From bruce@ashbysolutions.com Wed May 29 08:03:28 2002
Subject:Re: New BX-3 on eBay

Hi James,

>Bruce, with all respect, I'm not sure that this is the view held by
>the majority of Hammond pedal players: for every person that fitted a
>string bass unit to a console there was probably another person that
>cursed when they had to play on the same machine.
>
>My personal view, and one that I believe is shared by many (a topic
>which has been discussed before on Hamtech) is that the pedal tones
>on a Hammond console are fit for purpose (for jazz).
>
>Playing with other tones doesn't really fit with the organ tone for
>jazz, and the loudness robbing just enhances the effect.

For jazz, I'll agree that the BX-3 is not a great Hammond replacement, unless one chooses to augment it with outboard gear. There are ways to simulate both the complex tone wheels and the loudness robbing, but they take a bit of techno-magic to get there, so we'll consider them off the table for this discussion.

For gospel music, I'm not sure how mandatory the Hammond bottom end is. Perhaps someone on this list who plays that style can comment.

For the other styles, the BX-3/CX-3 suits them rather well. I can't remember the last time I saw a rock, blues, R&B, pop, or country Hammond player using the pedals to replace a bass player. (Please folks, don't bombard me with examples; I know there are probably some, but apparently, I haven't seen them.)

>> Korg elected to leave out the pedal tones, in order to concentrate
>> on other areas. I think the CX-3 does a terrific job of mimicking
>> the crosstalk and overtone aspects of a Hammond organ.

>Yes, but other clone manufacturers model cross-talk too, and arguably
>the native instruments B4 does it better, so for me this doesn't make
>up for the lack of pedal tone generation.

Sound preferences are always a subjective thing. I've spent a bit of time with the B-4 demo, and I'm not as impressed with the simulation as you are. From a functional point of view, though, comparing the BX-3 or CX-3 and the B-4 is apples to oranges, IMHO. The Korg organs attempt to provide a great, self-contained Hammond playing and sonic experience, with minimum extra effort on the part of the player. While there are things that can be done to enhance the sound, just plugging the outputs into an amplifier will get things going rather nicely.

The B-4 attempts to provide a great Hammond sonic experience only, leveraging off the power and flexibility of a laptop (or desktop) computer. All of the playing ergonomics -- keyboard, drawbars and knobs, etc. -- require outboard elements, and practical use of the setup requires computer literacy, MIDI literacy, and extra setup time -- as well as the willingness to play a virtual instrument. It's a great solution for computer-literate player who already plans on bringing a PC to a gig, but other players are not going to easily accept it -- if at all.

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