Heads-up: SpaceStation keyboard amp is apparently back

[timwat]

I too want to paint the grill; just curious, did you prime it first?

 

First of all, shout out to David (EscapeRocks). I learned a lot about painting just watching his threads on custom painting his gear. My dad died early, and I never learned a lot about painting stuff.

 

One of the things I learned from Dave's threads was surface prep. My attempt at shooting my keytar red was less than satisfactory, and lack of proper surface prep was one reason.

 

For the SS grill, I steel wooled the entire front under running water. Took off not only the silk-screened logo and words, but found the silver finish very easily rubbed down to the dull grey metal finish.

 

After letting it dry, I sprayed it with Rust-oleum Universal Advanced Formula "paint & primer in one", Satin Black:

 

http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/400/db/db0ab48f-83b5-45bd-ba46-b56c6642ebdc_400.jpg

 

I remember Dave priming his stuff, and would have done that but found the all-in-one-can stuff and thought I'd try it. Sprayed several very light coats, letting dry in between.

 

Once I finally got full coverage and it dried, applied a faint mist of Rust-oleum Specialty Metallic in gold:

 

http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/400/c4/c4b3a18a-f8c1-413c-b058-c1f827b29f01_400.jpg

 

Hope that helps some.

 

[EscapeRocks]

Tim,

 

Thanks for the shout out!

 

Your SS3 looks wonderful. Nice job on the paint. If I were to get one, I would do exactly the same thing.

 

The Rustoleum "paint and primer in one" in the rattle cans are pretty good. I have used them quite a bit as well.

 

These days I typically only use a separate primer when going with a brighter color, to keep the top color coat the proper shade.

 

On the darker colors, the all in one solutions are just fine.

 

Again, nice work.

 

[theGman]

Thanks for the info!

 

[drawback]

I for one am proud to display the CPS Spacestation logo on mine.

[Doerfler]

I for one am proud to display the CPS Spacestation logo on mine.

 

I'm still waiting on mine to be delivered. New paint job is not on my list (yet).

[MAJUSCULE]

I don't think I had realized how many of you guys had picked one these up. Impressive. I really want to hear one in real life now. Doubt I'll be able to unless I put my money where my mouth is. Sadly, the comparison between my disposable income and the size of my mouth is, well, disproportionate.

[Tombsalley]

Start a charity. because what I hear it would be a worthy cause!

[Tombsalley]

Just an FYI. If you've tred to reach Aspen. He has had some email/server issues

Including his site. So if you have tried to get a reply or answer

That was an issue for him. I am sure he'll help you as soon as he is up to

Normal. I'm not his messanger or anyting. I just thought I'd throw that out there

To help out.

 

[Autumn Pittman]

From Aspen's Post on his FB Page this evening:

 

"Here's the message "Powweb", my web server host for my 3 websites (CPS, A&A and APR studios) for maybe 8+ years, sent me yesterday at 6:45 am:

 

" Hello,

 

This message is to inform you that your account is getting GB's of requests every hour. Unfortunately, as a shared hosting service provider, we won't be able to host this account. We have suspended your website."

 

No warning, just all 3 websites GONE. All email accounts on those website GONE. Bastards!

 

We had to rush around to fine a provider/server/host (whatever) and then took all day to transfer all the files from our sites over to the new server host, and I still haven't got normal emails up and running. My webmaster NIck got us a patched up email account working late today, but It now seems we've lost every email from 2pm yesterday to 3 pm today.

 

I hope Powweb never gets another customer, please tell a friend!

 

After cashing my renewal check for 2015 back in January, and having cashed them for MANY YEARS, you would think the very least they could have done was give me 24 hours notice before they shut me down!

 

The only good news here is to know our traffic has reached massive GBs, whole new levels, fueled most likely by our new Center Point Stereo Spacestation...which is making a lot of friends...and my daughter Autumn's efforts at improving our social media skills!

 

For all of you who may have seen a blank page yesterday, we are back on..so please, drop by anytime!"

 

I hope none of you have experienced any inconvenience. Please, never hesitate to contact me in a pinch. I will do my best to be a good middle-man. Autumn

[spazzkey]

Aspen will end up buying bulk B1200D's then add the SSv3 grill to them and a CPS logo for just a few hundred more...

Ankyu.

 

[spazzkey]

From Aspen's Post on his FB Page this evening:

"Here's the message "Powweb", my web server host for my 3 websites (CPS, A&A and APR studios) for maybe 8+ years, sent me yesterday at 6:45 am:

" Hello,

This message is to inform you that your account is getting GB's of requests every hour. Unfortunately, as a shared hosting service provider, we won't be able to host this account. We have suspended your website."

No warning, just all 3 websites GONE. All email accounts on those website GONE. Bastards!

We had to rush around to fine a provider/server/host (whatever) and then took all day to transfer all the files from our sites over to the new ser4ver host, and I still haven't got normal emails up and running. My webmaster NIck got us a patched up email account working late today, but It now seems we've lost every email from 2pm yesterday to 3 pm today.

I hope Powweb never gets another customer, please tell a friend!

After cashing my renewal check for 2015 back in January, and having cashed them for MANY YEARS, you would think the very least they could have done was give me 24 hours notice before they shut me down!

The only good news here is to know our traffic has reached massive GBs, whole new levels, fueled most likely by our new Center Point Stereo Spacestation...which is making a lot of friends...and my daughter Autumn's efforts at improving our social media skills!

For all tof you who may have seen a blank page yesterday, we are back on..so please, drop by anytime!"

 

I hope none of you have experienced any inconvenience. Please, never hesitate to contact me in a pinch. I will do my best to be a good middle-man. Autumn

 

thanks for posting Autumn - glad to see Aspen is getting some real traction

[rha]

Clearly, this product has generated quite a lot of attention and many fans. I too am intrigued by this, but have a question, and with so much info (we're at 79 pages already), I think I'm getting lost in the info, and now can't see the forest for the trees. Here's my question: I usually play in smaller venues (50-100 seats); typical setup involves hauling a Traynor K4 for stage monitoring and running balanced outs from the amp to the mixing board of the house PA for FOH. Since the Space Station has no outputs (other than the sub), I could either split the outs from the keyboard to both the mixer and the Space Station. But I'm thinking that having any keyboard in the PA would defeat the purpose of the Space Station by interfering/masking the stereo effect. So I'm thinking that I would just use the Space Station for both monitoring and FOH, and wonder if this would be loud enough to cut through my bandmates' instruments in the PA? I'd be grateful to hear from those with gigging experience in small venues, playing with a full amplified band.

[Doug Robinson]

Hard to know how loud your band plays, rha, but I play in the same sized venues in a blues rock group with only the vocals, kick drum and harmonica going through the P.A. and I am heard beautifully with just the SS3. I never feel close to being drowned out, and without an extra monitor I can hear myself very well, as can the band. I've walked around the club while other players sat in and was nothing but pleased.

 

For the one gig where the sound man insisted that I run into the house P.A. (a 400 seat theater where I could have held my own with just the SS3 but he wanted everything in there as he was feeding a video shoot from the board) the audience mostly heard the SS3, but I ran it through a tiny mixer and sent FOH a stereo out from that, as opposed to using the sub out on the SS3.

[sparetime]

I called SW and will receive a new unit in the next batch.

AndyW, whatever came of this? Was the replacement better? My front speaker buzzes with all levels down and only power connected. Tried in different circuits and buildings. Have to wait for next shipment to SW for exchange. Full disclosure: the box had a big puncture and the speaker grate a slight indentation.

 

 

Wow, did you make a note about the box w/ the Fed Ex delivery guy? Best to always make them write that down in case of damage later discovered.

 

FYI, I will personally see to it that you are completely satisfied w/ your SS3, but if Fed Ex screwed up then they need to be a part of the solution!

 

Meanwhile, send me a PM and I'll give you my direct email, so you can keep me posted.

 

Thanks Aspen. I'll pm you.

[rha]

Thanks so much Jazzoo; the band you describe seems the same as mine; I'll look forward to trying this out soon.

 

Appreciate you sharing your experience.

[Doug Robinson]

No worries, rha. From reading this thread, I was convinced that I would eventually have to run the sub out to a little bass amp to beef up the sound but it just hasn't been the case at all. I consider my groups to be as loud as they need to be, but I'm sure others play louder than I.

[Tombsalley]

Has ANYONE ever used TWO of these in a system,in any confiquration?

As reenforcement or otherwise?

Thanks!

[Raymb1]

I've been reading this forum since last Oct. No one has mentioned owning two SS V3s. Aspen would be your only source for that info. Check him out on FaceBook also. Center Point Stereo.

[cphollis]

Since I've been following this thread, allow me to attempt to channel Aspen on this.

 

TWO SSv3s make sense in only two possible configurations.

 

The first is when you stack one on top of the other in a precisely aligned configuration, e.g facing the exact same direction.

 

The other is in a very long hall where you'd like to put one at each end, with little chance of the signals interfering.

 

Yes, I'm getting a second SSv3. But it's because I play in two geographically dispersed locations and don't want to haul gear.

 

So I guess that's a third possibility.

 

 

[NoahZark]

I find this thread astonishing. Has any single piece of gear EVER generated a thread of 79 pages (and counting) on this forum?

 

Noah

[Raymb1]

I guess another configuration would 2 V3s stacked with two different sound sources ie: kybrds to one and gtr or vocals to the second.

[Joe Muscara]

I find this thread astonishing. Has any single piece of gear EVER generated a thread of 79 pages (and counting) on this forum?

 

Noah

Page counts mean nothing. (People can set their pages to have different numbers of posts.)

 

Go back to the KC home page and click on the Replies column so that the little triangle points up (seems backwards to me but go with it) and you'll see the threads with the most posts. Aside from the sports threads, the only other thread with more posts is the infamous "Roland V-Combo VR-09" thread. I think most of those posts were by one guy.

 

Nicely, #3 of the non-sports threads is "Let's hear it!!! Post your music here!"

[Doug Robinson]

Well, I agree that it has generated a lot more responses than most threads, but that is only because keyboard amplification has been the least satisfying aspect of playing keyboards for me and obviously many others for so long. When you have a chance to play with one of these, as I did tonight, you will understand--it could change everything for gigging keyboardists, though I doubt Aspen will ever be able to build enough under his current business model to saturate the market.

 

I'd never want to go back now, not to a small p.a. or a mono amp or two powered speakers. This is just so superior on every level.

[Analogaddict]

Well, I agree that it has generated a lot more responses than most threads, but that is only because keyboard amplification has been the least satisfying aspect of playing keyboards for me and obviously many others for so long. When you have a chance to play with one of these, as I did tonight, you will understand--it could change everything for gigging keyboardists, though I doubt Aspen will ever be able to build enough under his current business model to saturate the market.

 

I'd never want to go back now, not to a small p.a. or a mono amp or two powered speakers. This is just so superior on every level.

 

Yeah, this is indeed a true - wait for it - GAME CHANGER. It makes my gear sound and feel better and opens up so many new possibilities. Is it perfect for everyone? Of course not, but if the core values (sound, size, weight, cost) appeal to you at all, it's a no-brainer. Two of the most widely used clichés in the same post, but true.

[Aspen]

Since I've been following this thread, allow me to attempt to channel Aspen on this.

 

TWO SSv3s make sense in only two possible configurations.

 

The first is when you stack one on top of the other in a precisely aligned configuration, e.g facing the exact same direction.

 

The other is in a very long hall where you'd like to put one at each end, with little chance of the signals interfering.

 

Yes, I'm getting a second SSv3. But it's because I play in two geographically dispersed locations and don't want to haul gear.

 

So I guess that's a third possibility.

 

 

Well, looks like you could be our "test pilot" on this, and why not? I never say never, and as you noted, I only suggest you may not "need" two.

 

Frankly, I can't imagine using 2 would ever really sound "bad", and then also I have suggested that IF you were to use two I would either stack them (time aligned, head to head keeping the Front speakers as close as possible) or place them at distant corners of a long room...in other words; keep them very close together or very far apart!

 

But anytime someone hears a SS, the second thought (you now know the first!) is always "wow, would 2 sound like twice as good?". So based on pure physics, I usually respond "no"; you don't need two (unlike every other stereo speaker system), and it may even diminish the effect. Also, I think there is a natural inclination to want to see 2 speakers making stereo...which as we all know is not necessary with CPS technology.

 

However, that said, why not try it and see? And cphollis may soon be in a position to do that and file a gig report!

 

In truth, my experience using two has been fairly limited and my conclusions and comments are mostly based on the "physics" of the technology.

 

The few times I have use two were for VERY interesting applications, and certainly not usual circumstances by any stretch....and it worked amazingly well.

 

The first time was a challenge early on by a fellow Hollywood Sapphire Group member to reproduce a 5.1 sound track in a large room showing a film, Master and Commander" (Russel Crow, amazing sound track that got nominated for an Oscar as I recall). I mixed the Front 3 channels down (or back) to L&R front and ran these into one SSMK2 placed at the screen, in front of a large oblong room. The other SSMK2 was placed at the rear of the room and we ran Rear L&R thru it. There was an amazing 3D Omni feeling in the room, and the 5.1 image was HUGE and very consistent, no matter where you sat. I recall this one battle scene where a canon ball goes screaming thru the ship's cabin, kinda from front left to back right with wood flying everywhere and it almost knocked me over it was so realistic!

 

The other time was a most unusual live concert recording with Constance Demby (a most unusual artist with over 20 records/CDs spanning 20+years) in our APR big room with 20 or so of her fans in the room. She plays 2 Kurzweils, a Roland (forgot which), a hammered dulcimer and a self made instrument she calls the "Space Bass", which is pretty indescribable...but I'll try; 10' long, 4' high piece of brass sheet with "tuned" Brass bars welded vertically on the sheet and all suspended by ropes on a stand so this all floats in a semi-circular position. It is "played" with cello bows vibrating on the vertical bars, and also soft mallets and hammers on the flat Brass sheet itself....believe it or not, it is fairly chromatically accurate!

 

She plays "healing music" and sometimes sings...nothing like her I've ever heard anywhere. Spielberg exclusively licensed her space bass for film tracks and it was used on several of his films. Trust me, she's a "one off" and very accomplished at this "craft music" of hers.

 

The concert lasted 2 solid hours (no breaks, and nobody moved), with no particular no "set list" and total improv with long movements (literally, and musically) as she moved b/w the instruments....then she just stopped, slowly walked out of the silent room, and then walked back in for a 20 minute (silent) encore followed by discussion session about how she played her Space Bass and touched various "chakras".

 

Recording her, while providing live stereo sound field for her fans, was the challenge because she switches from her electronic KBs to the acoustic instruments at her whim, and so we had to have an "in room" stereo sound system for her 3 KBs, yet not have it so loud as to make feedback or too much resonance as we had multiple open mics ready for her hammered Dulcimer and Space bass. So we ran the KBs thru a mixer and used 3 SS3 amps; two SSMK2 amps at opposite ends of the long room, and another SSMK2 I have mounted in my ceiling as a close monitor placed over her head (all w/the same 3 KB stereo mix). WE used 4 GT tube condensor mics on the Space bass (spaced Cardioid stereo pairs, placed close and far), a GT condenser mic on the Dulcimer PLUS a GT Convertible stage condenser mic her vocal mic(all open and love for the duration of the concert).

 

So, the KB were takenb direct and also being real time "reamped" live (thru the 3xSS feeding the 6 open mics in the room!). Somehow it all sounded great in the room and even better in the tracks...she said this was the best recording she had ever heard...but this is not for the faint of heart!

 

NOTE: for Constance we used three earlier versions SS MK2.3 amps (upgraded with the v.3 spks, and added L-pads to balance the components...I have this mod available for MK2 owners).

 

So as I said, if cphollis gets another...maybe he can try it both ways (close and far apart), and hopefully with just straight forward stereo KBs, and let us all know what he thinks!

[garnermike]

jazzzoo: I agree. And about going back to playing thru non-SSv.2 or SSv.3 amps? About 150 gigs ago, due to my own forgetfulness, I was forced to play thru a configuration of two Traynor K1s that were connected via their proprietary stereo "Link" system (via right and left channels out of my SK1). Relative to the SSv.2's sound, it was a most disappointing sound and gig. Clearly, I had become totally spoiled by playing through a SS amp.

 

While there may have been a specific stereo "sweet spot" in the venue somewhere, my ears clearly weren't privy to it as they always seem to be with the SS amp. And I simply could not get the cutting "bite" on the mids and highs that I needed on so any songs. Plus, I had to have those two amps turned up near full volume to cut through my band's wall of sound.

[Doug Robinson]

I have an even worse story than that, Mike--at my first gig with the SS3, there was another keyboard set up beside mine, going through a KC500 and into the FOH for about 200 people. I invited some excellent keyboard players to join me for some dual stuff (not duel) and once in a while I switched places with them so I could hear my setup. It was like my soul began to weep every time I heard that mid-range honk of the KC500. More importantly, just hearing myself became the responsibility of the sound man getting me into the monitors, and of course he was busy doing other things. I love the fact that I don't need a monitor to hear myself with the SS3.

[theGman]

Another grill paint update:

 

As part of my ceramic tile business, I met a customer at Home Depot, where he bought granite counters and needed some input.

Well, guess what? The paint dept. is right next to the tile department, so I went for it and bought the same 2 cans/colors Timwat used.

 

After prepping and applying the black, it looked really neat. However, I experimented and, instead of a fog of gold, I put a few coats of gold, solid, over the black. I figured if I didn't like it I could start over.

 

For me, I am keeping it with the gold on top at least for now. Whereas the lid of the can is a bright shiny gold, by just using a few coats over the black it looks like a rich antique gold, healthy, but not at all shiny bright.

 

It's kinda like a mid tone between the original space heater aluminum color and black. Gives it a rich look.

 

FWIW,

 

Paul

 

 

 

[theGman]

Side note: This might have been mentioned before, I don't know, but if you lie the SS3 flat on it's back (like I did for messing with the grill) be aware that the 4 knobs stick out just a little, and you are putting the weight of the amp on them. Really not that noticeable at first.

 

Best to prop the amp up, even if just a half inch or so top and bottom to avoid contact with the control knobs.

 

FWIW again,

 

Paul

[Brettymike]

Can't have a product too perfect, got to sell some parts

 

Brett