From bruce@ashbysolutions.com Wed Nov 02 07:16:35 2005
Subject:Re: Vk8 bass tones (was: Re: vk8m programming and hidden features)

Hi,

I agree with Walter's comments. A B-3 + 122 is a complete sound system. A clone is not. The Hammond B-3 wasn't "designed for a Leslie," in fact, for many years Hammond tried to design *around* the use of a Leslie. They just happen to sound great together. Music is full of these happy accidents.

Because the classic Hammond sound is so tied to the idiosyncrasies of the Hammond and Leslie, though, more thought has to be put into the choice of the amp and speakers for a clone.

And let's be honest: Most B-3's sound great, but a few of them don't, due to component tolerances and aging. And even the ones who sound great sound different from each other. Each of us has an idea of the "perfect" B-3, but those ideas aren't always the same. That's the one nice feature about the clones: If I can get a particular clone to sound great through a certain amp and speakers, so can you, because all the clones of one make and model sound the same. If my B-3 sounds better than yours (or vice versa), we may have to live with that; if my BX-3 sounds better than yours, I can give you tips to fix that situation.

Regards,

-BW

--
Bruce Wahler
Design Consultant
Ashby Solutions™ http://consult.ashbysolutions.com
978.386.7389 voice/fax
bruce@ashbysolutions.com

At 03:00 PM 11/2/2005 +0000, you wrote:
>--- In CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com, JAMES EATON wrote:
>> My personal experience is that the B3 is fine right out of
>the "box". I just pull out the 16' drawbar and I get what I need. I
>find that with the Vk-8, there isn't such a "sweet spot" regardless of
>whether I use 84 or 80 or 88 or whatever, which makes it less powerful
>to me.
>>
>> Ryan Stroup wrote:
>>
>> < >just
>> the 16' pedal drawbar will be more than sufficient. Otherwise using
>> 804000000 gets the job done. >>
>>
>> I have tried this but it sounds too thin to my taste. There's not
>enough 8' tone in the 16' drawbar, and too many overtones in the 8' to
>allow it to fill the gap usefully.
>
>That's why amplifiers and your choice of what to use are part of the
>equation. Of course, our beloved B3's are just right out of the box,
>but the VK8M clone technology involved means being willing to set up an
>amplification and speaker system that brings out the sound you want -
>versus just plugging into what you've used before and if it doesn't
>sound the same, saying "no good, end of story." The sound is there if
>you want it. My choice happens to be using more or less the same amps I
>was using before but adding a compact bass amp in the setup, since IMO
>just using a good "bassy" keyboard amp or powered speakers doesn't work
>as well with the VK8M and its out-of-the-box pedal tones ..result - my
>pedal bass sounds like the real thing with just the 16' but I like some
>of the 8' drawbar added, around 3-4.
>
>Walter j
>
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