Jerry, in one of your posts last year (about the Genesys XP) you mentioned you were playing it with a "Master MK4 96 bass table top reedless controller."

This sounds like a tabletop midi controller keyboard with a Stradella bass in the left hand. I have been looking for something like this for about a year and just now ran across your post. Is the left hand chromatic (free basses), or Stradella bass? What about the right hand?

Finally Who made this unit, and Where did you buy it?

Thanks so much for answering my questions!
Ted S.

Hi Ted,

At one time ORLA made the PK400 table top keyboard with accordion bass. I think they made this in chromatic as well.

Don't know if their still available or not
http://www.orla.it/en/products/a_keybs/pk400.htm

You might call Peter at Accordions-O-Rama he could tell you.

Regards
Don P

BTW,

The chromatic version is th CK300, if still in production.
http://www.orla.net/accordionkb.php

Hope this helps,
Don P

Thanks Don! I have thought about the PK400, but it's expensive and quite heavy at 60 lbs. The Ketron XD8 is lighter, but it's even more expensive and not available with piano RH. Besides I already have two good arrangers. A plug-in midi controller with piano RH and Stradella Bass LH would be the perfect complement, lighter and less expensive than the PK400 or XD8.

Now there are plenty of 37- and 49-key piano midi controllers out there. The missing piece is a button controller that works like the Stradella bass LH. The only one I know of is the Master Midi PRO-MB 2006:
http://www.master-production.com

and I don't know where I can buy one in the USA, short of importing it from Italy on my own. That's why I want to find out what Jerry has and where he got it.

Thanks,
Ted

[This message has been edited by TedS (edited 04-23-2007).]

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 04-23-2007).]

Hello Ted,
The MK4 WAS made by MasterSound. It is the Stradella bass system and has 44 piano keys. Unfortunately, it is no longer made and no longer supported. I need some repair work on it, and MasterSound is not forthcoming with any tech info needed to fix it. I do have the MS Pro 2000 bass unit (with case version) that I occasionally use with my Korg PA800. The Pro 2000 should be available through Cintioli’s Music in Philadelphia. Benny Cintioli travels to Italy periodically and picked the unit up for me on one of his trips. I eventually want to have the kit installed into the Korg. I bought the MK4 privately on a lead from another forum. John Gaunt of Clearwarter, Fla. has a similar controller with keyboard (I think it’s a controller) available on his web site
I did own the PK400 and you’re right, it is too heavy to carry on gigs and it is not very user friendly in terms of playing gigs.

Don P,
With Dave’s help, I got the XP up and running and have used it for gigs over the past 3 weeks. It’s a pretty amazing piece of equipment although the prep work is very time consuming as I have to edit all of the midi files that I load. Beyond that, its pretty user friendly on the job and the overall sound is booming. It makes the PA800 sound rather calm and the Yamaha rather anemic in comparison although the styles are not as sophisticated and/or as plentiful as the Yammie and Korg.
Ciao,
Jerry

Thanks a million Jerry. I learned to drive in NE Philly and I will have to pay Mr. Cintioli a visit the next time I am in town!!
Thanks again!
Ted

Jerry judging by your statement I'd love to hear a few demos using this piece of gear if you can post some for us....it sounds interesting for sure.

Thanx

Congrats on the XP success Jerry, Dave's a fine fellow.

You know, I did pretty well with my XP, I could get it to do almost anything I wanted. However there are a few functions that aren't controllable from the pedalboard that I think should be.

I agree with you about some of the sounds. The Miller saxes, clarinet, and the strings on the XP are great.

If they come out with a unit that has USB capabilities and make more styles available, I'll have another one. My T2 is difficult to carry around.

Good to hear from you,
Don P

Donnie,
As soon as I learn how to use the on-board recording studio, I'll post something. Trying to set registrations, tweak and edit two so different OS's is taking all of my time right now.

Don Patt,
I do miss the USB connection, but it's possible to load from a CD and that's a lot of stuff. I just wish I could edit GEM files on the PC rather than in the module - it would save a h--l of a lot of time.
Ciao,
Jerry