Snakehips

I'm currently got GAS for the HX3 powered MAG C2 organ. i found some good audio tracks online, featuring one hooked up to a Leslie 145 : Then there is this video : http://www.magorgans.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Im-Movin-On-Jimmy-Smith-Peewee-Durante-plays-a-MAG-C-2-.mp4

Hi again ! i got my Spacestation V3 earlier this week and have had some play on it, mostly with my Hammond SK2 with, and without a Ventilator (mk1), but I also tried it with my e.piano (Roland RD800). I'm struggling with it. It might just not be for me. Firstly, with my SK2 and Vent, and the SSV3 stereo spread at 12 o'clock, it sounded horrible ! In fast speed, the vent sounded like it was going at twice the normal fast speed, and all gurgly ! It started to sound better after I turned the stereo spread control down to about 10 o'clock. i definitely see and hear the colouration of the sound that you commented on. It is way too much for me. In fact, I don't like it and am unconvinced I could grow to like it. So much so, that I'd rather stick to an uncoloured MONO sound through a single powered PA speaker (my Yamaha DXR12) than this SSV3. The coloured sound is such that it sounds like it is plugged through a wahwah pedal, with the foot control stuck in a half-way position (some part boosted and the rest sucked out ! I have a gig this Sunday night with the blues band I play in. I'll take along bothmy DXR12 and the SSV3. And give it one last chance. It's either going back or I'll have to sell it. Jim - many thanks for your help beforehand. I knew what I was getting into, before I bought the SSV3 - that I might not like it. i think I'll try and recoup my losses and put it towards my next GAS attack - a HX3 driven organ clone. Currently salivating over a MAG C2 organ : Whoops, forgot the photo/link : http://www.magorgans.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/C-2-Front.jpg

Hi again! Many thanks for your advice. On a quick look at another forum or two, the Spacestation V3 seems to be getting the thumbs up all around. It's a bit like the (Hammond) clone wars though I think. There are always a few guys forcing their opinion on you ! I'm interested in the opinion of guys I respect for having a balanced view of things - so thanks again !! So, I take it you use the SK2 and Ventilator stereo with the Spacestation ? Although nothing will ever be as good as a real Leslie through sound out in a circular spin, does the Spacestation add any perceived essence of something spinning ? You said it takes a lot of set-up time - I am presuming with the stereo spread control and Eq tweaks. Is this before every gig or was it just while you were getting accustomed to this new product ? Thanks again !

http://www.centerpointstereo.com/products.php forgot the link !!

Hi Jim and everyone else, I wonder if anyone has had a chance to try out the Centre Point Stereo "Spacestation V3" keyboard amp combo ? It supposedly gives a stereo sound by having a front facing 12" speaker and a smaller side facing speaker, and it's powered by 100watts. It is quite small in size and supposedly very loud for it's size. It might be just the thing for me for a small set-up at home - for my Hammond SK2 and Roland RD800. I am currently using a single Yamaha DXR12 powered monitor speaker for gigging as a keyboard amp/monitor. Just using one of these, I am playing both of my keyboards (organ and piano) in mono. I am now at the stage of being ready to buy another DXR12 powered speaker to use both in stereo - and I could also use them as a PA system when needed, as I have a small stereo mixer (a new model Mackie Mix 5). The Spacestation works out at roughly the same price as another DXR12 powered speaker. For home use, if I want stereo sound, I would need to set up both DXR speakers, either side of my keyboards - and this takes up a LOT of floor space. If I bought the Spacestation, and if it is good, I could use just that at home, and possibly for gigs, and possibly use the DXR12 speaker for more oomph if I needed it (the signal taken from the Sub-Out output of the Spacestation). I haven't had the opportunity to try one of these out, and online youtube videos don't really help ! The main thing I am wondering about is the issue I have found with stereo digital pianos, when the L&R outputs are summed together - ie. when playing in mono, most keyboards you use the L/Mono jack output. Phase cacellation or something, as a result of how a real grand piano is digitally sampled with 2 microphones, I believe is the cause. Pianos sound thin and boxy in the middle registers especially. The Spacestation apparently sums the L&R signals of a keyboard together (something I am hence worried about) for the forward-facing speaker, the something like L-R, phase-reversed, or something, for the sideways-facing speaker. If it works, despite my concerns, then COOL ! Just not sure without hearing one of these things OR reassurance from people I admire and respect the opinions of (eg. Jim Alfredson !). Obviously, I don't expect Jim to outright praise or tear-apart the Spacestation V3, but I wonder if he or others could offer their OWN opinion !! (Being conscious of the recent ongoings on the Facebook Clonewheel page about Jim's recent experience gigging a loaned Crumar Mojo organ, which it appears that this particular keyboard may have had pre-existing issues, and not the Mojo keyboards in general). You can adjust stereo "width" to suit the room/keyboard BUT a setting that suits a piano keyboard may not suit an organ aslo connected to it. Luckily with my Roland RD800, it is easy to adjust it's stereo width on the fly as there is a dedicated knob for that. Anyone tried one ? Is it a gimmick or does it actually sound promising ?

Hi there ! I had a gig this afternoon at the Edinburgh Jazz&Blues Festival. We were the 2nd of three bands on. After we finished playing, there was the usual clamber to get all our gear off the stage. As I loaded my SK2 into my flight case, I noticed a screw missing from the top of the keyboard. It was the left-most large Philips-head screw and washer - one that holds down the whole control panel. As the final band were doing final set-up before starting to play, I had a mad-scramble on the floor of the stage to try and find the screw. One of the stage guys found the washer and luckily I then found the screw about 5mins later. My SK2 has not been gigged heavily and has a very good protecting flight case, so I have no idea why this screw could have loosened off so easily. The screw is quite short, so I suppose it doesn't need to unscrew much, before it falls out. Just thought you SK series owners will want to know this and check that none of you guys end up a "screw loose" !!!!?!!

Hi there ! i just saw Janiva play this afternoon, in my home town, at the Edinburgh International Jazz & Blues Festival. Wow ! What a great singer and lovely person too. Unfortunately, the festival organisers wouldn't go as far as to provide them a Hammond organ on the stage and could only offer an old Nord. Word got around on Facebook as to who might have a Hammond, that her keyboard player, Red Young, could play, and my name came up. I don't have a real Hammond any more but I was able to offer my Hammond SK2 and Ventilator. It was really nice to see and hear a real professional play my SK2 - so I know how it does and can sound like !! And Red was a great piano player too, not to mention a lovely guy. Great day out, in a great venue, with my two young boys seeing their first real band gig, and great music too !

Hi again ! Update - many thanks again for the recommendation of the Yamaha DXR speaker range. I bought one DXR12 powered speaker late last year amd have been using it for gigs, as a keyboard amp combo, with my Roland RD700GX and Hammond SK2, with great success. I've now upgraded to the Roland RD800 as this has lots of very good mono pianos on it. I've also added a Ventilator with the SK2, as of my most recent gig. For play at home, using the SK2 without the Ventilator was great anyway and curiously I didn't really hear anything better with the Vent, just a different tone. However, it was immediately obvious at my last gig that the Ventilator with the SK2 cut through a hand mix much more than the SK2 alone (which is very goodthough). The Vent made my SK2 sound sexier, especially when toggling between slow & fast. For this gig, my keyboards were not going through the PA, just the vocals and harmonica. I think I'll go ahead and purchase another Yamaha DXR12 powered speaker, so that I can have stereo for both speakers. The only thing holding me back is that it might just not be necessary for about half my gigs, that are at larger venues, with in-house PA systems, monitor wedges etc

Hi again ! Many thanks for your help on what is basically a mundane boring question ! Merry Christmas !!

Dear Jim, I'm new to doing software updates - as might become apparent !! I see you have some very helpful YouTube videos showing how to Format a flash drive, including what flash drives you feel are good enough quality to work. Having just done an Amazon search to see what is available, there is so much choice in brands (I'll stick to one of the ones you suggest) and in memory size. If I can assume for a second that the brands you suggest in your YouTube video "How to format a USB flashdrive on your Hammond SK keyboard" : What sort of size of memory do you think I will be needing as a minimum ? These things are fairly cheap these days - and is tempting to buy a higher value flashdrive with larger memory capacity. If the actual files to download and install in my SK2 are not big then I don't need to be buying a large memory drive (eg. 32GB) I have a few other devices needing software updates - and they will likely also need their own dedicated flash drives - SO, I can see myself having to buy quite a few new flash drives. Considering the potential future needs of a flash drive (future updates may increase in file sizes), my basic question is : What is a sensible GB memory size for a flash drive I need to be purchasing ? Such a boring a long-winded question, I know !!! Thanks for your help !!! Just for some info, I'm in the UK. On Amazon.co.uk, a : SanDisk 16GB Cruzer Extreme USB 3.0 Flash Drive - F http://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-Cruzer-Extreme-Flash-Drive/dp/B0095SIH2Q/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1417700648&sr=8-16&keywords=flash+drive costs £ 17.30 A 32GB version is only £ 18.25 - ie. hardly any extra for double the memory- so perhaps I should just go for that ? !!!!! The 64GB version is £ 39.85. Is 16GB way too much for what I need - or perhaps 16GB is about as low as they go these days ? Does the SK2 use a USB 2.0 or 3.0 drive ??? Many thanks for considering my daft questions !!!!

Hi again ! I'm answering my own questions here !! I went to my local good music shop and they had some Yamaha DXR speakers. First tried out two DXR10's, set-up as monitors, either side of me, on the floor, in wedge angled formation. Wow ! I wasn't expecting these speakers to be so good. And that was just plugged into a cheaper Roland FP80 (or something). They also had a single DXR12 speaker that I tried, directly into a new Roland RD800, just in mono. That sounded good too. I then compared the RD800 plugged into a single DXR10, with a DXR12. A single DXR10 just sounded a bit too thin, compared to a single DXR12. For home practice, a DXR10 would suit me down to the ground, but I'm going to go for a single DX12. Two speakers, I'm sure, are better than one. I'll buy a second one in a while. Many thanks for your original review of the DXR speakers - it helped a lot.

Hi again ! I really need to go and check out these Yamaha DXR powered speakers. I figured I could buy one for now - as a keyboard amp combo (as it sounds like they are better than your average "keyboard amp"), then when I have the cash, buy a second one to use both alternatively as a stereo PA system. I have been thinking of going for either a DXR12 or DXR15 - but figured the DXR15 might be better for more bottom-end for my Roland e.piano AND a fat bottom-end for my Hammond SK2. However, I noticed Jim, that you went with two DXR10's. If I'm only buying one DXR speaker for now, do you think I'd be better buying a DXR15 - or do you think the DXR12 should give me all I should need ? I'm never using a PA system for a whole band - maximum is 3 musicians, up to 3 mics, 2 electro-acoustic guitars, or 1 electro-acoustic guitar and my piano ? Don't play with drums and bass. I suppose, get the best for whatever you can spend BUT, might the DXR15's be overkill for essentially an acoustic duo/trio ? DXR12's sound a bit more ideal to me in terms of size and weight though (and cost !) I'll go and test them out - but someone's input (like yours) would be most helpful. They certainly seemed to get a good write-up in "Sound on Sound" magazine : http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/may12/articles/yamaha-dxr.htm All the best.

Hi again ! I recently had a play on the new Roland RD-800 in a music shop - and it sounded good, weighs about 5kg less than the RD-700 models and has more MONO pianos on it - including a MONO version of their latest/best piano. So, I'm considering going for the RD800. My Roland Keyboard amp was really struggling at my last gig too - so a new combo might be in order - so, I'll certainly look at the Yamaha DXR combo series.

Hi Tom ! Will PM you so as to not clog up this thread with chat about us !!

Hi 9TS , I'm in a blues band called the Jensen Intercepters. Lead guitarist is Al Brown, from Glasgow. He is an amazing guitarist, and plays in a number of bands. You heard of him ? We are gigging on sunday, in Haddington, East Lothian (Railway Hotel, 4pm), and in Peebles, at the Eastgate Theatre, Saturday 29th Nov. The Voodoo Rooms in Edinburgh is a really nice venue - I've played there quite a number of times now. They have their own in-house PA system and sound men. The name of your band ?? Will keep an eye out for you.

Hi again ! Had a look at the SK2 manual. Page 76 - damned if I can understand what it all means !!! Will have a bash with the actual SK2 buttons and try to figure it out. Thanks for the help.

Hi again ! I see Hammond-Suzuki have brought out a new model - Hammond XK1-c Looks like a similar XK1 casing with the left half of the control panel from an SK1. (I checked the dimensions - the XK1c is longer/wider than an SK1) Why didn't they just do a simplified SK1 without the extra voices ? !! ie. An organ without the pianos, e.piano and other extra voices (although it has the Vox+Farfisa+Church organs). The right half of the XK1c "instrument panel" is "empty" - nothing on it ! Looks silly ! Space for a Ventilator to sit on though !! I have an SK2 but I'm really not interested in the pianos and other sounds. Would have been cool if the SK2 had a simpler "cousin" - dual manual and just the organ stuff. The empty right-hand side instrument panel could EASILY fit another set of drawbars - surely ??? !!!!!!! The only other thing that would be great (and I wish it did this on the SK2, although tell me if I'm wrong !) - would be to have presets buttons specific to each manual. My SK2 preset buttons bring up drawbar settings for both manuals together. If I want to jump to a different drawbar registration on the top manual, the bottom manual registrations will change too. Doesn't do that on a real B3 ! An SK2 with 2 sets of drawbars, and no extra voices, and seperate preset buttons for each manual. It's not rocket science !! Then it would be even more desirable. (sure, keep a fancier model WITH extra voices, and only one set of drawbars, for those that want it !)

Hi again ! There are mono samples/patches on the Roland RD700GX - but they tend to sound like "older" Roland electric piano generations - where the piano sound is nowhere is near as authentic/convincing as more recent e.pianos Thus, I don't tend to use them. I wouldn't have wanted to pay big sums of money for an expensive up-to-date keyboard to then use older generation sounding pianos - just to get mono. I should revisit them though, and have a good listen again. Keyboard manufacturers just don't seem to get that many gigging musicians are going to be plugging in Mono. I was interested in the Roland V-Piano when it came out (despite the hefty price) - as knowing it was not based on digital sample/recordings of a real piano, there may not be phasing issues if played in mono. However, even more an expensive item to purchase then only play in mono !!! Will have a look at the Casio Privia keyboards though. Thanks for you help again.

Hi Jim ! I read your review from August, on the Yamaha powered speakers and have a question about your set-up. You said you use two of these speakers and set up your Sk1 (or Sk2), into the Ventilator. Then you send each stereo jack output into each of your left&right Yamaha monitors. The bit that confused me is that i think you say you then send a MONO signal of that (from the Yamaha speaker) to the PA system. So, questions : 1(a) surely you are sending a degraded sound to the PA / front of house ? 1(b) is it the L&R signals from the vent summed together to "make" MONO, or is it just, say the L side only (as some keyboards etc have a L/mono output) ? 1© maybe you don't think the front of house sound will hear the difference, as long as YOU can have lush stereo in your wee cocoon between your keyboards and L&R monitors ? My gig set-up is a Hammond SK2 and a Roland RD700GX, plus a Roland mono keyboard amp for monitoring. The Roland e.piano has L&R XLR outputs - which go to the front of house PA, then I take the L/mono jack socket to my keyboard amp for monitoring (nice and simple). For my SK2, I take both L&R jack outputs into a stereo DI box, then send the XLR L&R outputs to the front of house PA. I then take a "line-out" from the Left channel of my stereo DI box, and feed that into my keyboard amp for monitoring. Not sure if when I do this I'm getting Left side only to my Keyboard amp or a summed mono. It doesn't sound weird, it sounds good in fact, so probably a full-fat summed mono ?!! Sorry, I hope that isn't too confusing !!! I figured I'm doing the best for the audience to give them the full stereo sound, and i'll just put up with a mono on-stage sound. I also play piano and guitar in a blues duo - and we use one Bose L1(mk2) tower sound system for both of us, on our gigs. It's not until I started gigging with the Bose L1 and e.pianos (in mono) that i realised how terrible stereo digital pianos sound, when only connected with the L/Mono output. So, I'm getting a bit obsessed these days to try and insist on stereo when I can. Want to upgrade my monitor keyboard amp situation I think - but I'm not keen on larger stereo keyboard amps. The keyboard player I replaced in the 5-piece blues band i'm in had a Roland RD700 and a Hammond XK1 plus the top-of-the range big/heavy Roland stereo keyboard amp - and he left that band with a bad back !!! Many thanks for any advice.

Hi there ! I take it you prefer the Ventilator's emulation of a Leslie 122 better than the onboard SK2 simulator ? Enough to justify the extra expense ? I notice Hammond-Suzuki are bringing out their own Leslie simulator pedal - essentially the software stuff that is in an SK2 - including a Hammond Tonecabinet simulator. Getting "Stop/Break" on the Mini-Vent, pressing both buttons together : does it also do that on the original Ventilator ? (I have an original Vent and didn't know you could get "Stop".) Thanks !

Hi there ! Many thanks for that ! A Scolar and a Gent ! PS. Does the Z-stand fold up flat - that's the sort of thing that isn't shown well on any website I've been looking at, for the Z-stands. Thanks !

Hi there ! I'm new to the forum here and got my SK2 just over a year ago. Loving it ! I play e.piano (Roland RD700GX) and my SK2 in a blues band in Scotland, UK. There doesn't seem to be a very ergonomic way of arranging my keyboards, especially on a stage where there is little space (virtually all my gigs). So far I have the E.Piano on a super-strong folding out stand (the one that came with the first modern Rhodes e.piano keyboard with hammond sounds, circa early to mid 1990's - the 88's that had a full set of 9 drawbars, can't remember the model). Then i have the SK2 on a standard x-stand above/behind it So, I sit at the e.piano, and stand to play the SK2, reaching over the piano (and have to push away my stool from behind my knees). Thinking of getting the K&M Omega stand to replace my x-stand, for holding my SK2 above my e.piano (X-stands are not exactly the most stable things on the planet !) Sorry for such a long story to a simple question : Please tell me, is the K&M Omega stand wider than the SK2 ? Mamy thanks in advance. PS. I love how you take the time to try out, talk about and demo all sorts of equipment that we all want to know about. Thanks for that.