Lou_NC

OK, I'll bite. Why no XB-2? You don't like the sound? Is it unreliable? I've played clonewheels since I bought my analog Korg BX-3 new in 1985. (Before that I played a Farfisa and Leslie 760 🙂) Never owned an XB-2 but just wondering why it wouldn't work as a sound source through a Vent?

Given the editing options available in most clones these days (even back to "older" models like the Hammond XK-3), I would imagine that if you were happy with a Korg CX3, you could potentially be happy with a very affordable older used clone through the vent. I would think a used XK-3/XK-3c would work (if you're using a vent, even the XK-3 should be fine). Heck, you might even be satisfied with an older Hammond XB-2! If the vent existed before I sold my 80's analog Korg BX-3 I would probably still be playing it today through the vent! Lou

I currently have a Viscount Legend Live, Hammond XK3, and a Hammond SK2 and SKX. (In the past I also owned both analog and digital versions of the Korg BX-3's). I bought a XK3 years ago, and also found a used XLK3 lower keyboard for it, and now it stays in my rec room as my "B3 substitute", along with bass pedals. That sucker was a bear to move around (I don't have a roadie at my disposal). I decided I only wanted a dual-manual rig since I play a lot of solo organ, and the first one I found used locally was a Hammond SK2. I *REALLY* like moving the dual Hammond SK's (I currently have an SK2 AND a SKX (non-"pro")). The dual-manual SK's have a well-thought-out recessed "handle" in the back that makes them SO easy to lift and move! Plus, depending on your needs, the SK's have some additional sounds that *may* be useful to you, depending on how fussy you are. I like having them, since in a band environment, nobody really cares whether my "piano" sounds are perfect or not 🙂 I tried out a used first-generation Mojo in a music store once, and REALLY liked the action, although I've read many horror stories about reliability. When the Hammond SK2 came up, I forgot about the Mojo and haven't looked back. I like the extra drawbars on the Legend Live, but I really like the Hammond action better, plus the extra sounds in the Hammond are useful to me. Bottom line - I would say moving a Hammond SK dual manual is painless. Personally I prefer the SKX to the SKX Pro........I don't need the extra features and the used SKX I found recently was 1/2 the price of a new SKX Pro. I *might* be selling my Hammond SK2 in the future now that I have the SKX......haven't decided yet. This is NOT a sales pitch, but if you're interested send me a PM. If I sell it, it will be priced reasonably and it's in excellent shape. I will likely list it here before Reverb. Good luck, there are a LOT of great dual-manual organ choices out there these days! Lou

Dumb question, but have you taken it apart and *tested* the switches? My EE career has taught me to always check the simplest fix first, and in this case, that would be the mechanical components (switches) before assuming the electronics have gone bad. (They might have, but the probability is lower than a mechanical issue). Good luck! Lou

The narrator didn't mention it specifically, but obviously there is a finite "time limit" that you can hold a note until it.......just stops playing! Probably not that big a deal in an actual song, but still...... I had always assumed that they used tape loops not strips. Overall, quite an intriguing electro-mechanical design.

If you have a friend with a drill press this is about 2 minutes "work", converting a blank filler plate to one with holes. Any dimension you want, any spacing.

The Sam Ash in Raleigh NC hasn't had a decent keyboard department in the last decade. It's all guitars, cheap amps, and PA systems. I don't remember ever seeing a single drawbar organ in stock, regardless of brand, ever. I'm sure not all of the stores in the chain were this bad. I remember the one I used to visit on Route 4 in Paramus NJ in the 70's and 80's was much better. Sadly, the Guitar Center right across the street isn't much better, if they went out of business I wouldn't even notice.

As an engineer I can certainly appreciate the technology and effort that went into creating this "Steinway player piano", that basically enables a highly accurate recording of the original player. But it kind of reminds me of driving a Corvette with an automatic transmission. Sure, it gets you where you're going, but where's the fun in that? 🙂

I keep a 3-ring binder of about 15-20 of my favorite fake book jazz standards (think Sinatra-ish tunes) on my music stand, and just run through them in order. Takes all the "thinking" out of it......... I also keep an old iPod (remember those?😄) connected to my mixer, and it has all my MP3's on it. I hit "shuffle" and if the song strikes my fancy I'll play along a keyboard part to it. If I don't like the song I just fast forward past it. I keep myself easily entertained this way......... Lou

I was able to accomplish what you're asking by using a "vintage" Ultimate Support Systems 2-tier A-frame keyboard stand. (These things were very popular in the 80's and I snagged a used one sometime in the 90's, if I recall correctly). I put my Hammond XK-3 on the top, and aligned my Korg DW-8000 to line up almost perfectly as the "lower" keyboard of a dual-manual organ setup. (I basically used the DW-8000 as a MIDI controller only for the lower keyboard of the Hammond in this case). If memory serves, I had to flip the support arms of the upper keyboard so that the "pins" were on the rear side of the XK-3, and I lined up the rear horizontal bar of the stand to give the XK-3 additional support. I was very satisfied with the "feel" of this setup, it was very close to a dual-manual organ (at least to me!) Lou

Mel, If you think stereo imaging might be important to you at some point you might want to consider at least reading up on the Spacestation V.3 by Apen Pittman Designs. You should be able to find a used one in good shape for around $500. It's a novel design and often doesn't get the recognition it deserves for being a compact design with room-filling stereo sound. There's nothing wrong with buying two powered speakers for stereo imaging, which a lot of people seem to do these days, but personally I prefer the Spacestation for my needs. Good luck, Lou

Hey for those of you who have sold through Sweetwater, please remind me........is it easy to get the proceeds of sale as cash into your bank account, or is it limited to "sweetwater credits" for use against future purchases? My recollection is vague but I looked into this a while back and can't remember their business model. I may be selling a clonewheel in the first half of 2024 and would consider listing on gear exchange if I can get $$ instead of "store credit" only. Thanks, Lou

You bet I play bass. Both 16' and 8', in various combinations.........🙂

You mean something like this? https://www.sweetwater.com/c819--AU_TS_to_TS?highlight=EBSPG10&mrkgadid=&mrkgcl=28&mrkgen=&mrkgbflag=&mrkgcat=&acctid=21700000001645388&dskeywordid=&lid=58700008506025409&dsproductgroupid=&product_id=EBSPG10&prodctry=US&prodlang=en&channel=online&storeid=&device=c&network=x&matchtype=&adpos=largenumber&locationid=9009736&creative=&targetid=&campaignid=20442635221&awsearchcpc=&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAwP6sBhDAARIsAPfK_waRg6_mW_lCjUHZN-xUvfA1vT7K12z1if-L_9cBCVpH9AGPP0rgsiAaAiS3EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned "The Power of Love" By Huey Lewis & The News from Back to the Future. The first bars are iconic 80's synth.

Thanks for the tip........I seem to recall reading about some folks on here using mixer stands for their keyboard (or was it as a substitute for a bench?). At any rate, would you mind sharing what stand you're using? I'm thinking that regardless of whether or not I ever find a "standard" placement for bass pedals, I'll want to get mine shifted left a bit.

I have 3 "setups" for dual-manual portable clonewheels, and I'm trying to get the alignment / spacing of the bass pedals consistent with each setup, to help me develop "bass pedal muscle memory" for my playing. My most "stationary" setup at home is a Hammond XK-3/XLK-3 combination on a custom built wood stand. The left-right alignment of the bass pedalboard puts the high-C of the 13-note bass pedalboard just about even vertically with middle-C on the lower organ manual. I've been playing this for a number of years, and it's where my "muscle memory" is currently "programmed". One of my other (newer) portable setups is a Viscount Legend Live, sitting on a vintage Ultimate Support Systems stand, (I believe it was called a "versa table" back in the 80's when I bought it). I noticed that when I place the bass pedalboard under that stand, the spacing of the stand legs force me to place the pedalboard further to the right than with my Hammond XK-3 setup. This has been throwing me off a bit when I play the Viscount setup. I may switch stands so that I can slide the bass pedals farther left with the Viscount setup, to more closely match the Hammond setup. I haven't settled on a solution yet, but this got me wondering......... Is there an "industry standard" spacing for the placement of spinet pedalboards on spinet organs? (Left to right, and actually front to back as well?) I fully realize that in the 2020's, spinet organs are like Model A Fords, but still.......I was wondering about whether there was *ever* an "industry standard" for the placement of spinet bass pedals? If there is/was a "standard" I might want to try to get my setups as close to it as possible when I play them, so that my muscle memory is closest to the "standard" as possible. I did some web searching on spinet organs in general (photos), "spinet organ bass pedal placement", etc. and didn't come up with much consistency. Also, it's absolutely amazing to me how many web pictures of spinet organs are NOT taken from straight-on, facing the organ, but rather at an angle, making it difficult to figure out (by observation of the pictures) whether there was *ever* a standard! 🙂 Thanks, Lou

I wouldn't change a thing about my brief musical "education" (learning to play "keyboards" by taking lessons on a Wurlitzer spinet organ in my parent's living room). However, my first organ *purchase* would have been considerably different.............In hindsight, I would have borrowed the $500 in 1981 to be able to buy the used Hammond B3/122 combo I looked at for $1700, rather than buying the used Farfisa Professional Duo for $1200. 🙂 What a dope I was......... Lou

No streaming for me, I absolutely despise bleeding cash on a monthly basis to listen to music that I already paid for once! 🙂 All my music now is in MP3's. I went through a phase years ago where I digitized my own LP albums and ripped all my CD's. On the rare occasion I want a new song (usually in reality a "vintage" rock/pop tune) I check to see if it's already on YouTube and if it is I use an MP3 downloader and then drop the MP3 file in my music folder. I listen in my car using MP3's on a USB stick, or by running the audio jack of my "vintage" iPod into the AUX input of my car radio. Occasionally I'll listen to FM on my car radio, until the back-to-back commercials drive me to switch to my MP3's yet again! At home I'll hook up the iPod to an input channel in my stereo rack mixer, and listen to tunes through my keyboard monitor setup while I fantasize that I'm Danny Federici playing along with Bruce. 🙂

My "solvent shelf" has all the following, in order from mildest to harshest: water/Dawn dish soap. Paint thinner (mineral spirits). Won't damage any plastics I've ever used it on, removes most glues/adhesives. WD-40 - acts mostly like paint thinner, useful in a spray can as a bug/tar remover from car bumpers and rocker panels. Removes most adhesives without damaging plastics. Goo Gone - I've found that this *DOES* react with certain plastics, so I always use mineral spirits or WD-40 first. Goo Gone is a little stronger and I use it to remove latex paint spatters from floors, etc. Denatured Alcohol - still fairly mild, will soften/remove some things that mineral spirits won't. Hasn't damaged plastics yet for me. Lacquer thinner - WILL damage plastics, primarily useful on metals, glass, (and many well-cured/dried wood surfaces *IF* you use it sparingly/gently with a lightly moistened Qtip for example). Acetone - Pretty harsh stuff, primarily used to remove old paint from metals or glass. Paint Remover - not the sissy "citrus" based stuff, the real deal with the carcinogens. I only use this to......well.......like the name implies......strip old paint and finishes. Lou

Thanks very much for the pictures and the post! Did they have any clonewheels? I see the Nord section, just wondering whether they had any Viscount, Hammond, Crumar (or any others) on the floor? What about amps? Any Spacestations, Motion Sound, or Leslie's? Thanks, Lou

As a practicing EE since the late 70's I cut my teeth soldering prototypes in labs as part of my profession, as well as for a hobby (remember Heathkit TV's and Dynaco stereo kits?). Back in those "pre-surface-mount" days, components were larger (discrete caps, resistors, inductors, and even IC's were on 100 mil centers!) Even connector pin spacing was nice and (relatively) large compared to today's ribbon cables. Speaking of keyboards, in the late 90's I replaced every leaking electrolytic capacitor in my "analog" Korg BX-3 organ, and restored it to factory specs after it was starting get wonky when the caps leaked their electrolyte onto the PCB's. In addition to replacing about 35 capacitors (if memory serves) I also had to rebuild (bypass) some PC board traces that were corroded by the electrolyte. Luckily Korg only used 2-sided PC boards in the 80's BX-3, and the repairs were fairly obvious, and trivial! I wouldn't hesitate to open up any instrument that I own. When I received a Hammond XK-3 in shipment a few years ago it had an issue that turned out to be a loose connector, probably jarred during shipping. I don't think I'll be repairing any surface-mount components on my workbench these days, but in all honesty, integrated electronics have become incredibly reliable over the past couple of decades, so most repairs these days involve mechanical connections wearing out/breaking loose of boards, etc. In fact, I have a power connector for my Hammond SK-2 sitting right in front of me, waiting for me t open up my SK-2 and replace it (the one in the keyboard works, but the center is broken loose). Eventually I'll get around to it....... Lou

Don't listen to the naysayers, there's nothing wrong with your approach that will compliment your computer recording setup.........there's definitely something to be said for flipping on a switch vs. booting a computer to make music! I use one of these almost every day, connected via MIDI to my Casio CDP-100 piano: https://www.vintagesynth.com/misc/nanopiano.php I find the NanoPiano sounds much better than the 5 built-in "stock" sounds in the Casio. 🙂 I don't see any NanoPiano's available on Reverb or Ebay right now, but they come up from time to time. There's also the Emu Proformance /1 that was mentioned above: https://reverb.com/item/71859596-e-mu-systems-proformance-1-1980-s I see a bunch of the Emu's on Reverb right now. For those of us who've been playing 50+ years, we actually remember when folks happily shelled out hundreds of $$ for these small MIDI boxes when they were new on the market, then bragged about how great they sounded! 😆 Good luck! Lou

I see a few keyboards listed for sale on Reverb from a place called "Armen's Music Shop". From the pictures they appear to have quite an extensive inventory of used keyboards, not sure about new. If I were in NYC I would check them out myself. They're listed at 347 W 36th St., New York, NY 10018. Lou

As an old fart and a strong believer in the KISS principle, I'd suggest noodling around with a vintage "drum machine" like my Yamaha RX15 (or similar). https://reverb.com/marketplace?query=yamaha rx15 I've had one of these since the early 80's and still use it for solo practice at times. It has large enough, clearly marked "pads" so that you can "play it" in real-time as well as run it with programmed patterns. Lou