From hammond321@yahoo.com Wed Jul 31 14:01:10 2013
Subject:Re: Can someone ID this clone?
Oh man... changing the name from Viscount to Fujiha would make make me run right out and buy one... maybe two.
Years ago I had a Crumar Roadrunner electric piano. Not the greatest thing in the world by a long shot, but it was good to get me through quite a few gigs until I could afford Rhodes.
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From: Simon Beck
To: CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2013 4:56 PM
Subject: Re: [CWSG] Can someone ID this clone?
Viscount had an early analogue clonewheel too; the 2-manual Intercontinental OP6 (about 1980). This looked like a copy of the Korg BX-3 and evolved into the MIDI-equipped single-manual D9 and the module version, the D9E. I doubt whether the OP6 ever crossed the Atlantic. The later Viscounts were widely available in the UK, sometimes rebranded as "Fujiha", presumably to combat the perceived image of Italian-made instruments as low quality (or possibly just "naff"). I nearly bought a second-hand D9-E about 20 years ago, but couldn't afford it at the time.
Simon Beck
London, UK
I think Italian clones always suffer the same problem and that is availability.
Back in the 70's unless you went to New York and walked into Sam Ash you would not find a Crumar in Omaha. I know I looked. Crumar was always a word in the wind. No problem getting a real B3 and Leslie in Omaha. They had the latest models on display at Reniers on Dodge St. And unless you called Ash from Omaha and worked out a deal, it would be the only way to get one, and how would you know unless a little bird told you they existed, understanding then was not the 21st century? Even GC in Hollywood didn't have them in the 70's.
Not saying the logistics of a company to be everywhere is easy. Its just an itch you can't scratch that even today is still itchy. Your Italian clones are hard to come by in 21st.
g/
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