From tonysounds@yahoo.com Thu Jul 01 02:10:45 2004
Subject:Re: XK3.. who cares?

The drawbar placement looked strange to me when I first got it, but it makes total sense. As someone who plays with his organs (you!), you know first hand that for someone who uses both manuals and both hands to tweak, those drawbars are in the EXACT right spot for Hammond authenticity. Your right hand can easily get to the left hand manual's drawbars, and vice versa. The tube does more than glow my friend; you played the first prototype: I played that one, the improved prototype, and the production model is improved further. The editing window is a non issue: how much menu parameter tweaking do you do at the gig? That's for at home, where the window is easily seen. Once I set up my few presets, all the tweaking I do is from the onboard controls on the fly, just like a real Hammond, just like your CX3.

And bollocks as to your "just bought the name" thing. More HS prejudice. And to keep bringing up the "Xb2 was a piece of crap" is just a waste of cyberspace. It was a piece of crap....thats why I never bought one. My old CX3 did the job fine for a while. Would I now say that's a great clone? NO! So this b.s. logic of the anti-HS brigade is just prejudice: if you applied the same rationale to the newer CX3s, I would be saying that the CX3 has a history of being a lame clone....an even MORE useless leslie sim than the Xb2, no C/V, barely noticeable percussion, blahblahblahyaddayadda yadda.

Can we just retire this ridiculous thread once and for all? Don't buy an XK3, and dont rate equipment based on an mp3...and move somewhere they do have a decent Hammond distributor!

T

David Jacques wrote:

OK friends.... As you know I have been playing and
performing with clones and the real thing for
yearrrrrrssss...

Let's get one thing straight. NO CLONE SOUNDS LIKE A REAL
B3! There is no Holy Grail of clones, or as Joey D. say's
"This is the real thing baby!" (Cha-Ching...)...

OK? .. now breathe and relax... and let's talk XK3... all
we have to go by is the MP3's we get on the inet,'cause
thanks to Hammond/Suzuki's outstanding distribution and
promotion department, you still can't find one to demo in
Los Angeles... (imagine that....and I thought LA was a
decent sized music market).

I too hear a strange digital sound in the high end when
listening to the demos, but it is possible that all that
could be smoothed out with a Speakeasy. I agree about the
Leslie sim being the weakest, but who knows? Maybe with
the same amount of tweaking that I did with the CX3's, it
too could sound pretty decent. Just can't do that with no
XK3's in LA...

Now, regarding to the perceived "pregudices", let's face
it... H/Z has a limited reputation in the music business.
Unlike Yamaha who has been making musical instruments for
many years, Suzuki is a relative newcomer in the Japanese
musical instrument market.

They purchased a name, "Hammond", PERIOD! They are wise
enough to enlist artists like Joey D. to consult for them,
but.. they have to prove to me that they are ready to
compete with the big boys.

I was initially impressed with the XK3 at NAMM. I still
think it has some unfortunate design limitations (drawbars
in the center, tiny hard to see editing window located way
to the left, c/v can't be split on the upper/lower
manuals, their leslie sim, and a very dubious overdrive
circuit- "look at those tubes glow"! Big deal).. I also
question their includion of the black preset keys on the
left that do little but take up space and make the
instrument even heavier. (I only use two presets on my
B3's, the B and the Bb!.. who needs the others?)

I went through the "Should I buy it phase".. and may still
try one out when I get back from vacation. I am sure that
I will make my list of advantages and disadvantages and
make my ultimate decision on whether or not to replace my
CX3...

Saying all that, I do not expect it, or my CX3 to replace
my B3's... I choose to perform with a B3 and Leslie over
the CX3 because it not only plays differently, it sounds
different to my ears. That is a fact. Sure I can fool 99%
of the audience, and many of my distinguished musical
colleagues and engineers with my CX3, but I can't fool
myself.

-----Original Message-----
From: emili gene [mailto:emilindru@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, June 30, 2004 11:41 AM
To: CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [CWSG] Thoughts on the XK-3 Demos