From mwbonnell@rogers.com Wed Jul 25 14:33:58 2007
Subject:Re: XK-3 software update

re: C'mon this is 2007 - technology is 100% able to come up with something better than any available B3 clone. ..and they are on demand.

What we Hammond nuts forget sometimes is we are a very small niche market. We know what we want, and Hammond could make the XK series exactly like a portable B3 if they wanted to, but then none of us would be able to afford them. There's simply not enough of us out there to buy them - low volume sales figures have to be balanced by high prices. The company has to make a profit.

I haven't played the new B3, but most guys say it comes pretty close. I don't know how many they sell in a year (it can't be too many), but it is certainly priced out of reach for the average guy. Once again, low sales have to be balanced by high prices. If Hammond were to offer the new B3 action in the XK series, they'd have to charge 4 or 5 times what they are now, or they couldn't justify the price of the B3.

I just installed a nearly new set of keycombs, and new keyboard felts on my early 60's B3. It feels so unbelievably smooth, tight and chunky now that I don't know how I'm going to be able to play my XK-3 anymore. My back is protesting already.

Mike

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