From daddyo@telusplanet.net Sat Dec 31 11:21:42 2011
Subject:Re: Simplicity of setting up the Hammond B3 but... and I digress a bit OT

Quick confession. I have a vintage CX3, but no one knows except you guys.
Hopefully no local musicians lurking here!

Brock Gillis
Hammond B3
Played from the heart...not from the chart




Quoting dave :

good story Craig. I guess most of us are generally in this same age bracket,
give or take a few years, and have our own youthful indescretions that are
heavy gear related. That's what draws us to this group. except for Brock.
he's the only Clonewheel list member who won't ever use a clonewheel! Glad to
have you with us, Brock!
BTW, Craig, you are way better than "mediocre". Good luck to everyone gigging
tonight.

dave

--- In CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com, "ccmacdon" wrote:
>
>
> Brock, is right that the B3 is simple to set up.. dollies, maybe a ramp
(although I never used one, probably should have)... a power cable, a leslie
cable.. done.
>
> However, at 56 years of age, I just had my first full body bone scan to find
out what is causing my chronic back problems, and when I got the results back,
in the notes at the bottom of the page it said "must be medocre Hammond B3
player - with no roadies".
>
> I know a few guys that don't seem to have any problem moving B3's around..
Brock obviously doesn't have a problem (btw I'm loving the Gunn CD, and you're
getting a lot of airplay on Hammond Radio... I hope you're getting the
royalties because it's your keys that's getting you on there!), I also have a
friend that lives up here near Toronto that told me he just keeps his
Hammond/leslie on dollies in his minivan at all times.. so it's pretty easy
for him because he just drives to the venue, rolls his B3 down the ramp from
his minivan into the gig and back up the ramp and into his minivan at the end
of the night. That's it, he never brings it into the house.
>
> There are a couple of things that stop me from using my real B3 these days.
Unfortunately, the gigs we play are at venues so small that if I brought my B3
and leslie, it would have to be as a solo act. At the same time I really like
the idea of playing my other sounds via midi on the lower manual of my C2..
Last but not least, I love the idea that I can go from raunchy distorted organ
with blown tubes to a pristine B3 at the press of a button. I really need that
for the cross section of music that I play these days.
>
> On the topic of moving Hammonds, I have to go OT and relate my worst
experience moving my Hammond B3.. I bought my first B3/122 leslie at the age
of 19, and by the time I was 20 I was in my first serious band that did
original material, kind of odd progressive stuff.. our only cover tune was a
20 minute instrumental version of "the Planet Suite" by Gustove Holst. We
thought we were great and we could never understand why would start yelling
"rolling stones" half way through Mars. However, we got our one and only
opportunity to play a half decent gig, with some well known successful "pop"
bands at a place called the Broom and Stone in Scarborough Ontario. It was a
curling rink downstairs and a huge hall that was two stories up stairs. For
some reason we couldn't take our equipment up the stairs inside and we were
told that we had to take all of our equipment up the fire escape at the back
of the building. Luckily the fire escape was a straight staircase up and into
the back door, but the fire escape was so narrow that the B3 wouldn't fit in
between the railings, furthermore there was no room for two guys to walk up
the fire escape side by side. So we had no option but to lift the B3 over our
heads (to keep it above the railing) with only one person on each end. Seeing
as it was my B3, I took the bottom and the brunt of the weight and walked up a
two story fire escape with the bottom end of the B3 basically held over my
head.
>
> Hence the recent bone scan...
>
> Craig
>
> --- In CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com, "tfosselm" wrote:
> >
> > Very true Brock, the downside is that if you include the 4' festival
stages with the go-gigs-with-stairs, that would eliminate about 90% of my
gigs. I took my B3 to a gig a while back after I was guaranteed that there
were "no stairs" involved. The agent was correct IF you didn't include the 6
stairs going down and the stage which was over 4 feet tall. The ONLY way my B3
will ever go to another gig is if roadies pick it up at my house and take it
back after the gig.
> >
> > --- In CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com, Brock Gillis wrote:
> > >
> > > This is why moving my B3 is so much easier. A pickup with a ramp, a set
of
> > > dollies, no gigs with stairs, and people who will always push as long as
they
> > > don't have to lift. AC to the wall, cable and footswitch to the Leslie.

> > >
> > > No stands, volume pedals, sustain pedals, effects boxes, or pedals, 9
Volt
> > > batteries, power bars, mixers, DI boxes, lots of 1/4 cables.
> > >
> > > Did I miss anything?
> > >
> > > Brock Gillis
> > > Hammond B3
> > > Played from the heart...not from the chart
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Quoting mark k :
> > >
> > >
> > > I agree for a jam night one box that can be set up in 2 mins is
essential.
> > > However for gigs our drummer takes 20 to 30 mins to lug in and set up
and I
> > > can do both the midi, laptop cables etc. and my guitar and amp in the
same
> > > time - altho I do wish I could get it done quicker so I am not trying
to get
> > > the right amount of foldback for the keys while the drummer is fine
tuning his
> > > snare and toms:).  
> > >
> > > Cheers
> > >
> > > Mark
> > >
> >
>