From m.zyla@verizon.net Sat May 22 02:05:25 2004
Subject:Re: XK-3 & my first dilema

> --- In CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com, Mark Zyla wrote:
> (about his 2101 and Electro and XK-3.)
>
> Hi Mark,
> As you are an owner of the above three items, I wonder if you would
> advise on the relative ( accoustic) merits of the rotary simulators.

I don¹t own the H/S stuff, it¹s given to the company I work for as H/S is
one of our lines. I own an Electro 73, a Speakeasy pre and a 45 Leslie.
Tonight was my first night I got to take it for a spin. I left my Electro
tonight for the first time since I got it. I left Leslies at home and
relied on the Leslie sim in the XK-3.

I noticed quickly that the Leslie sim sounded rich and satisfying to my ears
when used in conjunction with the C/V. Turn of C/V and the Leslie sound
very thin and lifeless. Since there is a ton of edits you can do to the
internal Leslie, this problem may be eliminated by tweaking, but I
distinctly remember this same scenario with my old XB-2.

Anyway, initial impressions are that the sound of the XK-3 is rather
impressive. I mainly stuck to manipulating the two sets of drawbars on the
two preset keys. The last tune of the night was a Doors piece, and by just
quickly accessing the numerous banks of presets, I came across a very
useable Voxy/cheesy organ sound that actually sounded great and was fun to
play.

My biggest frustration with the XK-3 was the road case that you can buy from
H/S. It¹s a fairly sturdily built case, but does not have a set of side
handles. That made it¹s moving process very difficult. I missed the
Electro!

The Speakeasy smoothed and fattened the stereo output and gave me tons of
gain. I need to spend more time working with the tube output of the XK-3
and the Speakeasy. I did use the EXP100F. Didn¹t really care for the kick
switch on the pedal. I found myself gravitating towards the controls on the
keyboard more than using the kick switch. I imagine a little art comes in
handy to really use it well.

Norm P. - call me at home if you want to try and get together in the next
few days to play it. It then goes on the road to Petosa Music, Showcase
Music in Portland and Musician¹s Exchange in Tacoma.

mark

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