Diki,

The on board sound controller is called AX-Synth

At 150 lbs, Ed Diaz far outweighs me I fear I might look like a little kid behind the AX

Yep, my bad... it is what I meant though!

You ever play a KX-5? Primitive MIDI, by today's standard, but those left hand controls just fell under your fingers SO naturally. What I dislike the most about the Roland's is that pressure bar that gets in the way of your hand coming round and resting on the strip. Plus it had aftertouch, so you didn't NEED this. Mind you, I virtually never use the mod wheel on a pitch strip keyboard, preferring to do a finger vibrato (like cello or violin) which is FAR more natural. It's one of the secrets to a good emulation. Mechanical vibrato is VERY unrealistic for acoustic patches, IMO...

OTOH, the wheel on the KX-5 is unsprung, so it's great for patches that change timbre or effects (Leslie, anyone?), where you can leave it in one position while you play. That pressure bar can't pull off that trick...

I'd love the AX-Synth to work out for me, but it seems that Roland haven't changed the left hand controls a whole lot. But I'll be trying it out, you can be sure...

Got the new XK-1 system in my den. Matched the boards with a Motion Sound 145. Just sounds better to me than a Leslie, and the walnut version matches nicely.


But you know what? I much prefer my old one at the club with the 145 and 147 RV...cracks, squeaks, old tubes and all.


Drawbars RULE!


Russ "old school" Lay