards that have great piano action, an assortment of terrific AP's/EP's along with decent knob/slider interfaces that avoid the layered-menu style "cost saving" interfaces that have, sadly, become so popular. The CK88 interface and controlability is nothing short of amazing. I so wanted the CK88 to work out for me but that action and the limited AP and EP palette (I know edit edit edit edit those sounds) was the deal breaker. So . . . . . . it's back to the two board two amp setup for me - quick setup with a wide assortment of controllable sounds.

Thanks AnotherScott, for the info.

I so wanted the CK88 to work out and hadn't been excited about a gear purchase in ages. My main gig setup is an ancient Casio PX330 thru a SpaceStation V3 and an SK1 (the original model) thru a Fender Rumble 100. No issues with that setup, the action on the 330 is terrific ...... quick, responsive and the piano and ep sounds are excellent for the blues, rock and country gigs I play. I often run the 330 into a small stereo graphic before it hits the SpaceStation. The SK1 is 99% only for organ, B3 and TexMex Vox/Farf; I even installed a half-moon switch on the SK, and it's a rockin lightweight board that sounds better to me going thru the Rumble than it does plugged into the SpaceStation. I also have a Kawai upright US60 in the house. The CK88 with it's amazing interface, layer/split capabilities and drawbars caught my attention and I ordered one. I saw plenty of videos, downloaded the manual and felt "up to speed" when it arrived. The master plan: turn my two keyboard setup into a single board for most gigs. After a day playing the CK88, I arranged to send it back. The two main deal killers: the action and the acoustic piano sounds. ACTION The CK88 action felt stiff and slow, especially the treble, which seemed quite uneven. I needed quite a lot of effort to play this thing. And, it was difficult to get fast treble passages to speak evenly, and this was not the case on either the PX330 or the Kawai (and yes, not fair to compare the real piano action of the US60 with the CK88 ...... but still, that little PX330 does a solid job on the action front when compared to the US60). Anyway, I changed the CK88 touch response; 4 choices there, normal, soft, hard & wide, no help and very little difference in how my playing affected the output. So more then anything, the action killed the deal. SOUNDS The acoustic piano sounds didn't do it for me at all. I tweaked them and made some decent edits that I felt could work. The editing, BTW, is pretty terrific along with the efx section and the way various unison's can be dialed in is ultra cool. However, when it came to piano sounds and how it all felt .... not happening. The B3 sound even with the short drawbars, wasn't bad but as others have reported, the Leslie is a bit shabby. Rotary B is the better and more usable of the two choices. There's not much in terms of parameters you can adjust on the Leslie settings. The Farf and Vox organs sounded pretty cool. One thing tho, that I couldn't get to work after splitting the keyboard into a piano on the left and a B3 on the right, was getting the FC7 expression pedal to only affect the organ and not the entire output. There's prbly a way to do that, I cldn't make that happen. The EPs worked, and after tweaking and messing with them, gave me some cool sounds especially with the auto-wahs One other thing --- the built in speakers --- don't expect much, weak and thin.. CONCLUSION The overall interface and layout --- wow --- terrific. I think this is board that can be a superstar for many folks . . . . just not for me. My guess: this is the first iteration of this keyboard and hopefully Yamaha can produce a model with a quick, light and responsive action and better sounding acoustic pianos. Also, some Leslie control adjustments would be an excellent addition, and if the drawbar throw could be lengthened that would be cool. And if there's a way, when splitting the keyboard into two zones, to only have the expression pedal work on the organ volume and not globally on the entire keyboard, that would be excellent --- this parameter might already be there, I cldn't find it. All in all, I was quite disappointed that this didn't work out for me and having to return the CK88.

A class act and terrific forward thinking audio designer. I was an early adopter of the V3 and having been using that little workhorse pretty constantly; sounds guys and gals, most of whom have never seen that diminutive CPS box, can't believe how much sound and fidelity it produces. I had a few questions when I first got it, and like other folks on the list, he communicated directly and gave me his cell number. Rock on my man ----- Flash

SPACESTATION NOT JUST FOR PIANO] Played my first SpaceStation gig yesterday. Wow what fidelity and clarity. During sound check the bass player turned to me and said I never heard your piano so clear before. This is a pretty amazing little box that Mr. Pittman has developed. I also double on Dobro on a few tunes. I messed with the Dobro Keyboard SpaceStation combo at home via keyboard in jacks and I liked what I heard. At the gig (outdoors) I had my Dobro amp along for the ride, but I never even set it up. Keys and Dobe sounded magnificent. I cant recall any product on any topic in this board, or any other board that has garnered so much praise. http://i.imgur.com/Z5e465G.jpg

Thanks again. Having a little trouble controlling the MIDI parameters btwn the PX330 and the SK1. I'm been going thru both manuals but I still can't figure it quite out; I tried messing around with changing the MIDI channels but I still must be in omni rcv on the SK - I can get all the keyboards to fire, the problem is there seems to be no dedicated switch to shut off MIDI xmit on the PX330 or turn off midi rcv on the SK. I think my old RD250S had a dedicated MIDI button that I could toggle. Anyway, I'm muddling thru the various parameters, having a blast editing and saving sounds....gotta say tho, and this is coming from never having owned the real deal, the organ/leslie/percussion/chr sounds on this little guy are pretty darn cool.

are not ate....this fone sux.

Thanks...I'll MIDI up those two brds tmrw.....and for the record I.get to pretend I'm a bass player on this Thurs nite gig....I'm usually piano and dobro FWIW, those ate my main deals......thanks agn for your insite and help....brk time is up.

Thanks JMcS...you've.been very helpful. I thought it was possible to set two separate organ sound s and use the single manual to toggle btwn them. Iguess not I also tried loading MIDI template 2 . I pressed enter after selecting it but for some reason, I dnt think it takes. When I return and chk the configuration it continues to show Basic in the LCD. I hvnt MIDI ed the scnd keyboard yet. Right now I'm on break...I pretend I'm an electric bass plyr on Thurrs nite e so. I'm not by my keyboards.

Well -- the SK1 arrived today -- very nice, no high pitched hiss that I can determine, BUT, I think there's a problem -- hopefully it's something I'm doing, however I don't think so. HELP When I press "Manual" and Upper Drawbar Select the drawbars all work...the sound changes as I move the drawbars...very nice; the repeat percussion and Leslie sound great. When I press Lower Drawbar Select and move the drawbars there is NO change to the sound I had with the upper setting, it is eggsackly the same sound including any efx, that were on the Upper such as Leslie, percussion, distortion. I see the Lower configuration in the LCD, and the visuals change as I move the drawbars but there is no change in the lower manual sound. EV solo is not selected and no EV's are selected. I tried it with headfones and single Left channel thru my amp. Reinitialed factory settings twice (hold record & power up). Am I doing something wrong or is there a glitch somewhere? No midi connections and no pedals connected. Just straight single channel into an amp. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks -- sounds like more of an ergonomic thing btwn the two as opposed to an actual electrical difference. Has anyone either opened up one or both of these pedals and looked at the internal components or used a DVM to measure/compare the resistance values between the EXP50 and other pedals? $200 plus for what seems like a simple passive mechanical pedal dznt quite compute for me; plus those mech pots always seem to crud up and sound lousy. I also have an old optical Morley that is super quiet and dznt color the sound; that would be easy enough to wire up with a ring tip single connector -- but for now I'll stick with the FC7 as it has pretty low mileage and still sounds good. One other question -- a few pages back there's a description on how to wire up the 8 pin leslie for quarter inch. If I make such a cable could I have that 8 pin send "organ" (or whatever I have assigned to the SK "upper" manual) and then have the regular L/R outputs send whatever I have selected for the SK1 "lower/virtual" manual? The idea would be to use separate mixer channels for upper and lower; the 8 pin in combination with the regular 1/4" audio outs seem like a workaround for this. Or is this not possible.

Ahh ....it's a saturation, overdrive thing...proper gain stage; I like it. Never really knew that before. Soooo is the EXP50 really worth the money being charged? Wouldn't the inside guts be pretty much the same as what's in the FC7? -- ring/tip in/out connections to a pot...or is there an actual circuit in the Hammond pedal?

Thanks a lot -- the SK is scheded to arrive this Thursday. I'll let you know how it goes. And you are correct the PX does not have a dedicated expression pedal input/output. I've got a Yamaha FC7 pedal; one other question concerning expression pedals. I know that with the SK, and some other keyboards, a dedicated expression pedal can do other things besides volume such as act as a wah wah pedal as well as be assigned to control other parameters. But, if volume control is your main application for a pedal, what's the advantage of using a dedicated expression pedal in a jack expressly set up for the purpose as opposed to using a volume pedal connected inline from the output jack(s)?

How Can I Get Three Sounds From Two Keyboards? I just joined this forum and like the idea of a tips and tricks thread for the SK. Two daze ago I bought a "mint condition" lightly used SK1 (hopefully w/no problems) for $1560 that I should receive in a few days. I work as a sideman playing mainly: blues, country, and whorehouse honky tonk rockNroll style piano. My main axes (real stone age stuff) were an RD250S midied to a CZ101 (for organ sounds and pedal steel bends) both of which I finally retired from the road after about twenty or so years of pretty rough use. I currently use the PX330 as my main gigging keyboard; love the action and piano sounds and especially the light weight. I've even used the built in speakers at some jam sessions; I thought those speakers would be the first thing I'd disconnect and trash; guess not. Anyway, I digress....I'm hoping to use that PX330 board in conjunction with the SK-1. I downloaded and read thru the SK1 manual and I'm a bit confused about slaving it via midi and generating multiple sounds. I want to get three sounds from these two keyboards and I'm not sure of the midi parameters and settings I must configure to make this happen. This is how I want the set up to be: The PX330 will be used mostly for its piano and elect piano sounds. The SK1 for organ sounds - I assume the SK1 keyboard would be set for "upper" Assign a second set of organ sounds to the virtual "lower" SK1 manual that I could play on the PX -- I assume the audio for this lower manual sound would also come out of the single pair of L/R SK1 outputs -- is that correct? So in the above setup, the SK now produce two sounds with one sound activated when I play the SK keyboard and the other activated when I play the PX keyboard. I'm also assuming that if I use and setup the correct midi parameters I don't have to switch anything on the SK -- play the SK I get the upper sound and when I play the PX I get the lower sound I selected. In the above configuration I'd like the volume control on the PX to just control the PX sound and not the SK lower manual sound. So If turn the volume up on the PX I'd have three sounds; turn it down/off and I have the two organ sounds. I also would like to be able to assign the SK1 virtual lower manual setting for extra voices (hopefully with no hiss) such as Clav/wah and be driven by the PX330 -- same situayion as above except that I'm using the EVs instead of a second organ sound. It might be easier for me to figure this out once I have the keyboard, but midi parameter settings have never been one of my strong points. It was a simple matter with the old RD250S and CZ101 but both of these newer keyboards, the PX330 and SK1 are quite different beasts with a lot more capabilities. Any step by step instructions help would be appreciated. -- sorry for the long wordy post.