SK-1 and 2 Tips, Tricks and Other Cool Stuff.

[Outkaster]

A Keyboard Corner meeting at the Orbit Room. Count me in on that if you have room, as I'm 15 mins away.

 

I promise not to praise the SK1/2 or speak of politics...

 

I have not been there but some guys I know play there on Tuesday nights. I am only in Rochester, I should come up there.

[HammondDave]

A Keyboard Corner meeting at the Orbit Room. Count me in on that if you have room, as I'm 15 mins away.

 

I promise not to praise the SK1/2 or speak of politics...

 

I have not been there but some guys I know play there on Tuesday nights. I am only in Rochester, I should come up there.

 

Definitely! We should plan out an evening when we can all meet. My free days are Jan 13, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20th... The other days I am in the theater.

[kanker.]

Make sure Sven is there. I'll pick up the tab if someone films it

[JMcS]

A Keyboard Corner meeting at the Orbit Room. Count me in on that if you have room, as I'm 15 mins away.

 

I promise not to praise the SK1/2 or speak of politics...

 

OK then you're invited.. we will have to publish our evening at the Orbit Room on the Keyboard Corner..! Stay tuned...

 

I've started an Orbit Room Keyboard hang topic to make it easier to find. Have fun.

 

Orbit Room Keyboard Hang

[Sven Golly]

Make sure Sven is there. I'll pick up the tab if someone films it

 

I've not been following this thread until just now (saw the new "Orbit Room KC Hang" thread, came back here to see what precipitated it.

 

Frankly, I'm shocked that I'm not even mentioned in the running for Asshat of the Year. I guess I'll have to wait for Mogut and a few others to place their votes and get me back on the ballot.

 

I happen to know Craig M personally, and while he can be gruff at times, he's a great player and a pretty knowledgeable guy, so it's odd to see how this developed into a dog fight. Frankly I think kanker and Craig would actually get along pretty well in real life...

 

I might just have to attend this little gathering; I'm far from a Hammond player compared to Craig, but I'm definitely an asshat, so I think my attendance is important.

[Dglavko]

That's great!

 

So now there are four of us!

 

Perhaps we can get Coolio and y'all to mend your differences? If so, I'll buy a round too (tequila by that point) and then perhaps we'll head down the street to the Dakota. (I've met Coolio btw, and he too is a hell of a player!)

 

As an aside, I wouldn't call myself a "Hammond player"unless owning an A100 qualifies me for that...

 

Let's continue the discussion by PM or on the Orbit Hang thread?

[Sven Golly]

(I've met Coolio btw, and he too is a hell of a player!)

 

Yep, same here... not sure what issues he may be having here at the KC, but nothing a couple of shots can't fix.

[Meisenhower]

As a result of my first hand experience with Hammonds poor quality control, and their poor Customer Service and Support, I took a much more critical look at pros and cons of the SK1 and decided that the SK1 wasn't for me. End of story.

 

If you consider a company offering to replace a potentially defective unit with a working one, at the most reasonably available time, "poor customer service and support", then you have an unrealistic expectation of what constitutes good customer service.

 

Personally, I think Hammond may have pulled the trigger a little early in their release, on the basis of the myriad of production units that have some kind of problem. However, that ship has sailed and all they can do is manage each issue as it arises and replace units, update software and firmware until the bugs are worked out. To the best of my knowledge, Hammond has been doing exactly that. Quality control and customer service are two different animals.

 

It was your choice to purchase an SK, despite some well documented bugs occurring with units in the field. Knowing that, you took a risk and got a bad one. Hammond offered to replace your defective unit. You didn't like the time frame so you returned it. Fine. Your choice.

 

Stop trying to defend a position that suggests that Hammond didn't "do the right thing" to solve your problem. You never gave them a fair shake to remedy the issue in the time available.

 

Does Hammond have a problem somewhere in their SK production chain? My guess is yes! Are they doing everything the can to remedy it? I don't know, but given the negative press they've been getting about it, I'd suspect it's "priority one." Should they stop selling units because of these problems? Not likely. That strategy seemed to work just fine for Microsoft!

 

With respect to your gross and multiple overreactions to a number of fellow forumites, who were only trying to get enough data to try and helpfully reproduce your problem, YOU sir are out of line.

 

Just curious, do you have the same reaction when you take your car in for an intermittent issue and then berate the mechanic when they ask you the conditions under which the problem occurs?

 

 

 

 

[Craig MacDonald]

WOW here's another guy who has contributed NOTHING to this thread except to swoop in at the last minute and criticize. If you actually knew the whole story, which includes lies and denials from Hammond regarding the delivery date, the problem my Dealer had getting hammond to even return his calls, you wouldn't be so quick to criticize me. Not all of the issues that my dealer and I encountered have been detailed in this thread.

 

However, thank you for your kind words sir, you have oh so very helpful.

 

(from participating in this thread I have learned that sarcasm and criticism seems to be most effective.. above was sacasm).

 

 

As a result of my first hand experience with Hammonds poor quality control, and their poor Customer Service and Support, I took a much more critical look at pros and cons of the SK1 and decided that the SK1 wasn't for me. End of story.

 

If you consider a company offering to replace a potentially defective unit with a working one, at the most reasonably available time, "poor customer service and support", then you have an unrealistic expectation of what constitutes good customer service.

 

 

 

 

[Meisenhower]

Whatever dude.

 

You're complaint was about noise in your Hammond. Now you're bitching about the delivery date and your dealer issues. Which is it?

 

Sounds like you just enjoy bitching.

 

If we don't know the "full story" after you posting 21 threads on the subject (some of the quite lengthy), who's fault is that? I'm not quick to criticize you either . . . . I've watched you go on for days berating people who only tried to help you and then rank on a company's company service because they didn't ship you a new unit before they ate Xmas turkey.

 

I didn't "jump in" to contribute, because there wasn't anything LEFT to contribute. Others had already taken the necessary steps to try and help you, and all they got for they're trouble was "piss poor attitude" from you, much like virtually all your posts in this thread.

 

And we thought you were "done with this thread." Tsk, tsk!

 

[HammondDave]

When will the "Asshat of the Year Award" be announced? What if I am out of town in Toronto at the time? Shall I get my tuxedo cleaned?

[Craig MacDonald]

Meisenhower,

 

Are we only allowed to have one complaint with Hammond? Sorry that I dared to have not only a hardware problem but also issues with delivery, and responsiveness.

 

I was gone and I was done with this thread until you popped in to criticize me after contributing NOTHING. Sorry but the rationale that "everything that needed to be said, had been said" may be fine for not contributing to the thread.. but what's your excuse for dropping in at the last minute and getting all preachy?

 

Kudos to Kanker, Adan, and yourself Meisenhower.. you're all a bunch of [insert insult of your choice] who for some reason seem to feel that contributing to a thread is not as important as providing sarcasm and caustic comments towards those of us who try to help others, and dare to question the quality of products and support provided by some of these companies that are so eager to take our cash!

 

I may be complaining here, but I don't swoop in at the end of threads simply to criticize people for their posts, unlike yourself. BTW, no one was helping ME on this thread.. I returned my SK1, and purchased a 61 key Kronos, before I began participating in this thread.. I was just trying to help Pawel and James Fry and telling them that their problem was real and that they should return their defective units to Hammond.

 

Ultimately, this is the conclusion that even JMsC has come to, so at this point despite all your caustic comments, it appears that I was right. I can live with that. Actually, I enjoy being right even more than I enjoy bitching!!

[Joe Muscara]

You know what this thread needs?

http://planetsmilies.net/eat-drink-smiley-5160.gif

 

http://www.democracyforums.com/images/smilies/smiley_beer_toast.gif

[allan_evett]

I could attempt to reach ' Asshat of the Year' here, but being that I've arrived a bit late, that's unlikely. Perhaps 2012. At the very least I should be a runner up for ' Most Convoluted Horse Trading, 2010/2011' ( Tony O, in a recent conversation, suggested that I'd surpassed him in that dept.).

 

Anyway..... Quite a thread here; perhaps a slight misnomer by now . I think B3-er's advice cuts to the chase well; a bad DAC was likely the problem with Craig's unit. The SK's seem to be a great option for many. Not my thing, as I need controller capabilites on my 2nd tier (and often 1st); but having listened to the SK online - plus having talked to a few happy owners - it sounds like a winner.

 

So Craig, you've got a Kronos 61 now; sounds like that's working out well. I'm glad that it's a 61 - considering the problems that have cropped up with RH3. So far it appears that I've escaped that problem with my Kronos 88, but as problems have been reported over four months out with previously 'perfect' keybeds, I'm still walking on eggshells with that one. I'll be PO'd if that happens, but will try not to kick the dog, or cat, or beat up my KC friends too badly if suggestions are offered . True, it's a royal PITA to have something not work correctly (costly or not), but the reality of customer service during a holiday period is just that. Idealism has it's place, maybe.... But if I'd continued with the same level of it as in my late 20's, my family would now be giving me flowers a few times a year - at my resting place 6 ft. underground. I understand, to a degree, the frustration expressed; but....

 

Anyway, I hope the Orbit Room hang is good; chill out, share a beer or two, and hopefully many laughs as well..

 

 

[Craig MacDonald]

Allan, thank you for a nice calm post.. if others would do the same, relax and stop with all the sarcasm and caustic comments, this thread would quickly get back on topic.

 

Yes I am enjoying my Kronos, and happy that I didn't go with the Rh3 keybed, but the semi-weighted 61 note keyboard is a bit stiffer than the typical clone (actually it's about the same feel as the SK1 as it stands using the lower note trigger point), with diving board keys rather than waterfall. So this will take some getting used to.

 

Yes it will be nice to get together with a few other hammond fans from here, and the clonewheel forum that I also frequent, and I am looking forward to a night at the Orbit Room.

 

Thanks again for the calm post. Hopefully everyone has said what they wanted to say and we can move on.

[Jim Alfredson]

A couple of points:

 

1) This is the "SK-1 and 2 Tips, Tricks, and Other Cool Stuff" thread. Not the "Bitch About Hammond" thread. It seems odd to use this particular thread as a personal soapbox for how much Hammond sucks. A better thread would've been the general SK-1 thread that's a billion pages and contains all sorts of lovely complaining and argument.

 

2) Comparing the SK series to a workstation is unfair, for both the SK and the workstation. Does the workstation have drawbars, specific buttons for percussion, chorus/vibrato, Leslie speed, and an 11pin Leslie output? No, because it's made to be a jack-of-all-trades. Does the SK series have the greatest acoustic pianos, electric pianos, strings, brass, guitar, woodwind, sitar, harpsichord, celeste, vibraphone, ethnic instruments, percussion, drums, and synth pad sounds? No, because it's meant to be an organ with some decent extra sounds.

 

3) Judging the quality of those extra sounds on a defective unit is unfair.

 

4) The organs on every workstation I've heard absolutely pale in comparison to any of the modern dedicated clones on the market. This quote is confounding:

 

Funny thing is that for only a few hundred dollars more I got an updated CX3 engine that sounds just as good as the Hammond SK1...

 

Really? C'mon, man. I've heard the CX3 engine in the Kronos. It's fine for a workstation. It is not anywhere near the Hammond engine in terms of realism or authenticity. Not even close. It's not even close to the Nord engine. That goes doubly so for the Motif (and I'm a Yamaha fanboy). Yamaha has some great sounds but the organ sounds are laughable. The CX3 engine was great in 2003. Not so much now. I think your frustration with the SK1 and the response from your dealer / Hammond are clouding your judgement.

 

5) You are the victim of bad timing. Expecting a company to stop it's employees from going home for the holidays just to ship you a replacement board is unreasonable. The fact that they agreed to exchange the board means they stand behind the product. Truly bad customer service would be if they told you "Hey, stick it buddy!" and you still had a defective unit sitting in your garage. But that didn't happen. By your own account, they refunded your money and said they'd ship you a new one AFTER the holidays, which is completely reasonable. I really don't understand why you're so upset at this. Do you still have the C2 and module? Couldn't you just use that for gigs until the problem was resolved? It appears to me (and probably other people on this thread) that your response to the whole situation seems a bit childishly impatient. I know, I know, you waited 5 weeks for the SK1. Were these promises made by Hammond or by the dealer? Did you ever contact Hammond directly about the issues (including the wait time and the sound issues) or was this all through the dealer? If it was through the dealer, is it possible he isn't giving you the whole story?

 

6) It is obvious that there are some serious QC issues with the SK line. This is a first for Hammond and I bet they were caught off-guard about it. Welcome to manufacturing in the modern day! Everything is made in China because everybody wants the cheapest possible merchandise. And everyone knows the QC in China is it's biggest weakness. The Kronos had/has some serious QC issues, too. I own two Hammond XK3 keyboards (made in Japan), one of which since 2006, the other since 2010, both of which have been gigged on 1000's of times over the years, the latter of which has toured all over the country. I've never had a single issue with either. I did have a very well-documented issue with the Leslie 3300 top driver, which was eventually resolved (I helped them figure out the problem). Hammond stood behind that and sent me new drivers until the issue was fixed.

 

What I'm trying to say is that from an outsiders perspective (and for the sake of clarity, I am endorsed by Hammond) and from someone who makes his living on these instruments, I can say without compromising my integrity that the customer service of Hammond is top notch. Again, you're the victim of bad timing. If one of the drivers in my Leslie blew up during the last week of December, I'd be screwed too, but not because Hammond doesn't care about it's products or the people who use them or because the products are pieces of shit or any other reason other than they are closed for the holidays. Like pretty much every other non-vital company. And so if the driver in my 3300 blew, I'd have to use a back-up Leslie (I have several). If the XK3 ever went down, I'd use a real tonewheel organ (for jazz gigs) or my laptop and my Novation ReMOTE SL mk II (for non-jazz gigs). Because shit happens and you better have a back-up. I understand your frustration but in fairness to Hammond you really didn't give them a chance to solve the problem. You returned the SK1 and bought something else. So it's really not your place to say their customer service sucks. You can certainly say the QC on the SK series sucks... that's a valid point.

 

But hey, enjoy the Kronos. I'd love to have one if only for the synthesis engines (the Mod7 looks particularly fascinating) . But I'd never want it as my sole organ board. No drawbars? No thanks.

[Craig MacDonald]

B3-er, I am aware that you are a sponsored Hammond artist, so obviously I know what to expect. I would have loved to put an end to this but since you and all these others seem to want to desperately keep this going, I will respond to your points.

 

1. Yes this is not a "bitch about Hammond" thread. I began to participate in this thread by trying to help, understand, and deal with the hiss/noise issue. I was specifically helping PAWEL and James Fry to understand what had happened to me.. including all that was told to me by my dealer. I made some incidental comments regarding my disatisfaction with Hammond and have been crucified for doing so. 20+ posts later I am still being insulted by people who have contributed nothing to the thread except their sarcasm and criticism. I would love nothing more than to put this to bed!!

 

2. You may think comparing an SK1 to a low end workstation is unfair, but I do not because I am comparing them on VALUE, and for a lot less $$ you can get a lot more in a low end workstation then you can from an SK1 - and this is based on first hand experience. That said value is a relative thing and if you value hammond sound and drawbars, and EV's are just an added bonus, you may see the SK1 as excellent value. After playing with the SK1 and fully understanding it's capabilities, and limitations, I decided that for me the drawbars/hammond sound, and medeocre EV's weren't worth $7-800 more than an entry level workstation.

 

3. Judging the EV's based on a defective unit not unfair, I can tell the difference between what is noise/hiss based on a defective DAC and what might be good or bad samples. The samples on the SK1 are medeocre at best (my opinion of course).

 

4. The Kronos CX3 actually sounds great if you take the time to go in and tweak it. I readily admit that the factory presets aren't particularly appealing but I can say with confidence that the CX3 engine is great. You suggested that the issues with Hammond are clouding my judgement, and perhaps that's true to a certain extent, but I would suggest that the most significant difference between digital CX3 technology and current clone technology, including SK1's, is the quality of the leslie sim, and nothing touches the Ventilator.. not the XK3c or the SK series sims. I'll continue to use my Ventilator with my Kronos and I'm confident that it will compete favourably with most of current crop of single manual clones.

 

6. Yes it is obvious that Hammond has some quality issues. I have experienced no such problems with my Kronos, it works fine out of the box, unlike my SK1. Regarding my issues with Hammond and the holidays, I am not just upset that they went for Christmas Holidays without shipping me a new unit, I am upset because the problem was reported to them early in the week and they had several days to respond and resolve my issues, and it wasn't until the last minute that they responded to my dealers phone calls which left no time for this to be resolved before Christmas. I am upset to wait 5 weeks for deliver only to receive a defective unit. I am also upset with false promises regarding delivery and other issues as well, which I haven't bothered wasting time on in this forum.

 

My experience with this SK1 and Hammond service and support has been bad from the start. This may be a completely isolated experience. Clearly everyone here seems to be pretty "pro-hammond", I've heard that LOUD AND CLEAR as I have been repeatedly crucified for sharing my views.

 

I really do want to put and end to all of this, and I will gladly do so if all of you will all stop trying to debate this with me.

[mate stubb]

Let me guess - you always have to have the last word, right?

[keyguy]

In keeping with the spirit of the thread, I don't know whether this is a tip, trick, or cool, but this is my solution for using the SK-1 "power brick" for gigging. The pictures are self-explanatory, but to clarify, I used a duplex outdoor box with the "power brick" Velcroed to the side. It stays there permanently. I made a short IEC cable that plugs into one of the outlets and my Yamaha CP plugs into the other outlet. We use stage stringers across the front for power, so power goes to the male edison,and the next outlet plugs into the female edison. Feel free to critique or ask questions! BTW, so far, my SK-1 has had no issues (knock on wood)and I am happy with it.

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae89/jamesewells/Hammond%20SK1%20PS%20Mod/DSCN0883.jpghttp://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae89/jamesewells/Hammond%20SK1%20PS%20Mod/DSCN0884.jpghttp://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae89/jamesewells/Hammond%20SK1%20PS%20Mod/DSCN0885.jpghttp://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae89/jamesewells/Hammond%20SK1%20PS%20Mod/DSCN0886.jpghttp://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae89/jamesewells/Hammond%20SK1%20PS%20Mod/DSCN0887.jpghttp://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae89/jamesewells/Hammond%20SK1%20PS%20Mod/DSCN0888.jpghttp://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae89/jamesewells/Hammond%20SK1%20PS%20Mod/DSCN0889.jpg

[Jim Alfredson]

6. Yes it is obvious that Hammond has some quality issues. I have experienced no such problems with my Kronos, it works fine out of the box, unlike my SK1. Regarding my issues with Hammond and the holidays, I am not just upset that they went for Christmas Holidays without shipping me a new unit, I am upset because the problem was reported to them early in the week and they had several days to respond and resolve my issues, and it wasn't until the last minute that they responded to my dealers phone calls which left no time for this to be resolved before Christmas. I am upset to wait 5 weeks for deliver only to receive a defective unit. I am also upset with false promises regarding delivery and other issues as well, which I haven't bothered wasting time on in this forum.

 

But was all the contact with Hammond through your dealer or did you contact them directly? Is it possible your dealer might be stretching the truth a bit? I'm not blindly defending Hammond, here. I've called them and depending who you get on the phone you can either get somewhere or not. But if you have a technical support issue, which this obviously was, then the best route is to contact Ray Gerlich directly and he will take care of it.

 

As for the quality of the SK vs. the Kronos, I am confident that if you took the time to tweak the SK, it would kick the CX-3 engine's butt, even with a Ventilator, albeit not the overdrive of the Vent (the Vent, by all accounts, beats even the new Mojo in that regard). The only organ engine I've heard that's better than Hammond is Guido's VB3, but I've had issues with getting VB3 to cut through a blistering blues guitarist, unlike the Hammond engine. That may be due to the choice (or lack thereof) of amps I have at my disposal on the road. YMMV.

 

 

[Jim Alfredson]

Oh, and I think the reason people are "crucifying" you (just a wee bit hyperbolic, don't you think?) is due to your insistence that Hammond's customer support sucks, which is simply not true. Your expectations for getting a replacement unit during this holiday season were unreasonable.

[Craig MacDonald]

B3-er, YES all of the contact was through the dealer, and you're absolutely right that the problem could be with the Dealer rather than Hammond. However, I do trust the dealer (based on my gut of course) and it was the assistant store manager that I was dealing with. I'm not sure who they were dealing with at Hammond. Perhaps this was all the dealers fault and he wasn't handling things properly and making excuses etc.. If so, then that would still leave me upset with Hammond for their bad QC and slow delivery. However, sh!+ happens I recognize that (I did some time at a music retailer recently so I do understand how the system works).

 

Seriously I'm not interested in ragging on Hammond anymore. I loved the Hammond side of the SK1.. I was not impressed with the EV's and the fact that I got a defective unit. I had purchased the SK1 hoping that it would be a satisfactory back up for my Nord C2/Sonic Cell gig rig, and for small gigs I'm playing with a trio now, but after using it, I don't think the SK1 EV's are going to work for me and neither are the limitations it has with splits and layers.

 

I agree on your other points, MOJO is great, the biggest issue with the SK series is overdrive, and I don't expect CX3 mode to be better than a dedicated clone, but I think it will hold it's own, it will work as backup for my normal gig rig (good organ with a lot more sounds and split/layer capabilities than my Sonic Cell), it will also work well for small gigs with my trio, AND it's also going to be a great addition to my studio. So alls well that ends well.

 

And it was never my intention to come here and slag hammond. Quality control seems to be down everywhere these days.. I purchased a studiologic NUMA organ a few months ago, and loved it but it crashed repeatedly and I had to return it within the first month.

 

Hopefully we can all move on to tips and tricks now. I have certainly said all I need to say on this topic.

 

 

 

[Craig MacDonald]

Actually, I think people are crucifying me for two things..

 

1. For criticizing JMsC when he made the crack that the three of us didn't really have a problem but our volumes were just turned up too loud.. (and I don't think this was what JMsC meant, but that's how I interpreted it), and I suggested that he had been drinking too much Hammond KoolAid (which I still think is true for a number of people on this list). This is when the angry mob turned against me.

 

2. For criticizing Hammond for not delivering me a replacement on Christmas day (which is what not what I expected but that's what everyone has picked up on). This is what the angry mob decided to focus on.

 

My issues with Hammond were long delivery, missed delivery commitments (telling my dealer one week that it had shipped and then a week later denying that they had said that). I am upset that I got a defective unit. I was upset that hammond told my dealer it was a "negligible problem" and yet agree to replace it (completely contradictory statements). I was upset at hammond for being slow to return my dealers calls which caused the resolution of my problems to be pushed out 2 weeks into 2012. HOWEVER, people picked up on the Christmas thing, and only the Christmas thing, despite all the other issues I had with Hammond.

 

I am really fed up with all of this, and defending myself from all the sippers of the Hammond KoolAid is becoming very tiresome, but I still have some fight in me if anyone wants to keep this going!!!

 

All I was trying to do here was to help a couple of guys who were having the same problem I was.

 

Oh, and I think the reason people are "crucifying" you (just a wee bit hyperbolic, don't you think?) is due to your insistence that Hammond's customer support sucks, which is simply not true. Your expectations for getting a replacement unit during this holiday season were unreasonable.

[Outkaster]

B3-er, I am aware that you are a sponsored Hammond artist, so obviously I know what to expect. I would have loved to put an end to this but since you and all these others seem to want to desperately keep this going, I will respond to your points.

 

1. Yes this is not a "bitch about Hammond" thread. I began to participate in this thread by trying to help, understand, and deal with the hiss/noise issue. I was specifically helping PAWEL and James Fry to understand what had happened to me.. including all that was told to me by my dealer. I made some incidental comments regarding my disatisfaction with Hammond and have been crucified for doing so. 20+ posts later I am still being insulted by people who have contributed nothing to the thread except their sarcasm and criticism. I would love nothing more than to put this to bed!!

 

2. You may think comparing an SK1 to a low end workstation is unfair, but I do not because I am comparing them on VALUE, and for a lot less $$ you can get a lot more in a low end workstation then you can from an SK1 - and this is based on first hand experience. That said value is a relative thing and if you value hammond sound and drawbars, and EV's are just an added bonus, you may see the SK1 as excellent value. After playing with the SK1 and fully understanding it's capabilities, and limitations, I decided that for me the drawbars/hammond sound, and medeocre EV's weren't worth $7-800 more than an entry level workstation.

 

3. Judging the EV's based on a defective unit not unfair, I can tell the difference between what is noise/hiss based on a defective DAC and what might be good or bad samples. The samples on the SK1 are medeocre at best (my opinion of course).

 

4. The Kronos CX3 actually sounds great if you take the time to go in and tweak it. I readily admit that the factory presets aren't particularly appealing but I can say with confidence that the CX3 engine is great. You suggested that the issues with Hammond are clouding my judgement, and perhaps that's true to a certain extent, but I would suggest that the most significant difference between digital CX3 technology and current clone technology, including SK1's, is the quality of the leslie sim, and nothing touches the Ventilator.. not the XK3c or the SK series sims. I'll continue to use my Ventilator with my Kronos and I'm confident that it will compete favourably with most of current crop of single manual clones.

 

6. Yes it is obvious that Hammond has some quality issues. I have experienced no such problems with my Kronos, it works fine out of the box, unlike my SK1. Regarding my issues with Hammond and the holidays, I am not just upset that they went for Christmas Holidays without shipping me a new unit, I am upset because the problem was reported to them early in the week and they had several days to respond and resolve my issues, and it wasn't until the last minute that they responded to my dealers phone calls which left no time for this to be resolved before Christmas. I am upset to wait 5 weeks for deliver only to receive a defective unit. I am also upset with false promises regarding delivery and other issues as well, which I haven't bothered wasting time on in this forum.

 

My experience with this SK1 and Hammond service and support has been bad from the start. This may be a completely isolated experience. Clearly everyone here seems to be pretty "pro-hammond", I've heard that LOUD AND CLEAR as I have been repeatedly crucified for sharing my views.

 

I really do want to put and end to all of this, and I will gladly do so if all of you will all stop trying to debate this with me.

 

Craig just so you know this forum is anything but "Pro Hammond" . Since the Crummar and Numa stuff has taken hold a lot of people are selling the Hammond and Nord stuff they have to check out the new batch of products.

[JMcS]

Everybody - Back away from the keyboard.

 

[Octopus]

After all, we are talking about four really nice clones!

 

Crumar (John), Numa (Mark), Hammond (Matthew), Nord (Luke) ...none of them is really that "bad" ...just a question of taste. You can find problems in all of them if you really looking deep, none of them is Jesus.

 

I dont think that "A LOT of people are selling the Hammond and Nord stuff they have to check out the new batch of products". But maybe some will. The most keep staying in the family for a while and enjoy playing it. Maybe I will try a Crumar next time I buy a new clone, but I will first give SK2 some years and much much love. The most important is that I play.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Outkaster]

Look at the classifieds and E-bay for example, A lot of XK-3 and SK models are up an auction.

[Octopus]

Ok, but "a lot" ...do you think that is 5 percent of all new Sk owners or 80 percent?

 

;-)

[JMcS]

Look at the classifieds and E-bay for example, A lot of XK-3 and SK models are up an auction.

 

Most of the '3c and SK E-bay listings are for new units.

[Craig MacDonald]

Craig just so you know this forum is anything but "Pro Hammond" . Since the Crummar and Numa stuff has taken hold a lot of people are selling the Hammond and Nord stuff they have to check out the new batch of products.

 

Outkaster, this forum may be "anything but Pro Hammond" but this thread certainly is Pro Hammond! There's no question about that.. look at what happened to me for suggesting hammond support and the SK1 was less than perfect!!

 

Thank you for this comment, now I can sit back and watch you take crap from everyone for suggesting that a lot of people are selling their Hammond stuff to get Mojos and Numas.. Something tells me the heats going to be on you for a while now.. enjoy!