KVR Audio

MikeCL · Post by **MikeCL** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 11:02 pm

haha that's true but for like 10 years I dreamed of seeing a B3 on the stage and we got this one because a dear friend passed away, I completed the TWG recap cleaned the Vibrato (motorboating) and redid the whole Vibrato caps just in time for a live recording.. it friken screams but I hate the Leslie is solid state so I have no bite with a nice fat tube driven Leslie

I went as far as trying to figure out how to get a mini tube on the output stage.. A few other thing is since it does not have a motor stack and the lower rotor is made out of foam I think it plays a little in the sound as well..

I had the deflectors clipped off the horns but I think I will be buying some replacements just because it sounds so hot when mic'ed

I had to get on this guy last year (same one that broke my key twice) to stop standing on the bass pedals.. so many broken fingers on the A100 pedals that I think it would be around $50 to replace the 5 that are broken.

AdmiralQuality · Post by **AdmiralQuality** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 11:10 pm

I'm definitely a fan of both tube amps in Leslies and the diffusers left ON. But it's a matter of taste, of course.

I also like the Leslie backwards, with the top and maybe bottom panel(s) taken off. Though admittedly, this is just to compete with the drum kit for level.

Most of what I like about Hammond tone is actually the overdrive from the Leslie. Guitar sounds fantastic through them too (even when not spinning). And as you NEED to crank it, to cut through an amplified band or compete with a drummer, it's kind inherent to the sound. Solid state Leslies make me sad.

MikeCL · Post by **MikeCL** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 11:20 pm

Yeah it was OK while it was first done but I like the deflectors on.. but man I'd give anything to have a 122 next to the B3.. I've been trying to get the church to sell this baldwin piano to get some money up.. and I HATE HATE HATE that damn switch that H/S has that mounts under the manuals the Half moon switch is Way way better! The reason being is the contacts in that new crappy switch are moved by the way of the pivot point so people that are aggressive with the switch can bend the switch just ever so slightly that you no longer have fast speed.. OR the thin wires inside break.. I had to repair the one on the A100 way too many times (over 4 in a 3 year span) and the new kit I got for the B3 I fixed it last year but it's been fine.. I thought about making a half moon for it.

I prefer the Leslie backwards too just because

I can't turn the preamp output level much higher anyways and I've got the Leslie turned about midways down because it's about (well was) about 5-7 Ft away from the player so playing wide out it would scream in your ear. I ended up putting a mic on the lower rotor and it added some bottom but it's no tube driven.

I've gotta get my friend to sample this and see what he thinks.

AdmiralQuality · Post by **AdmiralQuality** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 11:24 pm

With some Leslies and Hammond models (I forget which offhand) the speed switch is actally switching wall current. You can get arcing and stuff... electrocute yourself in the rain... fun stuff!

And if that isn't dangerous enough, the 122 has something like 400 VDC on one of the wires of the Leslie cable, to share plate power between amps. The Hammond actually provides the working voltage to the Leslie's tubes' plates! Another thing you want to keep the rain off of!

MikeCL · Post by **MikeCL** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 11:28 pm

I think the 122 and 147 all have wall outlet switches if I'm not mistaken and yeah you want to keep the rain off that! I remember when I was checking the underside of the power amp when it was on.. I was reading high 345 V

I've had a large 300 VDC cap discharge in me and from my messing around DC hurts the worst!

Speaking of caps I changed the power on light on the B3 to LED very simple diode/resistor/cap nice and bright and no mistake in not forgetting to turning it off.

AdmiralQuality · Post by **AdmiralQuality** » Sat Jun 30, 2012 11:37 pm

MikeCL wrote:I think the 122 and 147 all have wall outlet switches if I'm not mistaken and yeah you want to keep the rain off that! I remember when I was checking the underside of the power amp when it was on.. I was reading high 345 V

I've had a large 300 VDC cap discharge in me and from my messing around DC hurts the worst!

Speaking of caps I changed the power on light on the B3 to LED very simple diode/resistor/cap nice and bright and no mistake in not forgetting to turning it off.

The 4 wall outlets run to the two different speed motors on the two speakers. It's handy, the motors use wall outlets so in a worst case you can control them with a powerbar or two!

But the 122 has the plate voltage thing. IIRC, the 147 doesn't have a balanced audio input like the 122, nor the plate-voltage. Also, I just remembered because I worked on the pre-amp pedal, the Leslie speed on the 147/145 (6 pin?) cable is DEFINITELY wall power. That means the half-moon switch for a 145/147 will have wall power in it. Yikes! In the 122/142 it's a switch wire to the relay with only a few volts on it, IIRC.

Apparently Laurens Hammond hated Don Leslie. He did everything he could to break compatibility as often as possible.

MikeCL · Post by **MikeCL** » Mon Jul 02, 2012 11:59 pm

Ah yes I forgot about that difference between the 122 and 147, and yeah the story between the two is amazing haha you can't find a Hammond without a Leslie

I'm not sure if I can remember but the tube OC3 is the output gain? I remember watching a video and seeing it glow.

meanwhile back in VB3 I'm trying to get the settings right for the upper and lower rotors I was messing around (maybe I was tired) but something just did not sound right.. maybe I need to try with the headphones on again the upper rotor seemed to always sound too fast.

AdmiralQuality · Post by **AdmiralQuality** » Tue Jul 03, 2012 12:24 am

MikeCL wrote:Ah yes I forgot about that difference between the 122 and 147, and yeah the story between the two is amazing haha you can't find a Hammond without a Leslie

I'm not sure if I can remember but the tube OC3 is the output gain? I remember watching a video and seeing it glow.

meanwhile back in VB3 I'm trying to get the settings right for the upper and lower rotors I was messing around (maybe I was tired) but something just did not sound right.. maybe I need to try with the headphones on again the upper rotor seemed to always sound too fast.

I definitely prefer the sound of Rotary Speaker Type -> New 147 (Fixed Speeds!)

MikeCL · Post by **MikeCL** » Wed Jul 04, 2012 2:46 am

Oh yeah I forgot about that one, almost done with the system I'm building around VB3 it's a micro-ATX case crazy it's going to be faster then my desktop and cheaper.. around $250

You said you had to drill your keyboard sand to fit right? in order to save a little on cost I was going to try that setup you did

MikeCL · Post by **MikeCL** » Fri Jul 06, 2012 10:25 pm

Ordered the Akai LPD8 this morning and it will be here tomorrow I feel revealed that you don't need to keep the Akai editor program open which I thought you needed to do.

Most of these things seem to come with 6 Ft cords I hear but just to make sure I have a 10Ft mini usb on hand.

MikeCL · Post by **MikeCL** » Sat Jul 07, 2012 4:37 pm

Playing around with the LPD8 a little confusing at first but getting the hang of it.. it seems sometimes a press of the pad wont change the switch but the next press will.. odd The knobs come in handy for changing some settings on the fly

AdmiralQuality · Post by **AdmiralQuality** » Sat Jul 07, 2012 6:35 pm

MikeCL wrote:Oh yeah I forgot about that one, almost done with the system I'm building around VB3 it's a micro-ATX case crazy it's going to be faster then my desktop and cheaper.. around $250

You said you had to drill your keyboard sand to fit right? in order to save a little on cost I was going to try that setup you did

Yes. One of the stands has a cross-brace piece with holes in it where a spring loaded pin goes through. This lets you adjust the height. I needed to add a new hole between two existing holes to get this just right. The metal was very hard, the guy who did it for me said it took over an hour (the pin is about 1/2" diameter, so it's a big hole in hard metal).

I also added another hole at the hinge end, for more fine-tuning options.

The other X stand I'm using uses a lock in the center to set the height. That would be far more difficult to modify. You might have some trouble finding the exact same kind of stand I modified. Mine is a Yorkville. If you load their catalog pdf, it's
IKS-7 "Heavy Duty Single Tier / Single Brace Keyboard Stand"

http://www.yorkville.com/catalog/stand_cat.pdf

AdmiralQuality · Post by **AdmiralQuality** » Sat Jul 07, 2012 6:47 pm

MikeCL wrote:Playing around with the LPD8 a little confusing at first but getting the hang of it.. it seems sometimes a press of the pad wont change the switch but the next press will.. odd The knobs come in handy for changing some settings on the fly

I believe there's two modes for the switch. One is toggle which flips state with every down of the switch. The other way is like you'd use for a wheel.

Global Options -> MIDI CC #64 Function -> choices are here. You're probably in "Rotary Slow/Fast (Latched)" mode. Change to "Rotary Slow/Fast (temporary)", as apparently your switch is holding the state on already.

MikeCL · Post by **MikeCL** » Sat Jul 07, 2012 7:08 pm

AdmiralQuality wrote:
MikeCL wrote:Playing around with the LPD8 a little confusing at first but getting the hang of it.. it seems sometimes a press of the pad wont change the switch but the next press will.. odd The knobs come in handy for changing some settings on the fly
I believe there's two modes for the switch. One is toggle which flips state with every down of the switch. The other way is like you'd use for a wheel.

Global Options -> MIDI CC #64 Function -> choices are here. You're probably in "Rotary Slow/Fast (Latched)" mode. Change to "Rotary Slow/Fast (temporary)", as apparently your switch is holding the state on already.

Yep got that but I might do the LPD 8 mod to make the switches a little more sensitive.. My guess is the switch wont move until it gets to 127 on the trigger? Speaking of that I wonder if it can be changed to say something low like 2? That would be light enough to trigger with a finger tap and wont require me having to open up the Akai.

AdmiralQuality · Post by **AdmiralQuality** » Sat Jul 07, 2012 7:14 pm

MikeCL wrote:
AdmiralQuality wrote:
MikeCL wrote:Playing around with the LPD8 a little confusing at first but getting the hang of it.. it seems sometimes a press of the pad wont change the switch but the next press will.. odd The knobs come in handy for changing some settings on the fly
I believe there's two modes for the switch. One is toggle which flips state with every down of the switch. The other way is like you'd use for a wheel.

Global Options -> MIDI CC #64 Function -> choices are here. You're probably in "Rotary Slow/Fast (Latched)" mode. Change to "Rotary Slow/Fast (temporary)", as apparently your switch is holding the state on already.
Yep got that but I might do the LPD 8 mod to make the switches a little more sensitive.. My guess is the switch wont move until it gets to 127 on the trigger?

Oh, the "switches" are actually pressure pads? You can also set the range of values by right clicking the Rotary switch.

Speaking of that I wonder if it can be changed to say something low like 2? That would be light enough to trigger with a finger tap and wont require me having to open up the Akai.

Yes, you can do that in VB3 if not on the Akai as well.

GSi VB3 question