From jlcason@yahoo.com Thu Nov 24 07:30:41 2011
Subject:Re: FS: Nord Electro 73 (one time posting)

I'm very familiar with the PC361 - I bought one of the first 65 PC3X shipped in the US in March, 2008 for my studio, followed up with a PC3 (76 key) in Feb, 2009 that I use for gigging. With the older OS on the PC3 - I wanted the Nord for Hammond/Leslie and for its light weight. The addition of the PC361 was due to pricing, and I wanted more versatility than the Electro provides. It will be used mostly at my church, as an upper board paired at the moment with a PC2 that I leave there. It will also be a backup for the PC3 that I use for general gigging.

Usage: Hammond/Leslie, elect pianos, orchestral, synth sounds, occasional key bass. With the current OS, the PC3 series sounds close enough to a B3 and Leslie for my purposes. If I were playing organ in a trio or other exposed venue, I'd probably shut off the internal Leslie effect and feed the Aux outs into a Vent. However, playing in a band, I like it better than the Nord - primarily because I can use the 9 sliders more like drawbars than the drawbuttons of the Nord (and yes, I know that I could buy the Ocean Beach drawbars), and I have full control over vibrato/chorus, percussion, etc. Also, the sounds just merge and blend with the band in general. We have three keyboards - the Worship Leader plays piano (she focuses more on singing and just a simple rhythm part), the pastor's wife plays a Kurzweil SP2X always set on a Rhodes sound, and I fill in with Hammond, synth leads, a lot of orchestrals, whatever helps the particular song. We also have two (3 but one has been loaned to a new church to help start their music program) guitarists, electric bass, and drums. All three of my PC3's have been setup with the same OS, same patches and mods to patches in the same place - which is also an advantage to me in that I'm very familir with the instrument and can focus on the playing.

The one other real advantage of the Electro is the 18 pound weight as opposed to 30 pounds for the PC361. I'm not knocking the Electro - I really like the Bosie Grand and Upright and the Sparkletop Rhodes. The ease of front panel access to effects is also nice, but I can program the effects on the PC3 so that they are also accessible without menu diving.

Some will question my decision on the basis that the different companies make different sounds - which is very valid. However, with over 900 factory patches, plus room for a couple of thousand user patches - I find that the PC3 series gives me all that I need in terms of reliability, ease of use (although not so much ease of programming - fortunately I can usually get what I want by slight mods of factory patches), and a consistently good sound.

We are also in the middle of moving from individual amps (I was running a pair of EON 15G2's) to a new 30 channel mixing board with an optimized set of floor wedges (I'm using one of the 15G2's turned down low and aimed up at me) for monitors and good house sound. Guitar amps & bass amp will be DI to the board, aimed facing the players at low level - the overall stage volume will be reduced - although drums are acoustic so we can't go as low as I'd really like, and for the first time, I'll really have some close idea of what it sounds like to the congregation.

Price wise - I looked at what they were selling for and what they were not selling for. I do think that the price is lower than some, especially with both cases - but the cases don't fit anything else, so why not let them go along with the instrument. The only other change I have in mind now is that I'd like to have 88 weighted keys for the lower board - that will come within a year or so.

Jim

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