From holsen5629@aol.com Tue Dec 30 06:27:44 2003
Subject:Re: Tapping Into Leslie 860 with Hi Fi Tube Preamp?

<< The simple answer to your question is to take the 1/4" output from the
VK7, feed it into *one channel* of your valve preamp and feed the valve preamp
signal into the Leslie.  You may need to do some fiddling with signal levels to
get the level of gain and warmth (distortion) you desire. >>

Normally I'd agree but, in this case, the VK-7 has an 11-pin Leslie socket
and the 860 is an 11-pin model. This means the VK-7 controls the Leslie rotors
directly, and the hookup is a simple plug-in. As Pete pointed out, the
"rotary" channel is on pin 1 and pin 4 is ground. If you use a tube stage between
the keyboard and Leslie, it's just as easy to pick up the signal at the Leslie
socket. You could make a simple effects in and out by tapping the Leslie
cable.

The only possible downside is, early VK-7s didn't have enough drive signal at
the 11-pin socket. This was Roland's oversight, but I was told they
corrected the problem in later versions. Of course, if you're using a gain stage in
the signal path, bumping up the drive level shouldn't be a problem in any case.

<< I'm not sure if its 1/4" signal out is bypassed when using the 11 pin
output connector. I did a similar setup on my 760 using a home-brew tube preamp
and it sounded great (way better than the Leslie preamp which tends to
negatively color the sound). Harv Olsen could probably give you the final answer on
this. >> 

The
11-pin Leslie system is intended to be "universal." However, how the various
manufacturers implement it is up to them. The VK-7's 1/4" jacks are likely
"hot" all the time but I can't say for sure. Some keyboards have a Leslie
"sense" circuit that affects operation. For an example, the XK-2 switches off the
internal Leslie simulator when an external cabinet is plugged into the
11-pin socket. The echo switching in some console organs is disabled if a
Leslie is not plugged in. A quick call to Roland customer service would probably
provide the answer.

Harvey Olsen

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