You don't "play" a Hammond B-3...you "ride" it. Clones, even by Hammond, just don't have the mass of a real B-3...it feels almost indestructible and doing smears and two handed climbs and squabbles just feel better on the genuine article, so the player tends to dig in more aggressively and freely than when playing the lighter clones.

I can do rhythmic chops on a B-3 with much more freedom than on a clone, as I know I'm not going to break anything.

Also, the inconsistency of a well broken in B-3 is very hard to simulate accurately, although digital organs are getting closer, and where the latter usually fall down is in the exactness of the chorus/vibrato.

Also, the deal breaker for me on clones is the rotary speaker, as nothing sounds like a Leslie honkin', and snortin' and breathin'...yes the Ventilator comes very, very close, but still doesn't nail it as far as I'm concerned. We used one on the B-3 I jam on, and the Leslie 147 still trumps it. I also tried the Ventilator on my Tyros4's drawbar organs, and it really lifts them into another area of realism, but playing the Tyros4 into a Leslie preamp and into the 147 sounds even better.

A 425 lb Hammond B-3 requires either roadies or at least three other very understanding and strong bandmates, and although the strap on dollies/handles are very nice to have (and pretty much a necessity), any venue without a ramp or elevator will soon become the one you hate to play at.

It really is the King of Instruments in my opinion. As I said in another thread, if I could play organ as well as you, Chas, I'd have to have a real B-3 and nothing else, but since organ sounds to do not feature as much in my arranger music, I can get by just fine with what's in my Tyros4.

I love this performance by Billy Preston who really does some creative licks on his Hammond. These are the slides and squabbles I mentioned earlier.

Ian