From ynottnaro@yahoo.com Sun Sep 29 09:59:15 2002
Subject:CX3 v2 and Speakeasy Vintage Pre 3 day evaluation (for anyone interested)

Hey folks!

Well, went out on a limb, and with only 2 days of
programming my CX3, setting up my own splits (so as
not to totally ambush myself) and tweaking various
parameters, I committed myself to really checking out
the CX3 and Speakeasy Vintage pre (THANKS TO STEVE FOR
GETTING IT HERE SO DAMN QUICK!) and Pro-3T/Lo Pro rig.

I had one full day to play with the pre-amp/MS rig,
and I really dug the sound of it in my studio. Is it
a real leslie? NO. Did it sound good? Yes! Certain
transients that I really disliked about the MS were
greatly alleviated by the Speakeasy, so I felt
confident about taking the rig on this 3day road trip.
But to cement the deal, I forced myself to leave the
Bulldog at home.

Day One: Horrible PA with an even more horrid
"engineer" at the helm. Even though I sing as well,
there weren't enough wedges to go around, and I had to
share the bassplayer's wedge, with no boards in the
monitor. Ok...I can do this. My usual rig is
optimized for my monitoring purposes: Bulldog's upper
horn almost at ear level when sitting on a tray, and
my Yorkville combo atop the Bulldog allow me to hear
everything very well, with no need to be pumped into
my vocal wedge. Well, my height adjustments were WAY
out of wack with this rig, and with no monitor
reinforcement I was handicapped. I had to wind the MS
up (thank goodness for the Speakeasy!), but I really
didn't like the sound....too shrill at those volumes.
And imagine my surprise when I realized I had
disappeared from the PA: Some industrious would-be 2nd
engineer thought those "extra mics" up there were
causing the horrendous howl in the pa, and pulled them
off the stage. (The fact that they were micing the MS
rig seems to have eluded this braintrust.) At this
point, I unplugged the MS and went direct (via the
Speakeasy) through my Yorkville and engaged the
built-in CX leslie sim. Not bad...but not great.

Day Two: Much better engineer, but still a woefully
inadequate PA. I had my own wedge (YAY!), but had to
share the bassist's mix, which meant no boards (BOO!).
But I seized on the idea of stacking the MSrig on top
of a couple of empty beer bottle crates to get it a
little higher, then put my Yorkville on top of the
bass rig aiming at me (not at him), but that was too
high unfortunately. But still, marginally better than
the previous evening. Because of proximity, I didn't
need to pump the MS as hot, but the engineer decided
it was "not necessary" to mic the lo-pro. (!) Can't
testify as to what it sounded like outfront, but at
least on stage, the band was pretty happy with that
sound. I was ambivalent.

Day Three: Great engineer, strange but very effective
PA. No wedge for me (damn!), but stage was a
semicircle 6 feet up in a corner, so I was forced to
set up VERY CLOSE to my rig. And then it hit me:
Lo-Pro on wheel tray, Yorkville on top of LoPro, and
3T atop that! THIS TOTALLY WORKED! Everything was
where I need to hear it, and of course, since my left
elbow was precariously close to the rig (close enough
to trigger a "funny bone" accident) I could hear
myself brilliantly. I backed the volume of the lo-pro
down a bit, pumped the Speakeasy a little hotter
(Yummy grind!) and I was TOTALLY IN BUSINESS! He had
me going big time through the PA, the band was
definitely digging the sound, and for really the first
time, so was I!

Certain register setting still sound a little "off" to
me, at least in the upper registers, but the rig
sounded really really good. I feel for the first
time, I have a reasonable substitute for the Bulldog.
The Bulldog is still my mainstay, but for a 6week tour
of the Pacific coming up, the MS rig in a flight case
is definitely my answer.

Particulars: I didn't really like the stacking concept
MS has for that rig, so I took gaffers tape (leaves no
gummy residue when removed, and taped over the 2 gray
slits, and then applied stickyback velco (the soft
side) to the tape. I then taped the bottom of the 3t
similarly, and then applied the prickly side of the
velcro to it. This forms a nice tight lock when
stacked on top of the lo-pro. As an added bonus, when
I sandwiched the Yorkville between them, the prickly
bottom adhered nicely to the carpeted Yorkville!
SERENDIPITY!

The Speakeasy Preamp: I can't say enough about how
much this totally SALVAGED the MS rig. I would not
have brought the MS anywhere (in fact, I was close to
sticking it back on ebay before the Speakeasy arrived)
had it not been for Steven Hayes/Speakeasy. When that
box arrived (less than 48 hours after a midnight phone
call ordering a custom set-up), I tore right into it.
With minimal tweaking, I had that thing doing a very
good Jon Lord right out of the gate. Big, thick,
creamy distortion, with balls! And when I cleaned it
up, it made the CX3 glisten. It sounded really very
sweet. And when I had to abandon the MS rig on Day
One, I still used the Preamp through my Yorkville, and
again, it REALLY improved the sound of the CX3. I've
not had to wind it up higher than 10:00 (plenty of
gain, and it allows the expression pedal to really
have some sweep), I max the bass out, and set the
treble to about 3/3:30, depending on the room. I run
the bass on the organ full, with the treble at about
2:00/3:00. It rocks, and it rocks hard! I got good
clean Allman tone out of it, and good grinding
"ChestFever" sounds too! (After reading some postings
about that song, I found a great little
skateboard/music/head shop in Bloomington, IL and
found the live 3Dog Night and the J Geils Blow Yer
Face out records, and listened to Chest Fever in the
store. Amazing what $5 will buy you!)

Steven/Speakeasy was very very helpful, and obviously,
very expedient (THANKS STEVEN!). The pedal is built
like a tank, is heftier and more attractive than my
Hamptone pre (which I do love). It also obviously is
a custom unit: I had him set it up to drive the MS rig
or a 122 leslie (independently only); I also had him
set it up with the optional handswitch. The
handswitch takes some getting used to (it's a 3
position toggle that is actually too stiff for MY
liking...not really slap&tickle friendly). And with
MS's fast/slow/stop set up, the handswitch can make
that just a little confusing, but Steven walked me
through it on the phone, and after 2 minutes, I could
navigate fast to stop or slow to stop, or any
combination; but again, my own preference is the hand
switch needs to be a little more giving, so I will
keep that as a safety in my case, but will stick with
the "stomp" method. After using it for 3 days, I'm
having him change 1 thing: Since I'm dispensing with
the handswitch, I want the lamp setup to change: the
power lamp will be amber, the fast/slow lamp will now
be green (Green for GO FAST! WHEEEEEEE!) and Steven
will put in a "stop" lamp which, of course, will be
red!

So...to those of you who emailed me privately about
the Speakeasy and my thoughts about it....I'll tell
you the same thing I'm saying here: Steven is THE MAN!
I'm going to spend the next few days A/B-ing the
Speakeasy and Hamptone pedals with my Bulldog, and
seeing how they stack up against each other. But if
the Speakeasy has any similar effect to what it had on
my MS, you might be seeing a Hamptone on Ebay any day
now. I don't shill for anyone, but I totally believe
in giving credit where credit is due. Steven not only
kicked butt in service for me, and in expediency, but
his time spent with me on the phone shortening my
learning curve was greatly appreciated. I totally
recommend this box, and no MS user should be without
one.

WHEW! I know...I tend to run on and on. Thanks for
indulging me!

HAPPY DAZE!!!!!!!!
tony

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