From hammond.b3@verizon.net Sat Aug 14 08:22:43 2010
Subject:Re: Electro 2 & Vent...my thoughts

Bruce,
Am I going to have one of those "UH-OH" moments with the Vent and my C2?
OTOH I still have my XM2 and draw bars.

It makes me wonder when I read nothing but glowing reports about the Vent on the Clone and Nord lists. Maybe one or two disatisfied users.
Then I now hear that the Keyboard Forum, which I don't subscribe to, is getting hit with folks who are not happy with it.
I'm wondering why Nord users don't post their opinions on the Nord list.
Maybe they simply don't belong?

I'm not running scared because I want to hear the thing, but it sure is weird.
Here's another thing I continue to run up against.
As we all know, everybody's ears are different. When I've met other players who are using clones sometimes it seems that they may not really have a grasp of the Hammond sound and the draw bar registrations they use are "unusual" for a given song or genre. At least to me anyway.
Then I read about all of this "stuff" used in an attempt to get a REAL HAMMOND? sound and I scratch my head.
I guess it seems like they just keeping adding more gear to the sound and pretty soon they have this gigantic gear conglomeration in which one small adjustment can mean a problem.
I, too, am an old school B3 player. I also realize it's a CLONE not a B3.
Unless one's minds and ears happen to be exact "clones" of the developer then we're going to be disappointed.
I've found that with a minimum of drawbar tweaking I can get real close to the sound of any given record. Is it exact? Who cares? If it sounds close to me I'm going for it.
I think we're expecting way too much from clones. Even if you had a B3 sitting in front of you and decided to cop a Benmont Tench setting, it won't be exact. No two Hammond sound alike anyway.
Thanks
Chuck

From: Bruce Wahler
Sent: Saturday, August 14, 2010 7:11 AM
To: CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com ; NordElectro@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [CWSG] Electro 2 & Vent...(I posted this on the Electro Group As Well)


Hi Brian,

[Sorry for the cross-post, but I figured that this particular topic
would have interest on both groups.]

The Ventilator has a pretty wide input range, and between the Hi/Lo gain
switch and the Overdrive knob, you should be able to find a sound that
pleases you. I would definitely recommend the Lo gain for the NE2,
because the earlier Electros don't have a tremendous amount of output.
(I learned this when developing the Barker for the Speakeasy Preamp,
which was designed on my CX-3. I ended up making a special version for
Electro owners.)

As suggested, you might want to experiment with moving the preamp to
before the Ventilator, where it arguably 'belongs.' And while I have
used the Dual MP preamp for years, it is not the most ideal preamp for a
Hammond organ clone, IMHO. Speakeasy's products are better tailored to
the task.

One other thing that may be frustrating you: Are you looking to get
lots of different 'Hammond sounds' over the course of the gig?
(Something a real Hammond cannot do, but a very common requirement in
cover bands.) In particular, I noticed that you were talking about
Wallflowers tunes. Rami Jaffee's sound is heavily dependent on 1-2
drawbars at a time, sent through a heavily overdriven Leslie. The NE2
doesn't have enough drive to make the task easy. I played around with
the Vent and a signal generator when we first became a dealer, and found
that for maximum versatility, the ideal output level was around 1V
peak-to-peak. With a 1V signal and the use of the Hi/Lo and Overdrive
knobs, I was able to dial in any sound from 'showroom fresh' to 'Gimme
Some Lovin.' The NE2's output, OTOH, is more like 250mV. Again, a
preamp ahead of the Vent may make your life easier, because you can set
the level to match the 'sweet spot' I'm describing. Don't worry about
the numbers; your ears will hear the results just fine.

Fortunately, later Nord keyboards like the NE3 have a little more
output, making life easier. I think the NE3 + Vent is a particularly
satisfying combination.

Regards,

-BW

Bruce Wahler
Ashby Solutions.com^(TM)
bruce@ashbysolutions.com
http://music.ashbysolutions.com
877.55.ASHBY (877.552.7429)

On 8/13/2010 11:29 PM, fingerz wrote:
> Here it goes...YMMV...