From normpeterson@earthlink.net Sat Jul 29 22:19:01 2006
Subject:RE: Stage & Roadbox love (long) - ignore if you're a playah hatah!

Great review! Thanks Dave!
Norm

> [Original Message]
> From: Dave Bradley
> To:
> Date: 7/29/2006 5:22:10 PM
> Subject: [CWSG] Stage & Roadbox love (long) - ignore if you're a playah
hatah!
>
> So I've had my Stage 76 & Roadbox III rig for a couple of weeks, but have
> been gone on vacation for about half that. After spending some time
dialing
> things in, I can finally write my impressions.
>
> I'm in love.
>
> The Stage has addressed all the issues I had with the Electro and then
some.
> The Yamaha and Steinway grands sound great thru my live speaker rig. I
> haven't even tried the luxury Yamaha yet. Some people whose ears I respect
> have had piano EQ problems which I haven't heard, so I can only conclude
> that these pianos are somewhat sensitive to the speaker system you are
> using.
>
> The Rhodes are infinitely more playable from the nicely weighted action
then
> my Electro's were, even when I played them from a weighted controller.
This
> is one reason I bought the Stage 76 instead of the Stage Compact - I
figured
> that the "keyboard to sound" connection would be more finely tuned for
> internal sounds than it would by putting MIDI in the way. I will be
playing
> most heavy organ stuff from an external keyboard when necessary, but there
> velocity response is not important. Surprisingly, the organ is pretty
> playable from the weighted action as-is. I could still stand another
Rhodes
> or two to choose from though.
>
> All the pianos benefit from the compressor and dynamics buttons - you can
> squash the sound down for hammering rock, or back off for delicate
playing.
>
> The clavinet sounds the same as Electro's (which is to say great), but
it's
> a bit more handy to have the EQ broken out to 2 dedicated switches rather
> than having to scroll thru a knob.
>
> I managed to get the Wurli dialed in to be as good as I had on the
Electro,
> although I miss the sweepable EQ of the Electro. The amp sims are OK, not
> spectacular. The one for the wurli speakers does make a great difference
on
> the wurli though!
>
> The Pianet was worth waiting for, reminds me of my old Combo Pian.... no
> wait, I was dreaming that part.
>
> The synth is surprisingly useable. It's not going to do Virusey rave
stuff,
> but in keeping with the vintage vibe, does 80s-style Loverboy / Journey
> pads, string washes and leads nicely. In the digital wave section I found
a
> bass guitar sample that works great for kicking bass. You always wish for
> more features (a highpass filter would be mine), but the 2/4 pole filter
> selection is useful, the single unison knob's way of bringing in up to 9
> extra oscillators is brilliant, and you can layer 2 synth engines for even
> more fat goodness. The effects, especially the delay, really add to the
mix.
> I even like the pitch stick arrangement, since I was never a minimoog
wheels
> kinda guy.
>
> The whole package matches the effect that the Electro produces, that you
are
> playing a real instrument. I don't have any real complaints. I'm confident
> that it will do the job I bought it for, the "complete gig on a single
> board" if I need to.
>
> On to the Roadbox:
>
> This thing is built like a tank, with all plywood construction covered in
> tuff skin. It is not light by any means, but is far lighter than a real
> Leslie. I can lift it myself pretty easily, and the reduced bulk helps you
> get your arms around it. It comes with plug in castors so that you can
> easily roll it around. I bought the version with a built in preamp. There
is
> a 1/4" inch jack in the front of the amp that takes the signal from the
> organ. The footswitch setup allows me to use it as a 2 speed or as a 1
speed
> "Leslie".
>
> I have it set up so that the organ engine in the Stage comes out Output 3,
> so I just leave the internal sim off. I can turn the 3 band EQ on if I
want,
> but haven't found the need.
>
> As to the effect of the missing rotor: yes, I can tell it's not there in
> some situations. No, it doesn't really matter. In chorale mode, I don't
> notice anything missing. With chorus/vib off, I get a clean fast speed
> effect that is maybe slightly less intense than if I had a low rotor.
Since
> a lot of the signal is coming thru the horn, the effect is very close, and
> sounds way better than if I had just unplugged the rotor of a Leslie. In a
> band situation, you would never notice.
>
> When I turn the chorus vib on, the intensity of the fast speed is as
swirly
> and pleasing as I could ask for even in an exposed solo situation, and I
> don't miss the low rotor AT ALL!
>
> I just today managed to unleash the full fury of this little beast. I had
> been very impressed with the tone and craftsmanship before, but wasn't
> getting quite the volume and clarity I expected - it was a bit TOO
> distorted. Working with Steve at Speakeasy today (yes, he insisted I call
> him on the weekend), we discovered that I had a bad set of power tubes.
> Steve is sending me a replacement set.
>
> Once I replaced the bad tubes with the set that was in my Leslie 142, holy
> @#$% batman! Loud, warm, grinding with a clean underbite, loud, frying
eggs
> sizzle on 888000000, did I mention loud? I am completely happy with it
now,
> and believe that it is the ultimate gigging organ speaker. The combination
> of volume, that trademark leslie amp overdrive tone, and portability sets
> the new standard.
> --
> Dave Bradley
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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