From daddyo@telusplanet.net Tue Oct 05 16:35:16 2010
Subject:Re: Ocean Beach Digital Drawbar Controller - first impressions!!

Do you have a picture to share with the cup mounts attached?
Brock Gillis
daddyo@telusplanet.net
www.gunnbluesband.com

"Be thinking of B-3's and Leslies goin round"

"Friends help you move. A good friend will come bail you out of jail.. A True
friend will help you move your B3"

Quoting ccmacdon :

There is no doubt that it's a little different having the drawbars sitting up
as high as they do(especially when you add the suction cups) furthermore, they
sit on the far left side which is a little farther away than I would ideally
place them.. However it's a very minor inconvenience.. just something that
you'll get used to. Nord users have been asking for a real drawbar option, and
now we have one.

--- In CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com, hammond.b3@... wrote:
>
> How does the height work for you? Seems like adding another few inches of
height might make the ergonomics weird.
> Chuck
> Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "ccmacdon"
> Sender: CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Tue, 05 Oct 2010 13:24:09
> To:
> Reply-to: CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [CWSG] Ocean Beach Digital Drawbar Controller - first
impressions!!
>
> To all the Nord users.. Ken Hall asked me to pass on my impressions once I
received my Ocean Beach Digital Drawbar unit.. Well I got it late yesterday
afternoon (exactly one week after it was shipped), and went through the 3
minute installation and configuration process (basically set one dip switch to
tell the unit I have a C1/C2, press 3 buttons to start/end the midi learn
process, play a couple notes on each manual so the unit which midi channels
each manual is set to) and the unit works flawlessly on my NORD C2 using only
midi buss power.
>
> The drawbars feel great and despite it using sliders rather than actual
drawbars, it feels just like grabbing a set of Hammond Drawbars! The slide
in/out with basically the same amount of pressure, and the travel of the
sliders is virtually identical to the real hammond drawbars (about 4 cm, I
actually measured this and compared it to my real hammond).
>
> The unit is fantastic.. installation was easy.. it even comes with suction
cups AND adhesive stickers to help the suction cups adhere to the top of the
Nords which are not completely smooth.. I haven't attached my stickers and
suction cups yet, because my C2 is brand new and I want to make sure there
aren't any problems that would require returning it, because I'm sure they
would not be happy to accept it back with these stickers on it.. So I'll give
it a week or so before I commit to placing the suction cup stickers on my new
C2.
>
> So I have to say, that my first impressions are WOW, fantastic.. shipped
on-time, well packaged, all the materials were well organized (even a list of
what's included in the box), easy to understand manual, simple installation
instructions.. fits perfectly on top of my C2, works perfectly, and does what
it says it will.. emulates a real set of Hammond Drawbars..
>
> Just to ensure that this is a balanced review there are two things I noted
that might be areas for improvement:
>
> 1. When using a two manual set up, like the C1/C2 there doesn't seem to be
an indicator on the unit as to which manual the drawbars are currently
controlling.. you sort of have to keep track of that. This is not an issue for
me.. (it's certainly not a hard thing to keep track of).
>
> 2. The other thing that might be an issue is the fact that it doesn't seem
to work with the C2's "preview function".. but the way it's implemented is
perfect in my opinion.. I will explain.. the C2 preview feature allows you to
set your next drawbar setting without affecting the current drawbar preset. I
would have assumed that when you press "preview" and the preset button you
wish to change that the drawbar unit would control the preset being previewed
but this is not the case.. the drawbar unit remains in contol of the live
sound NOT the drawbars preset being previewed. At first I was surprised and
thought that this would be a flaw, but the more I thought about it, the more I
liked the way this worked.. This way, I can continue to control the live sound
using the drawbar unit, and I can change the preset being previewed using the
traditional NORD drawbar switches, so effectively I have access to two
different drawbar sets at the same time.. with the drawbar unit always in
control of the live drawbar set, and the NORD switches being used to set my
next preset.
>
> I hope I've explained the above correctly.. Anyway, I love the unit, it
works flawlessly and my only real gripe might be that it doesn't have an
indicator as to which manual the drawbar unit is currently controlling, but
again, this is a very minor flaw, or perhaps not a flaw at all.. perhaps it's
my old brain that is flawed expecting the unit to tell me what I really should
know ;-)
>
> Kudos to Ocean Beach Digital!! Money well spent as far as I'm concerned..
and for all those NORD naysayers.. NOW YOU CAN GET REAL DRAWBARS FOR YOUR
NORD ORGAN, IF YOU REALLY FEEL YOU NEED THEM!
>
> Craig
>
> PS you can also use two Ocean Beach Digital Drawbar Controllers if you want
a dedicated set of drawbars for each manual..
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>