From b3burner@ca.astounditv.net Sun Jun 29 22:56:22 2003
Subject:My Speakeasy Review

Dear Group,

I meant to do this sooner but kept dragging my heels. Now that I lose my internet/email service tomorrow, this motivates me to quick type this up to you.

My SPEAKEASY CLASSIC PEDAL Review:....

I ordered my pedal on April 7th of this year, and picked it up at UPS a week or so later. Had my first gig opportunity with it Easter Weekend.

I ordered it with a 1/4 inch-in jack, and 1/4 inch-out and Leslie 6-pin out for "147" configuration. I also got the outboard Leslie speed control switch that can velcro to the front panal of the console (just like a Half-Moon switch).

Steve Hayes is really super about customer service. He answered all my questions about configs. based on my needs, and even after I got it was available to speak long-distance from Penn. about volume settings. A very patient person to stay on the phone that long with me.

Everything he says about the product is true. Very simple construction, easy to use, and it does exactly what I want it to do.....no more, no less.

It acoustically balances out the bass/mid/treble ratio of the keyboard, so that one end doesn't sound crisper or duller than the other. In other words, no high end shrill, and no meatless bass.

I use a VK-7 with a Peavy XR-600 mixer amp and a Peavy KB-300 Keyboard speaker. This is a setup I've had for years, and I thought it to be too outdated by today's standards, but Steve assured me that that was a setup not to be ashamed of. I played it at the Easter gig, and the organ bass with the Speakeasy and above mentioned gear was so ballsy that later, our guitarist pulled me off to the side and told me to lay off the left hand, because I'm upstaging the bass player and making him mad!! I had never had this complaint before!-- Thank you Steve for creating a product that adds beef to the VK-7.

At first I had hiss/hum issues, but like Steve and others here have said, Speakeasy volume near max, and amp volume down low is the combination of settings that sufficiently reduces that problem. Now the only hissing I hear is from my cat!! This is good.

The speakeasy with the VK-7 through my Leslie 125. This I'll admit was a tad bit of a disappointment. I found I just couldn't get enough punch with it-- at least not like I was getting with the Peavy gear. However, I don't think this is the Speakeasy's fault. One, Leslie 125's are only 20w single speaker, so the output is considerably less. Two, the signal output on the VK-7 is notoriously weak....I've heard others comment on that fact. However, by bringing the "Organ Level" within the edit menu of the VK up to 127, combined with maxed volume knobs on VK, SE, and Leslie combined, better volume can be obtained. But, I wouldn't want to compete with a guitarist on stage like that without first miking it.

I've described what the Speakeasy can do in conjunction with my Clone keyboard. Now let me say what the Speakeasy does not do. While it makes the pure digital tone of the Clone sound more like a real Hammond with its 12AU7 vacuum tube (valve), it can not magically make the Leslie and Chorus/Vibrato simulators sound more real. Those are inherent in the computer of the clone and those qualites have already been produced by the time the signal exits the keyboard and gets to the Speakeasy. It can make fake Leslie sound more warm and mellow, but that's about it. My point, the SE does exactly what Steve says it will do, but don't expect it to take care of all clone problems.

Now I also have a chopped Hammond BV with the tubes removed and a Trek II Solid State preamp in there. The 1/4 inch output from the Trek carries a powerful, strong signal that is better than the Leslie 147 out jack on that unit, but I was very concerned about the shrill, thin sound on the high end. Since it's a real Hammond, the Chorus and Vibrato sounds perfect, and through the Leslie 125, that sounds fine, but bass/treble balance was horrible. I had a 300 pound beast with Clone-like problems.

Let me tell you, that the Speakeasy with the Hammond Chop is even better than the Speakeasy with the VK-7. With the VK-7 the difference was marked, but with the Hammond it was absolutely astounding!! With independent bass-treble controls along with the volume knob and the gain switch, the speakeasy can remove all shrill off the top two octaves, the classic Jimmy Smith setting sounds "dead-on" with bass knob at max, and treble knob at min. Single note screams don't hurt my ears anymore. All nine drawbars pulled full-out doesn't sound like "cats in heat" or "nails on a chalkboard" anymore!! It sounds more like Greg Rollie at Woodstock, or Crosby Stills and Nash's Hammond in the song "Wooden Ships". I can actually hear the sizzling highs of the top 3 drawbars blend with the warm balsy lows of the bottom 4, without ear churning chaos. That moment I knew the SE was worth what I paid for it.

And overdrive and distortion? Everyone told me I'd never get it with the enemic 20 watt Leslie 125, or the dry thin solid state preamp in the organ. Now, with Steve Hayes' product, I get sizzle and overdrive that makes me beam from ear to ear with delight. If I go quarter inch out from SE to my stationary speaker, I can get keyclick and grind that sounds very "Green Onion"-ish. If I crank up the SE and keep the amp volume low, instant Jon Lord!!! If I go through the Leslie, I can get the buzzy, sizzley overdrive I had never gotten before. With just 16' and 8' drawbar pulled out, the overdrive sounds very much like the song "My Little Humidor" off the "Organ-ized" CD.

Speakeasy is an excellent product. Steve Hayes has made me a believer. My VK-7 sounds better than it did, and now my Hammond Chop sounds like a real Hammond again.

Yes, the price is not to be taken lightly, but in this case I can honestly say, I am getting my money's worth anytime I hook it up to either of my rigs.

John O'Flaherty, Concord, CA.