From rohanbaker@rabbit.com.au Tue Jan 15 22:51:04 2002
Subject:RE: Hammond XB1

G'day Bruce and Steve,

Adding to the possibilities of why the XB-1 is different to the XK-2. The
XB-1 became available around Jan/Feb 1999 in Australia, which a bit later
than the XK-2 Launch in the US, from what I remember. I wanted to hear the
XK-2 after seeing an ad in "Keyboard". The XK-2 was not available here until
early/mid 2000 and retailed for roughly another AU$1100 or so (US$550). It
was probably intended for markets outside the States which usually had the
230/240 Volt 50Hz power vs the US's 110V/60Hz. It may have taken time to get
some returns before justifying retooling for the different power supply
requirements, based on the response of XB-1 sales.

Its also possible that the XK-2 was targeted at the US market with a
relatively large second hand Leslie market, hence the old style Leslie plug
(9 pin??). The same is not the case in Oz. 2nd hand Leslies are in short
supply, and I would wager being the same elsewhere. The XB-1 has the new
digital 11pin Leslie plug and was probably a marketing push to get owners to
purchase new Leslies. Also, what was the demand in the US for XM-1/New 122's
(with the 11 pin digital plug). Not likely to be very high with the low cost
of readily available Leslies. The 11 pin digital plug backfired here big
time, as the cost of a new 324 Leslie was around AU$4000 and the 122 is
nearly AU$7000!!!! I could get 4 or 5 old 122s for that and the 11pin
digital plug/9 pin plug converter kit, if I was prepared to wait. Everyone
wants the plug converter now.

Incidentally, we will never see the XB-3M out here, as the estimated RRP is
in excess of AU$33,000. Without a Leslie!!! Only 2 XB-3's have ever been
sold in Oz, and that's due to the very high RRP of $23k. Ouch!

Adding my AU$10.30 (US$0.02)

Rohan

>I believe that it's essentially an XK-2 with synth-style keys. The reason
you don't see it in the US is that it's sonically identical to the XK-2.
The reason why it's sold outside the US, rather than the XK-2, is a bigger
question. I suspect it boils down to cost: If Ham-Suz' distribution system
isn't lean enough, the cost of an XK-2 may be too high, so corners were cut
to get the cost down. Then again, it might be marketing research that shows
a preference for synth keys outside the US, or something.
>
At 11:46 P 1/14/2002 -0800, you wrote:
>Saw this keyboard on www.hammond-organ.com. Is this keyboard available
only outside the USA? A search on Yahoo turned up references in Europe,
Australia--but none in the US. Can somebody hazard a guess as to why you
don't see this one is the States?
>
>---Steve

Regards,

-BW
>