Noah DC

A price drop after nine years signals a pretty good run, I think! I use it live all the time and have seen touring musicians gig with it. Makes sense - a big sound (especially when run through a few pedals) at a weight that may as well be zero. Allison Russell’s keyboardist used one when I caught them in Knoxville last year, for example. And folks like Larry Goldings and Swatkins regularly work these into the jams they post online. Most common usage I see is for left hand synth bass, but I do funk leads quite a bit. It is what it is, and nothing more. Not everyone needs a $1k synth to cover a few pads, a handful of solos, and a bit of bass, in my experience.

Larry Goldings uses the Reface constantly on his social media posts. Worth a look - this one has him taping it to the left panel of his YC88 stage piano. Larry Goldings - YC88 and Reface CS

Yamaha Reface CS sits on top of my Mojo 61, usually run through a pedalboard with its own road case. I see a lot of folks using those for gigging. I usually keep my Behringer Model D at home, but in a pinch, I could play it through my Numa X 73, which also adds reverb and delay.

I also have used ACS custom filtered plugs for years. They advertise to musicians, but I’m not sure if that means their filtered plugs are different from any other you can get from a random audiologist. I just lost my pair and got refitted at the company that took over for ACS called 1of1Custom. They’ve got a lot of locations where you can get the molding done for free. The molded plugs with filters are the only plugs I’ve found I will actually wear at shows. https://1of1custom.com/pages/book-an-appointment

Lots of discussion on this topic here:

I also integrate my iPad with a simple cable to address the Numa X organ shortcoming (and add any other sounds I might need like Model D synth, Scarbee Rhodes, etc.) I just picked up a set of Ocean Beach drawbars to magnetize to the left panel of the Numa for controlling VB3 from an iPad, which I keep magnetized on the right panel. If the new drawbars work as intended, I’ll post about it on the main Numa thread as a point of reference. To each their own, but this solution is still at least one thousand dollars less than a YC73 and even more of a bargain compared to any of the Nords that have an action better the TP100. It just depends what you want to spend, I think - there is no right answer.

I use the Numa X 73 in a live band setting on the regular. I carry it on my back with the Gator Go-Pro 61 Slim gig bag.

The Reface Rhodes is the same one used in the CP4. I'd just spend those thousands of dollars on this Vintage Vibe CP4 shell to get full access to a professional-grade keyboard in the same Rhodes-style case. https://www.vintagevibe.com/blogs/news/custom-piano-shell-u2-yamaha-cp4

For what it’s worth, this is almost literally what a Motion Sound KP-612 amp is. It’s a box that contains two full-range 12-inch speakers with a multi-channel mixer, EQ, stereo XLR outs, XLR in, 1/4” out, and bass port output for a sub. And I can confirm that’s exactly what it sounds like.

Completely agree.

I've been knee-deep in this sort of music for the last few years. I'll just add a few groups currently operating that folks really need to check out. First, based on some discussion on another thread, I picked up a copy of @Jim Alfredson 's new record, Family Business. Christ, this album is so good. Not just blowing smoke his way here on the forums! I've had this thing on repeat in my car the last couple months. Funky, swinging, thoughtful. It's got this beautiful moody track in the middle of it called "Verna." Buy this record, people! Second, partly through Jim's recommendation on the forum and partly through my own experience here in DC proper, I've been digging into the music of Bill Heid. This guy is the real deal. And miraculously, he lives and plays out constantly around my city. Soulful, bluesy playing (and singing) but then runs wild bebop lines at the drop of a hat. Hard to explain his talent, just make sure you listen to his albums. I recently picked up a copy of the new one, Dealin' Wit' It (recorded by Jim Alfredson, I think?) . And I've bought Bandcamp high-end downloads of his classics from back in the day like Air Mobile, Dark Secrets, and Bop Rascal. If you're ever coming through DC, hit me up and I'll tip you off to where and when he is playing around town - I see him live every chance I get. Third, some folks have mentioned Will Blades, who (by the way) has been putting up free organ tutorials on his IG account the last couple years. Just last week, he released a new album called Roll the Tape as a member of the Adam Deitch Quartet. Check this beast of a record out when you get a chance. Finally, if I can be so bold as to do some log-rolling here, I've been working in a soul-jazz organ quartet over the past year called Bad Luck Gold. We started it inspired by all this music we're talking about. Those records by Jim and BIll Heid are really the way I'd love our music to sound one day. But meantime, we tracked an album, and the first two singles from the six-song album came out this month - one original called "Harold Black" and a cover of a Charles Earland tune called "Here Comes Charlie." We're nowhere near the level of the rest of the cats mentioned in this thread, but we're having a blast trying to get there. Most of the gear used for recording - my Mojo 61, Speakeasy stereo preamp rack, Leslie 145 - I came to know more about via time spent on the forum. Check us out if you're in the DC area - we've been gigging a lot the past year.

https://www.bossorgan.com/custom-organs

In case it’s helpful as you start tweaking, this guy included in the description section of his YouTube review the settings he uses for the vintage grand, which he claims is a step above the other built-in acoustic piano models. The rest of the review is a bit strange and hard to follow, but I’ve kept these settings and now use the vintage grand a lot more than I otherwise would have. I also like the Forster 1914 downloaded piano for softer/solo stuff.

They did a firmware update (2.1) that significantly improved the wurly. It’s hard to tell if that video you posted features the old version or the new, but you can find a video with a bit of the update here: https://www.studiologic-music.com/blog/2023-02-13_numaxpiano21/

This feels very right to me. One of my favorite songwriters, Todd Snider, wrote: “the worst review they can give you is no review at all, and that's the one they give almost everybody.” I’d imagine there are unknown musicians toiling out there who would kill to have a thread like this with so many folks paying attention to their playing - what an honor to make music that people take the time to form opinions about.

Been meaning to ask this here for a while, actually: what are the best avenues into Richard Tee’s playing? Top five tracks/albums? Or maybe just a few YouTube links?

That Sam Ash has got nothing on Chuck Levin’s keyboard room here in DC. It’s one thing we definitively have over New York.

Just a quick reminder to update the firmware as you think about whether to return the Numa. A couple of the updates boosted overall action responsiveness and EP tone, among other changes. Didn’t see that update mentioned by the OP so just putting in a plug to inform the decision, however it lands.

@RandyFF For what it is worth, I dropped my 73 at one point loading out from a gig and had what sounds like the same issue with the very bottom key. I unscrewed the side panel (and the top but I don't remember it coming off in any way that was useful). I then saw that the key had fallen out of place and after some fidgeting, I was able to snap the plastic mechanism back into place, where it's worked normally ever since. Just sharing in case you decide you might want to try a repair yourself before dealing with the warranty.

If you ever transcribe this, would you consider posting it or DMing me? I'd love to learn it but always have trouble pulling out those more intricate voicings when I transcribe. For what it's worth, this song was actually written by Blaze Foley, a legendary Texas songwriter. https://www.blazefoley.com/

Great points on the Surface iPad alternative. I gigged with a Surface Pro 2 for a couple years, running Wurlie, Pianoteq, and VB3. Much smaller footprint that a regular iPad and better sounds (though now you can get Pianoteq for iPad).

Just email Studiologic via the link on their website.

Totally agree that is a very "lucky" situation is the sound person has opening on the mixer for more than one stereo board! But it is definitely on offer here and there (or even preferred by a few sound techs I've encountered), usually at higher-end clubs - The Hamilton here in DC, for example - or big festival stages. For the average gig at a bar or small club, I sum everything through my Numa X internal mixer - it's one of the main reasons I bought that board.

This. I have never understood the interest among folks on these boards in controlling the balance of what is sent to FOH. You definitely want your own monitor mix to sound as good as it can be - and that can be achieved either through a soundcheck with a good sound tech or by using your own monitor (I have a Motion Sound stereo amp that works just fine for this purpose). But in my view, it is actually a bad thing to send FOH a single feed with your piano and organ and synth combined. It means that the FOH tech will have to ride the levels even more than they otherwise would as you move between your different sounds, all of which have different amounts of gain and need different volume levels to cut through properly from the mains. And it means that you are inserting your own control over a FOH output that by definition you cannot hear from your station on stage. To be sure, I have to compile my boards into a single feed via my Numa X Piano mixer quite a bit, usually for gigs where there is not enough room on the FOH board for multiple stereo ins. But I would never choose to do that if I had the option to avoid it.

Yeah, I support everything about this post. The video is a killer.