From chazzp@yahoo.com Wed Oct 09 07:11:16 2002
Subject:First gig with an Electro

Did my first show last night with a new Electro I'm trying out.
My first impressions are really favorable. Spent a little more time
concentrating on the interface than I'd like, but it was the baptism.
It was regular blues gig I do and I only used the B3 emulation,
Wurly, and Rhodes Suitcase samples during the evening.

I was most happy with the B3 aspect of it all. It sounded great live.
( btw running it into ART Dual Tube MP to a Lexicon into my KBR3d,
splitting the Electro output into both halves of the amp) Other guys
had never seen one before and after the first set were all raving
over that little red devil. I had misgivings about using the LEDs
before the show, but I had programmed a couple basic settings and
then tweaked as needed while playing and felt pretty comfortable with
it. The LEDS are a very playable compromise for drawbars IMHO.
Soundwise and action it was an improvement over my XK2. It definitely
is not as shrill and thin sounding as the XK2 in the upper octaves.
In a band mix the Electro sounded beefier to me. Which is something
I've really wished for. Chorus/vibrato is a joy too.

The electric pianos were a bit more problematic, but it was mainly due
to not having enough time really to get EQs and presence adjustment
really nailed right during the gig. If I keep it I can see that it
will take several shows before I've really gotten those settings
dialed in. It felt pretty close at times. Overall the sounds layed in
well and had plenty of bark and grit. The action live was best using
the Wurly sound as I had expected, but I really dig their Suitcase
sample and I didn't have a problem adjusting techniquewise too much.
This is one they really could use adjustable velocity curves for.

All in all, I'm pretty knocked out by this board. I've waited many
years to find something that could sound this great and do it all in
one keyboard. And the trump is that it's just so damn lightweight.
Going to do one more show with it before I make my final decision.
But I suspect I know what it's going to be.

Chazz