Shamanczarek

My first Hammond was an M-3 which I bought in 1971. Back then they were worth more and I had to pay almost $1000 for it. I got two new Leslie 147s with preamp pedal for a little less than I paid for the organ. I sold the M-3 when I got a C-3 a few years later. Then went Hammond-less all through the 80s when polysynths took over. In the early 90s I got another C-3 for $200 but had to let it go for lack of a place to keep it. In the 2000s I got an L-122 for cheap and then got an M-102A. Sold the L-122 when I got another C-3. Of the spinets the M-3 is most like a B-3. It has the same keys and similar tabs for vibrato and percussion. It only has one 12" speaker so doesn't sound so good without a Leslie. I liked the L-122 a lot. I think the cabinet looks the best of any of the L models. It is a simpler design without the mechanical chorus/vibrato but has the self-starting motor which Keith Emerson put to good use for his off-pitch theatrics in the L-102 model he favored. The internal amplifier powers two 12" speakers using EL84 tubes like some popular guitar amps. The spring reverb in the one I had was the best I've ever heard. I still have the M-102A. I like the 102 cabinet design a lot although if I could find one I would get the M-162. The M-102 has a separate reverb amp and speaker for a spatial effect. Even so the reverb in the L sounds way better. The M-100 sounds the best of any spinet without a Leslie. The Celeste Chorus Vibrato is gorgeous sounding and not found on the console Hammonds. There are slight differences in the M-100 amplifiers from the early to later models. I think the M-102 came out later than the M-101 or M-111 models. In England the M-102 was very popular. There were no M-3s there so in the 60s the only spinet choices were L-100 or M-100. The M-102 was particularly popular because it could be purchased in a split cabinet model which was easier to transport. There were very few B-3s in England at the time so when a band got big enough to graduate to a console it was usually a C-3. Later in the 70s as many British bands became wealthier they often imported B-3s to England and spinets fell out of use for the most part.

Steve uses the Vox Continental II which is the British-made double manual Continental. Most of us have the Italian version which is the Super Continental.

I still have three of those synths. The DX-7, Prophet 5, and OB-8. My DX-7 w/Grey Matter E! is currently up for sale so probably will be gone soon.

The e-mail I originally registered with is no longer valid so I re-registered. After all these years I'm now starting over as a new member and got credit for my first post.

There was A Diamond in the Mind: Live 2011. He used different keyboards here possibly an Andromeda and some others. The JD-XA came out in 2015.

They have been running two different Duran Duran concert shows on PBS tonight. Nick Rhodes is using a few Roland JD-XA and JD-XI Synths. The JD-XA has an analog section which consists of four dual-DCO voices and transistor ladder filters. These voices can be configured as four separate mono synths or a four-voice polysynth. Then there is a four part digital section which can be combined with the analog section. It also has CV/Gate control which was used a lot before MIDI came along. Rhodes does a great job of replicating his signature sounds using this setup. If I was going to do 80s music using newer gear I would consider a JD-XA.

Since the change I can't log in.

I can't log in. Doesn't recognize my user name, password, or email.

Stephen Foster was the first popular songwriter and died poor. I think his first internationally known song was "Oh! Susannah".

Is it Irving Berlin's "Alexander's Ragtime Band"?

For those in the New York/New Jersey area Leland Sklar is being featured on Profiles on the NY Life channel at 11:00 PM tonight.

Thomann won't even sell the vastly overpriced Nord Triple Pedal or the hugely overpriced Nord padded bag to US customers. I wonder why they list these things in US dollars if they can't sell them here. I tried to order the Stage 3 Compact from Thomann a few years ago and of course that was not available for US buyers. Luckily I found an even better price from a US dealer.

Watch this guy reach tenths and other shorter intervals using the fourth finger and thumb almost exclusively in his left hand. [video:youtube]

The average piano player should be able to reach a tenth if both notes are white keys or both are black keys. Try C to the E an octave up. If you can reach this you can do a good number of tenths. Try D to the octave up F#. This will be difficult for many players. You can roll this one by having the damper pedal down and quickly go from D to F#. A good practice piece for left-hand tenths I've found is "The Way It Is" by Bruce Hornsby. Most of the tenths are white keys and are held for a full measure. The stretch range of your left-hand will increase if you put in the practice.

I am now considering listing my CS70M at $50,000. High CS80 asking prices have also raised the perceived value of the CS60 and CS50. These Yamaha synths are full of proprietary IC's which are difficult to find.

I checked out the Zildjian A cymbal packs and although it seems like a good deal each one had a cymbal or two that I didn't really want so I went a la carte and picked each piece. I also checked out Paiste packs but I was looking for smaller sizes and Paiste tend to be larger. Zildjian A history goes back to the early 60s so has become an industry standard for rock and jazz.

Wait for a MF or GC 20% off sale. I bought a whole set of Zildjian A series last year, 14" New Beats, !6" Medium Crash, 20" Medium Ride, and 14" Fast Crash all in one shot for well under grand. Prices may go up in the new year.

Phil Chen was originally from Jamaica and relocated to England. In 1973 he teamed up with Robby Krieger and John Densmore in the Butts Band. He went on to play on Jeff Beck's landmark instrumental album Blow By Blow. When Rod Stewart needed a Bass player he asked Jeff who he recommended and that was Phil Chen. Phil was with Rod during one of his biggest hit-making periods in the late 70s to early 80s. Phil later worked with Ray Manzarek and Krieger and most recently with the Robby Krieger Band. Here he is in 2016 with the Robby Krieger Band who I happened be filling in on keys for. Robby Krieger played Bass on the original recording of "Soul Kitchen" and here Phil does his own embellishment of the part. [video:youtube]

The title SMOTW was not original. In 1945 a song with that title was a number one hit for Red Foley and number one on the country chart for Bob Wills. [video:youtube] [video:youtube]

Deal With It - Kelly Hunt and Delbert McClinton. Piano on the intro and solo in the middle. The band I play this with is impressed that I can do it.

I played at an old theater in Pennsylvania a few years ago where they had two of these Leslies and what looked like a B-series organ. The organ was covered up and I didn't have an opportunity to play it.

The stupid with a flare gun was never caught by Swiss police though he was identified. Here is a translation from a French language newspaper article. 'Here is the release concerning the Montreux Casino fire. As previously already stated in the press, a fire completely ravaged the Montreux Casino on Saturday, 4 December, 1971, at the end of the afternoon where a pop concert had attracted some 2000 listeners. By exceptional luck, this accident did not claim a victim. On the other hand, the damage in numbers was between 12 and 15 million francs. The investigation performed by the police can identify the perpetrator of the act that caused this catastrophe. It was one Spicka Zdenek, born 4 November 1949, Czech refugee, previously of Epalinages, currently on the run (see photo). He was placed under arrest by the [local judge] in Vevey. The matter is that Spicka fired a flare gun in the [concert] hall, first some [capsules] and then a small flare that lodged into the ceiling which set it on fire. The cause of the accident is therefore clearly established. Although his details had been widely circulated in police bulletins, no trace of Spicka has been found in Switzerland. It has been suggested that he shaved off his beard and mustache. Anyone who can give information regarding Spicka should contact the police⦠It is practically certain today that Zdenek Spicka, who had elected to live in a small commune established in a villa located near Epalignes, took flight the same night of the fire. According to his Czech compatriots, he left as soon as possible because he was afraid of being lynched by the crowdâunderstandably afraid of the consequences of his actionsâeven if he had not had the intention of starting the fire. Intentional fire can bring 20 years confinement with a minimum of three years, whereas fire due to negligence can bring a maximum of three years. Regarding the pistol, it is a firearm that one can obtain without authorization in large stores, for example. It was an Italian-made device which could be adapted to flares used to signal distress.'

I bought a Poly 800 new in 1984. At the time I already had a Jupiter 6, OB8, and Pro-One so it wasn't because I couldn't afford anything better. I had seen Chuck Leavell and Don Muro demo it at NAMM and thought it would be good as a strap-on Keytar/Synth/MIDi controller that I could use anywhere since it ran on batteries. It had some very useful sounds that I couldn't get with the more expensive synths. The global filter was a minor drawback but it worked fine for single-note lines with it's note-stacking capability and I MIDI'ed it to the Jupiter 6 to occasionally layer sounds. After not using it for many years I discovered it makes a good controller for the Behringer Model D. I looked at a lot of modern MIDI controllers and didn't find anything that seemed ideal. I tried the Poly 800 and discovered the flat space is perfect for placing a Eurorack-size module on top. The joystick sends Pitch Bend and Modulation to the Model D. The slider on the Poly 800 quickly sets the bend range and the sequencer can play the Model D. Several years ago I noticed the Juno 60 was getting raves on various Synth forums. I had tried one when they came out in the early 80s but didn't care for it and got the Jupiter 6. So I checked CL and found a Juno 60 locally for $400. I put $600 into it to fix a couple of minor issues and install Minerva which adds MIDI, Patch Memory expansion, and other features. Not long after I got the Juno prices started going up and now are getting close to $3K. I'm still no big fan of the Juno 60 but I use it on gigs that call for a lot of Synth and it does sound more authentic than using a ROMpler. While Analog Synth prices have escalated a lot of 80s Digital gear has fallen to a fraction of original cost. DX-7s seem to be in the $300-500 range. Even something more advanced like an SY77 or SY99 often falls into that same price range. Many vintage Samplers are nearly worthless. I have a Roland S-50 that might be worth $100-150. I also have a Roland S-770 that I bought new for over $5000. Prices fell to a low of $200-300 but have slowly risen to around $400-500. Fortunately, I have some Synths that have increased in value like a Prophet 5 rev. 2, Oberheim Matrix 12, Yamaha CS70M, and Korg MS20 (original). Now that I'm getting to retirement age it may be time to start selling some of these.

While gigs are still slow I'm taking a break from Keys and making an intensive effort to improve my guitar skills. I've been playing guitar for over 50 years and never had a good acoustic. I always wanted a Martin but could never justify the cost but after turning 70 a few days ago I realized time is getting short and I shouldn't wait too much longer. Luckily, Guitar Center is having a VIP sale this weekend with a 15% off coupon. Normally Martin is exempt from GC coupons but not this time. Few dealers will give much of a discount on Martins but thanks to GC I got $539 off the usual selling price plus 48 months to pay it off at 0% interest. I'm having it delivered to the store avoiding any potential problems with shipping damage or theft. I can also return it directly to the store if I don't like it for some reason. This is a Martin OM-28E like the one that should be arriving next week:

While not as old Paiste is a widely used brand and generally more expensive than most Zildjians. Paiste is the world's largest maker of cymbals and has made several innovations and inventions in the cymbal industry. Famous drummers that used Paiste include John Densmore, Ian Paice, John Bonham, Bill Bruford, Barriemore Barlow, Cozy Powell, Jeff Porcaro, Carl Palmer, Larry Mullen, Nick Mason, and Stewart Copeland. Paiste started out in Estonia in the early 1900s and are now based in Switzerland. When I bought a new set of cymbals last year I would have gotten Paiste but the ones I wanted were out of my budget so I went with a set of Zildjian A series which were around $1000.