From bruce@ashbysolutions.com Tue May 14 14:24:30 2002
Subject:Re: Shoot outs

Hi James,

>My views for what they are worth...
>
>

Your points about the usefulness of percussion switches on the right are valid. Nevertheless, I still maintain that their place on the B-3 was more out of necessity than planning. The B-3 was a modification to the B-2, which was itself a modification to the BV, which was a cost-reduced BC, which was an enhanced Model B (AB), which was an oversized Model A. By the time the B-3 was introduced, there were tens of thousands of console Hammonds in use all over the world. Any suggestion of say, moving the vibrato switches over to the right to make room for the percussion controls, was unthinkable -- both from a current owner's perspective (some of whom wanted to upgrade or trade in their B-2's), and to minimize the number of service parts necessary. The B-3 came out in 1955, twenty years after the first Model A was produced. It's nearly impossible to maintain a design for that long, all the while gradually adding features, without reaching some compromises along the way. Also, if
the right-hand side was the perfect place for the percussion, I suspect that the Trek-II percussion retrofit -- which mounts on the left-hand side -- would have been very unsuccessful; instead, they have sold thousands of the kits.

And, FWIW, I have always loved the ping "feature," especially on long decays. As I mentioned before, I've even used it in songs, and I'm sure I'm not the first.

Regards,

-BW

--
Bruce Wahler
Design Consultant
Ashby Solutions™ http://consult.ashbysolutions.com
CloneWheel Support Group and HiNote moderator
978.386.7389 voice/fax
bruce@ashbysolutions.com