Hammond M-Solo

[Adan]

27 minutes ago, stoken6 said:

 

If both the MSolo and Mojo had existed 30 years ago, which would you have chosen?  (Serious question, I'm not trying to be provocative). 

 

I'd have sold my surfboard and bought both. I think the Mojo is a better clone. But I've done so many rock/blues gigs with a weighted piano keyboard on bottom and a clone up top.  I think the MSolo would have been more than good enough for all those gigs while being easier to transport.  And in many cases the smaller size could have been advantageous in setting up the rig.

I've also done a lot of more organ-focused projects where the advantages of the Mojo would be more appreciated.

 

[AnotherScott]

2 hours ago, Adan said:

Again, the MSolo is for some types of gigs. To my mind, it's rock/blues where I want a dedicated clone but I'm never playing two-handed. That describes a pretty high percentage of my gigs over a lifetime.

And assuming you're using the MSolo as a top, even for 2-handed organ stuff, while the MSolo does not support a lower manual, if you want your left hand to be comping, there's a good chance you can find a suitable organ sound in your bottom board, and/or MIDI your bottom board to the Hammond, which wouldn't give you a different sound for you left hand, but at least would give it the lower keys you might be looking for.

[niacin]

3 hours ago, stoken6 said:

If both the MSolo and Mojo had existed 30 years ago, which would you have chosen?

 

Both, Mojo-61 for Wurli, Rhodes, clav and lower manual Hammond, M-solo upper manual Hammond.  Sorted.

[Paul Henry]

This will fill some ones void for a Hammond clone, but don't forget the VELCRO cause at only 8lbs this baby will fly off of anything you place it on if/when the going gets rough.

 

Just sayin'

 

Paul  

[Delaware Dave]

18 hours ago, Adan said:

I don't know anyone who buys a keyboard because it's "cute,"

I've read on this forum people who dont like nord because its red, Kurz because some old lines of keyboards had a purple  tint, casio because it was partially white and because of the name casio being stamped on  it, the sledge because of the yellow tint......

[Delaware Dave]

16 hours ago, AnotherScott said:

And assuming you're using the MSolo as a top, even for 2-handed organ stuff, while the MSolo does not support a lower manual, if you want your left hand to be comping, there's a good chance you can find a suitable organ sound in your bottom board, and/or MIDI your bottom board to the Hammond, which wouldn't give you a different sound for you left hand, but at least would give it the lower keys you might be looking for.

And when you turn the leslie to fast then what?

[AnotherScott]

 

5 hours ago, Delaware Dave said:

21 hours ago, AnotherScott said:

there's a good chance you can find a suitable organ sound in your bottom board, and/or MIDI your bottom board to the Hammond

 

And when you turn the leslie to fast then what?

 

In the second scenario I mentioned, that's no problem, because all the sound is still coming out of the MSolo. But yes, the first scenario would work best if you were playing something where you weren't going to alter Leslie speed, or the outputs of both boards could be sent into an outboard rotary sim, or  figured that changing the rotor on only the "top manual" would be sufficient for what you needed to do. Obviously, for 2 manual work, anything that doesn't include a proper 2-manual config is going to be a compromise, but sometimes a compromise is better than nothing.

[drawback]

23 hours ago, niacin said:

 

Both, Mojo-61 for Wurli, Rhodes, clav and lower manual Hammond, M-solo upper manual Hammond.  Sorted.

Cool idea, but I’m not sure how to control volume on both boards simultaneously, ie get around two swell/expression pedals…

[brenner13]

On 10/8/2023 at 9:11 PM, Radagast said:

Has anyone talked about the Poly synth included?  I think the drawbars are used to edit synth parameters.  That sounds like the Numa Compact 2X.

From the demos out so far, I’ve not heard much that I like on the M’s synth stuff. The 70’s string machine is pretty bland, too. Gonna need a well-stocked effects pedal board to make ‘em sing. 
I think my Numa Compact 2X’s synth sounds blow away what I’ve heard from the M’s demos so far. Opposite situation comparing the organs on these two. Gotta have Leslie pedal to make Numa’s organ work for me; or use it to control  VB3m or Hammond B-3X or Blue 3. 

[AnotherScott]

The Numa also gives a full range of sampled instruments (including pianos/EPs), but of course, by design, the Numa is more of a "cover it all" board while the MSolo is more of a "put it on top of a piano" board. 

 

To me, the most significant limitation as a synth is that whereas the Numa gives you 100 user presets, the Hammond gives you only 3. So I think the synth may be best thought of as something to operate old-school Minimoog/Odyssey style... Want a different synth sound? Operate the controls on the fly!

 

But if the synth parameters are sufficiently addressable over MIDI, at least in theory, once could create as many synth presets as you'd like, e.g. use a tablet to call up the synth sound of your choice by sending the MIDI strings for each of its parameters. (Which would not be so overwhelming because there aren't all that many editable parameters to begin with.)

[konaboy]

strange to read posts from people trying to justify to themselves that this can somehow be made into a decent dual manual organ rig.

much better and more sensible options are available!

basically every other clonewheel provides midi control for lower manual.

what were hammond-suzuki thinking...?

[AnotherScott]

1 hour ago, konaboy said:

strange to read posts from people trying to justify to themselves that this can somehow be made into a decent dual manual organ rig.

much better and more sensible options are available!

basically every other clonewheel provides midi control for lower manual.

what were hammond-suzuki thinking...?

 

I think what they were thinking is that, if you want dual manual, you should buy one of their more expensive models. 😉

[konaboy]

2 minutes ago, AnotherScott said:

 

I think what they were thinking is that, if you want dual manual, you should buy one of their more expensive models. 😉

you are probably right.  but in my case, they have failed. I would have bought Msolo, but instead I will just continue to use my Electro.

[niacin]

20 hours ago, drawback said:

Cool idea, but I’m not sure how to control volume on both boards simultaneously, ie get around two swell/expression pedals…

https://www.boss.info/au/products/ev-30 

 

https://www.sourceaudio.net/dual-expression-pedal.html

 

[Paul Woodward]

Late to this party but that is one small ugly board, like a reface with full size keys if made by Bontempi. It needs to sound amazing, but think I will stick with the YC61 for now.

 

[stoken6]

21 hours ago, Paul Woodward said:

Late to this party but that is one small ugly board, like a reface with full size keys if made by Bontempi. It needs to sound amazing

Well, ugly is relative. I wouldn't kick it off the rig for its looks, personally. It does sound amazing (the organ at least), but it's little more than half of a one-trick pony, and priced too high to be attractive to me. 

 

As I mentioned in the past, if they had bolstered the synth side of things, and added portamento and pitch+mod wheels it would make a lot more sense. Or drop the synth, sell it as a pure single-manual organ, but at about 70% of the cost. 

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Adan]

21 hours ago, Paul Woodward said:

Late to this party but that is one small ugly board, like a reface with full size keys if made by Bontempi. It needs to sound amazing, but think I will stick with the YC61 for now.

 

 

 

Small is the whole point of it. If you want a clone with a larger footprint, they exist. 

 

We can all have our own opinions on aesthetics.  Personally, I would find odd the idea that a black slab covered in buttons and knobs (e.g., the YC61) is more attractive than the minimalist look of the MSolo.  But the MSolo doesn't have nice wood panel ends like the XK4.  I wouldn't say the MSolo is a good looking keyboard, it's more in the neighborhood of "if looks matter to you, look elsewhere." Which is where most modern keyboards live.

 

Interesting question generally, though, of whether, if you have a single manual clone, why spend more money for the MSolo? The YC61, for instance, is a compact 5-octaves and only 15 lbs.  Do you gain much in portability or otherwise by going to 4 octaves and 8 lbs? A reasonable conclusion for many people will be no, you don't.

 

More debatable if your clone is the Mojo, which is still a great clone after all these years, but it's 24 lbs and fairly bulky.  The MSolo is much easier to toss around.

[Delaware Dave]

On 2/7/2024 at 12:12 PM, konaboy said:

you are probably right.  but in my case, they have failed. I would have bought Msolo, but instead I will just continue to use my Electro.

I get exactly the market they are going after, especially in europe and asia where some musicians use mass transit to get to a gig. The issue for me is the price point, that keyboard should be no more than $800.

[Adan]

I'd love to see more competition in this niche of the 4-octave clone.  To me, the argument for single manual clones being 5 octaves is weak to begin with (dual manual is a completely different thing). Is it so you can split the 5 octaves and play left hand bass?  Well, sure, that works to some degree, but it never feels natural.  I would much rather have, say, a 3 octave keyboard midi'ed in to handle bass duties so my right hand can go wherever it wants, and that allows my brain to more easily compartmentalize right and left hand. 

 

Or is the point of a 5 octave clone that it allows you to play other sounds, e.g., piano, better than you would with 4 octaves? OK, well, we sometimes do that as well.  But in my experience not very much, and 5 octaves is a handicap for piano playing anyway, so it's a poor solution for that.

 

The most natural application for a single manual clone is in a 2-board rig, and in that context the 5th octave is almost just extra baggage.

 

I would submit that the idea of single manual clones being 5 octaves is an artifact of the original Hammond that got carried over without much thought to functionality.  I'm not advocating that there shoudl be no 5 octave clones, only that there should be more options. As an added benefit, competition would probably bring prices down.

 

it would help if someone would manfacture a waterfall 4 octave keyboard. Easier said than done. Someone would have to believe they'll get a return on their investment to create the hardware.

 

Maybe all of this is just me fantasizing about the world I want to live in.  While I'm at it, I'd also like babysitters every Friday and Saturday night, and I want them to clean up the house while they're at it.  But the fact that the MSolo exists, overpriced and flawed as it is, is cause for hope.

[ProfD]

On 10/1/2023 at 1:04 PM, ElmerJFudd said:

Who is the M-solo for? The working piano player who’d like the classic Hammond sound at his fingertips. 

 

Perfect paired with a real piano or N3 at a piano bar gig.   

As brotha Elmer quoted above, there is a small market for the M-Solo.

 

This thing would be perfect atop a Rhodes or DP in providing classic organ sounds.

 

Being able to pull up a left-hand bass sound or pad is a bonus. 

 

The M-Solo can  also serve as an unweighted MIDI KB controller for the DP.

 

Sure, there is competition from other KBs but they are not a Hammond if that matters.😁😎

[AnotherScott]

Yeah, there's a difference between 8 lbs and 15 lbs, especially if you gig via mass transit as Dave mentioned (not only europe and asia... plenty of that right in new york city). And remember, it's probably not the only thing you're bringing, either. Also, it's something you can deal with more casually, moving it around in your home, going to a friendly casual jam, taking it on vacation...

 

Aesthetics always brings along a good amount of subjectivity. But if you don't need it to "look and feel/operate" quite that much like an organ, for a lot less money, there are 9-slider controller in the same weight range (even less?), and you can drive VB3m on your smartphone, or a wider choice of possibilities (including "Hammond's own" B-3x) on an iPad (in fact, the controller, the ipad, the app, and the connectivity combined can still cost appreciably less than the MSolo). You might even get a controller with aftertouch, expanding its usefulness if doing double duty for synth sounds. So in a sense, the aesthetics might be a big part of why you choose the MSolo in the first place, especially if you expand the word to include, not just visual appeal of the box, but also drawbars that look like drawbars, CV settings displayed in the expected circle. Plus there's a a nice Hammond logo on the back. 😉  Though also the Hammond has one USP here... the multi-trigger simulation.

 

16 minutes ago, Adan said:

The most natural application for a single manual clone is in a 2-board rig, and in that context the 5th octave is almost just extra baggage.

 

While not everyone would agree on the uselessness of the 5th octave even for single manual playing, it's not like there aren't 5-octave solutions for those who want them. And at least the MSolo is still giving you more than the 44 keys the top manuals of the sub-61 key tonewheel organ Hammonds gave you!

 

16 minutes ago, Adan said:

it would help if someone would manfacture a waterfall 4 octave keyboard. That's easier said than done. Someone would have to believe they'll get a return on their investment to create the hardware.

 

They might not even actually have to create new hardware, possibly they could basically just make some minor modifications to an existing 5-octave assembly.

[marczellm]

Also known as the Ham Solo.

[AnotherScott]

5 minutes ago, marczellm said:

Also known as the Ham Solo.

 

Use the fourths, Keith!

[ElmerJFudd]

5 minutes ago, marczellm said:

Also known as the Ham Solo.

Is that a Star Wars reference?  Or are you just hungry?  

[mrk7421]

I would have to fish through 4 pages of thread but is this uneditable? I am always having to monkey with percussion volume.....also they went with rock image in these videos.....again....remember Tattoo Girl? Lots of jewelry here...assuming  it has XK4 sounds but not editable I guess. Have to live with someone else's idea of what Hammond sounds like which always differs from person to person....

[ProfD]

3 hours ago, mrk7421 said:

I would have to fish through 4 pages of thread but is this uneditable?

The M-Solo is totally editable.  Only 3 presets can be saved though.😎

[AnotherScott]

It is minimally editable. Other than what you see on the front panel, the only "deeper" editing options for the sound are key click level, leakage level, and the behavior of the multi-contact emulation. Nothing like how you can customize the sound on an XK4, SK Pro, etc.

[niacin]

what Scott said, and it only has one organ model, a B3, which is quite bright.  On my SKpro I use the A100 and lower the crossover on the drive.  You can't do that on the M-solo.

[hapibeli]

I'm waiting for mine from Long and McQuade.

[JoJoB3]

On 2/4/2024 at 2:58 PM, Zenmojo said:

You cannot.  It's monotimbral, upper manual only.  You can play the upper manual via MIDI, which you just might want to do because the keyboard on the M-Solo is absolutely terrible.  Plastic synth keys.  I wasn't expecting an amazing waterfall keyboard, but this keyboard is just junk.  If it were $899 I'd live with it, but for $1300 it's just not worth it.

I think you've hit this one square. If H/S made this their three figure option in their product line they would be doing well for themselves.