From stateofmin@aol.com Sun Dec 16 08:42:45 2007
Subject:Re: XK1 v nord C1

I just bought an XK-1, and I completely disagree that you must play it with
a real Leslie. Having played with a Leslie 147 cabinet for years in my
college days, I was delighted with the XK-1 sound with the simulated Leslie. It's
not perfect but who cares? I play blues and classic rock and there is no
one in the audience that is complaining that the keyboard player isn't using a
Leslie. At home, I play jazz with studio monitors and quite frankly I still
enjoy it. I have enough problems with too much equipment to carry to make
the Leslie the first item to cross off my list of "must have" toys on the
stage.

I have played with the Electro in a jazz band and liked it but didn't really
think it had as much of the Hammond sound as the XK-1 does. Nor did I think
the Leslie simulation on the Electro was anything to write home about, the
action was awful and the Rhodes and clav sounds, while good, were not good
enough. Hence, the clear need to bring a second keyboard for non-organ parts.
Since the primary appeal of the Electro is having an all-in-one solution for
a classic rock player, it fails IMHO. Nord will eventually get it right but
they haven't done it yet. I bought the XK-1 when it was clear that its
internal Leslie simulation was better than the internal Leslie simulation of the
more expensive XK-3 and I had no need for a dual manual organ for what I was
doing. (You, of course, can create a two manual organ with a midi
controller). I have resigned myself to playing with a second keyboard with hammer
action for piano and Rhodes playing. No serious piano or Rhodes player wants to
play on a synth action when playing piano or Rhodes parts in any event. You
would do it as a compromise, to avoid taking a second keyboard and hate it.
If I am going in that direction, however, I want a more versatile keyboard
that can do a lot more than the Electro. It is a shame that Hammond put
half-assed samples of other instruments on the XK-1. If it had done something
serious there, it would have been a clear Electro killer.

On a completely unrelated note, I own a pair of Leslie 60 speakers which
most people have never seen or heard of. They are at least 30 years old. I
used them, with some alteration through a custom pre-amp, with a Rhodes. They
have a digital Leslie sound which on a slow speed creates a nice phase effect
for a Rhodes. I tried them with my XK-1 at a gig recently and liked what I
heard. I turned off the Leslie effect completely on the Leslie speakers
themselves. What is neat about these little speakers is that you can spread them
out and get your sound on both sides of the stage behind the mains without
coming out of the monitors from the main PA.

Rick


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