From hultgrenlr@mansfieldct.org Thu Nov 14 12:11:16 2002
Subject:RE: Perspective -- B3 lusting

Well said, Mark!

My partner told me last month, "No B3 for you until we get a bigger house".
Our offer on just that was accepted today ... soon I hope to find a B3/C3
for the new and improved music space!!!!

Lon H.

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Longo [mailto:mlongo@highmarkdesign.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2002 2:16 PM
To: CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [CWSG] Perspective

Like others, I have had the experience of laboring literally hundreds
of hours over various clones and preamps, Leslies, programming,
tweaking settings, etc. Then simply fired up my '57 C-3 after a long
layoff and found that it's SO far past any clone in terms of pleasure
to play, it's almost silly. Glorious joy right out of the box; no
muss, no fuss, just turn it on and play. Yes, clones ARE cool! But
in terms of the pure unadulterated pleasure of playing an instrument,
the clones aren't even in the ball park with a B-3, nbo patter
how "close" we may think they sound.

OK, so what?

The interesting question for those of you who have had the experience
I describe above, WHY? Why is it so much more fun to play your B-3
(or is it)? We can probably all agree that the B-3 has a certain
magical mystique. OK fine. But why exactly is it so much fun? What
are your top 3 reasons?

Here's my take, I'm definitely interested in hearing your others...

1. Attack-attack-attack. The attack portion of each note is so
freaking GUTSY. The percussion is fat and very authoritative without
having to be loud, the keyclick is meaty and seems to sound different
on every note you play (personality, baby!), and my old C-3 seems to
give a slight -ooof- sound underneath the attack segment of each
note. Every note you hit in a lick seems to JUMP out of the Leslie
and give you a cold slap. Hit the chorus tab and mutiply all of the
above attack stuff by 2. It's soooo fun.

2. Tone-Tone-Tone to burn. The overall tone of the notes is SO broad
and juicy. Turn off the chorus on slow Leslie and the tone is richer
and smoother than fresh butter at the dairy. If notes like these
were a pillow, you'd sink out of sight. Hit the chorus and the notes
crunch like a new bag of Ruffles under a slow foot. And that amazing
tone is the same from the lowest not to the highest note. The full
range is balanced, not muddy low down, not harsh high up. Just
sweet, full, and punchy, cheekblock to cheekblock.

3. IT'S ALIVE. Playing a B-3 is an interactive experience. I play
some notes, and somehow the instrument itself seems to suggest the
next notes I should play. Maybe it suggests I take things a little
farther, or maybe play something entirely different. But the point
is that as I play this big solid beast, I just get lots more ideas of
what I want to play next than I do with any clone. It's not
mystique. It's real. Maybe it has to do with the fact that many of
the notes sound a little bit different, giving the impression that
the instrument is alive. I've had this same experience playing a
real Rhodes too. The thing just feels more responsive, more
interactive.

I could go on, of course, but I asked for 3 things, so I'll stop
here. Some of the folks often say how awesome the "real thing" is
and how clones are always a compromise. OK, maybe that's fair. But
it seems that those of us who feel that way should at least say why.
Maybe people who haven't yet had the opportunity to play a big
console are interested in like: "what's the big deal anyway?"

Like most of us here, I play the B-3 clones. I like them. I have a
LOT of fun gigging with the various clones I've used. Making music
on any instrument can be a great time. But yah, when it comes to
organs and the "pleasure factor", the big Hammonds are in a class
alone.

Mark Longo

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