From djacques@csulb.edu Wed Jun 30 16:54:54 2004
Subject:XK3.. who cares?


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