here's another one ... the player is Bruce Katz, whom I have seen a few times here in RI ... he is an ANIMAL on the Hammond ... http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy-WnScUFNs&feature=related
t.

[This message has been edited by tony mads usa (edited 01-28-2008).]

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=C26ydWpJ0S0&feature=related

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 01-28-2008).]

Has anyone of you that pooh-pooh the buttons on a Nord ever actually PLAYED one on a gig?

You would be surprised at how fast you get used to them... One form of control is as intrinsically as good as any other, as long as you can get the same results. XK-1, the drawbars are in the wrong place... but who is bitching about that??

Given how many of us are prepared to play on utterly terrible key-beds, for the sake of convenience, light weight, or just HAVE to play a Yamaha for it's features:), I don't think this is the right place to criticize such an amazing sounding, DUAL MANUAL, 33 lb. screaming monster of a Hammond clone because all it has got is buttons! For me, a terrible crappy action has FAR more effect on the way I play than the choice between buttons or drawbars.

But you are only going to find this out by playing one in the heat of battle... A few minutes scratching your heads on a showroom floor and going 'where's the drawbars?' and leaving it at that is not going to let you know if you COULD learn the buttons as effectively as a B3, and you will miss the whole point...

DUAL MANUALS... 33 lb. Real Leslie outputs (can't do that on a G70!), screaming sound... Great Price (single manual XK-3 is more expensive!)

But no drawbars... What's important to YOU?

Diki, at least two guys that I know and one that I don't (Pete Levin), professional organist all, have switched from 'chopped' B3's to the Nord C1. Pete, on his site, and my two friends whom I talk to frequently, are ecstatic about their new rigs. Although none of us use it, the availability of midi and transpose alone would have been enough to make old hard-line B3 players switch.

I have yet to hear any OWNERS complain about the 'buttons'. The ability to instantly see the actual registration from a recalled program is great. Without motorized drawbars, this is not possible with conventional drawbars. All of us who play organ as our primary instrument, agree that we normally only use 5 or 6 registrations during the course of a gig and if the programs are set up properly (each program + two 'live' buttons controls three upper, three lower, and 1 bass manual and all their attendant settings) one could play an entire gig using one-touch buttons for reg changes and never even change programs. Then you can always change a registration manually, which takes a couple of seconds, once you get the hang of it.

Since this is an arranger board, the whole 'thing' surrounding the C1 probably wouldn't even exist if I, chas, hadn't purchased one (I never ballyhooed it). You may have noticed that the only negatives have come from my two-man fan club, the same two who would be posting "congrats on your new toy" to anyone else (except maybe Ian ). I believe Cass got a slightly different response to his purchase of his XK1 (a fine instrument, BTW). Coincidence? Sure it is. I'm sure my two 'friends' are out organizing a "Musicians for Obama" rally as we speak.

chas

Yes, I have noticed the accolades have not been forthcoming from the two man tag team...no Christmas cards either...sigh.

BTW, chas, that's a good point about the drawbuttons giving a visual representation of their positions in a recalled program.

I wouldn't use transpose a whole lot, but I'm sure it would definitely be very handy in certain situations.

The fast triggering waterfall keys, the close coupled manuals, and of course, the manageable weight are the biggest pluses for me...the drawbuttons should be easy to adapt to, and having that terrific Leslie sim is really the icing on the cake.

Then, there is that wicked sound...Egad! It's a Hammond, Smedley!

The C1 should arrive at the local store sometime this week...gonna be fun.

Ian

Ian, the only negative (more like a wish list) is that Nord (Clavia) should have made an affordable set of footpedals to go with it, perhaps in 13,17,20,25 pedal models. I use the Roland PK7a which is well made and works flawlessly with the C1 BUT....it's expensive, $1295.00 (maybe I should have gotten Fran to buy it for me), and the expression pedal is so high off the floor that it forces you to have your bench (and consequently the organ) very, very high in order to have enough of an angle to bring the expression pedal to it's lowest setting. BTW, this is where that OnStage KS7150 comes in handy - the higher you extend it, the more stable (wider stance) it becomes. However, if Nord produced it, it would probably be just as expensive as the Roland, maybe more, but probably lighter (the PK7a is 1 lb. heavier than the organ itself).

When you demo it, take your time, explore all the scenarios, and then post an honest evaluation, good or bad.

chas

Come on Chas,
I always said the Nord had a good organ sound, I even said the Leslie sound was good..

I mention an obvious detriment to a lot of folks, about no draw bars....It is a black and white comment..There are no physical draw bars..............and we can not call it a draw bar organ...Maybe some of us that play other sounds more often..would like the draw bars to make the organ more interesting..

A side note, even though some draw bar models don't show a start up corrected view of the bar settings..some boards like the G70 always show the correct settings in the 3D screen view....for the folks that think that is important...

Chas, I wouldn't need bass pedals, at least not right away...band has a great bassist...I'm more concerned with a good volume/swell pedal...I'm wondering if a Yamaha FC-7 will work, as I already have one....pedal angle is adjustable.

Yeah, I'll try to be objective...but I think I'm going to really like it...I'm even going to have use of of the combo organs as well...The House of the Rising Sun will never be better.

Red....de la couleur de l'amour!

Ian

Fran, I have standing offers for more than twice that, but I think I'll just leave it in the corner and throw things at it occasionally.

Dislike the damn thing more than the Yamaha 3000 that I gave my grandaughter after a few days.

Wish Ketron would get their act together. I'd have a new one in a second. To do that, individuals within the organization would have to stop selling directly to customers and bypassing distribution (retailers). That's a real NO NO. If I were a retailer, they'd be out the door the first time it happened. Several retailers we know are aware that this happens and they're not happy about it. They have every right to be pissed off.

Good product...really questionable business ethics. This is why I bought the Roland, not an SD-5. Even now that I've decided that the Roland isn't for me, I still won't buy Ketron until they get their act together and treat their dealers right.

Russ

Fran, that (probably ill-advised) comment was not directed at YOU so I should not have included you in it; sorry.

Secondly, no one ever called it a 'draw bar organ'. That wouldn't make much sense, would it?

chas