http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvz362JJugQ

what do YOU think?

After working Hammonds for 15 years I think these type of A:B tests are totally useless, especially online ones.

Why would you say that?

I love watching these comparisons.

Keyboard magazine used to have the "War of the Clonewheels" every so often...compared them to a real B-3, or A-100.

"Live", with a Leslie right behind you, the B-3 really has no equal.

I play one several times a month, at a little jam session...it's wonderful.

However, because of price, maintenance, weight (Yikes!), it is generally much more practical for the gigging musician to use a clonewheel.

Using the B-3 is similar to using a Rhodes...neither can be equalled for tactile feedback and sheer quality, but, the number of people actually gigging with them is probably small.

I played the C1...very good emulation with an excellent Leslie sim...would make a great substitute.

I also like Hammond's XK-1 a lot...very nice sim too.

I have no problem with using a clonewheel.

Ian

I have both. Hammonds are like fine guitars...they gotta AGE! Each has its own personality. Each has it quirks. You have to play them through a Leslie, and every Leslie is different...different belt tension, different tube age.

The Nord is well-made and light. It's a pleasure to play when you do one-nighters. You have to use a pre-amp to play thru old 145's, 147's or the like (no multi-pin jack on the C-1). The drawbar set-up takes some getting used to. Hard-line B players can learn to love the C-1; especially as they age (the player, not the instrument).


Love the old B. It lives on-the-job at a Country Club and is played 3-4 times a month. Usually, I make enough on that job to pay the maintenance bill!

But, man is the C-1 a pleasure to move. And, electronically, it is far more reliable and less expensive to maintain.


I like BOTH, for different applications.


Russ



[This message has been edited by captain Russ (edited 10-29-2010).]

Ian, I use a B-3, a Suitcase Rhodes AND A DX-7, plus 145 and 147 RV Leslies for my Country Club Gig. Been doing Jazz nights there for a "small but mighty" group of "jazz junkies" for almost 25 years.

The Best part? FREE STORAGE. And, I have an old part-time preacher/M-1 player who works the kitchen, who moves the equipment (the B is on a strap-on, retractible wheel dolly) and turns everything on. then, I leave after the gig and he breaks everything down and returns it to the storage area.

Damn, I'm a sentimental old soul!

Russ

Russ,

The B-3 I'm using, is a mint '58, with a 122 Leslie.

The 122 is fine for non-bass pedal, no LH bass (we have a terrific bass player) and the 147's are best for bass work.

I used to have two Leslie 147RV (the ones with reverb).

You don't play a Hammond B-3...you "ride" it....I'm sure you know what I mean.

You are sure lucky to have all that vintage stuff to play....and no headaches (or backaches).

Yep, you are sentimental...I'm more semi-mental....ha ha.

Ian

A/B tests on organs, real vs. clone, need to be done from the audience perspective... What audience sits as close to the Leslie as the player? But usually, these tests are done from a close in position. Leslie's sound VERY different once you get fifteen, twenty feet away from them. All kinds of swirly deliciousness gets lost once you step back from the Hammond...!

But blindfold a player, stick him at the back of the crowd, and all KINDS of 'golden ear' experts can be fooled...

It's kind of like 'player's perspective' piano sample sets... Only a player ever gets to hear the piano this way. Everyone else gets side and back perspective, where the stereo position of the notes is MUCH less defined. But the vast number of sets are strictly 'player's position'.

The New B3 came out in 2002.

The reason online tests are useless on instruments of this type is for a few reasons:

Diki made some good points there.

Online demos, your missing so much of the sound and only hearing the range of the microphone used and what your computer speakers can handle, plus most online Audio is terribly compressed (particuarly youtube which emphasises video quality over audio) and loses so much quality.

These AB tests often are based on deep purple type riffs; Staccato notes or single notes. On an orignal Hammond when you play a bunch of notes you are hearing so many frequencies combined to make the sound. On most clones, when you play more than one note, the second note is identical to the first but tuned higher or lower.

What the majority of clones capture is an very close approximation of the sound, particuarly single notes. What nearly all failt to capture is the almost intangible elements that breath life into a vintage instrument.

[This message has been edited by Tonewheeldude (edited 10-30-2010).]

Ok all this talk about B3's has got to have gotten someone wishing they had a real one.

Still got it for sale. MINT 58 Cherrywood w/perfectly matched leslie.Trek II String Bass, Fischer Reverb , leslie totally rebuilt, new tubes throughout both. Brand new set of quilted covers and Roll or Carry dollies left over from my business. Been moved twice in its life. Again MINT .. Asking 10K
Someone give it a good home

Bill in NJ