From fortepianonj@yahoo.com Sun Apr 10 13:33:10 2005
Subject:Re: Was The Musikmesse - Pari organ?

From what I understand, the Pari Organ has been a "work in progress" for some time now. It was connected to a Pari Rotary speaker, which didn't sound that great, IMHO. But I think the organ itself would sound much better if it were connected to a Leslie.

I believe the Pari had a LOT of attention in Frankfurt from many attendees and several other vendors, including HS Europe. I saw them (HS) even taking pics of the Pari display that showed the tonewheels in a separate box. Pictures are not supposed to be taken at this show, but everyone does it. I have to say - the PARI organ sounded quite good - even with their not-so-great speaker. I think the PARI will be the most interesting development in clonewheels in the upcoming year. It's gotta be. It's got TONEWHEELS!

The Roland booth was hopping, and people seemed to be playing the VK-88 a lot. It was just available to be heard through headphones. There was no speaker connected to it. I didn't bother playing it.

The Hammond that was being shown and played the most was their new B-3 Ultimo. It's basically the New B-3 in a shiny polished ebony and silver cabinet with a modern furniture design. It was pretty as a piece of furniture, but I would imagine quite expensive. They have also re-designed the look of the Leslie so that it looks a little smaller. They changed the direction of the top molding. But, I have to say, it sounded terrible. Maybe it's me, but I like a full screamin' Leslie sound. This one just didn't do it for me. I don't know what the model was but it was in a traditional 122 style cabinet. They had refinished the cabinet in polished ebony to match the organ. I was unimpressed with the sound.

HS also showed the XK system but with steel legs. It actually looked a little better this way. They showed the XK system in the same shiny polished ebony with spinet pedals. This was a little weird looking. The New B-3 and the B-3P were there too. They didn't show anything with rhythms. I wondered if these are being phased out. Seemed strange not to have at least one of them there, especially since those organs sell pretty well (still) in Europe, I think.

The VOCE booth featured the Key 5 on a four-poster stand which looked rather interesting. It was connected to the rotary speaker created by the VOCE distributor, which is called SPEED. It was really quite good, having a warm and powerful sound. VOCE also showed a possible single manual keyboard but with no pricing yet. It looked very interesting.

That's about it. It was a great show!

FP

PS I didn't get a chance to find Korg or Nord and check out their stuff.


Thomas Adamson wrote:
--- In CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com, S S wrote:
>
> I just finished attending the Frankfurt Musikmesse. I'm now
elsewhere in Europe and don't have much time. Some of the highlights
were the first showing of the PARI ORGAN at the show. WOW! It had
tonewheels!! It sounded GREAT!!