I agree with Impul's assesment of the Hammond XK-3 also. I had the privilege of actually playing the new XK-3 in person a couple weeks ago and I have to say it is an amazing instrument. It comes very close in my opinion to that famous B3 leslie effect.

If you want stupendous Organ and B3 sounds with a very convincing Leslie simulation and you don't want to lug around a real B3, then in my opinion you need not look elsewhere or further than the new Hammond XK-3. I picked the XK-3 up from its stand and although not light, it is any thing BUT heavy. It actually weighs less than the Motif ES7 from Yamaha.

The leslie simulation is breathtaking. As a comparison there was right above the XK-3 a Clavia Nord Electro 2. Running through the same Amp as the XK-3. The Nord Electro is good, don't get me wrong, plus it has other sounds in it besides Organ sounds. But the Hammond XK-3 had a fuller, rounder, richer, more vibrant sound than the Nord Electro did in my opinion. Plus the Leslie Sim was a lot better in my opinion on the XK-3 also.

I mean come on; Hammond wrote the book on the Leslie effect. The XK-3 is a Hammond FYI. >> In case it hasn't sunk in yet...

The best portable B3 emulator on the market right now is the Hammond XK-3 in my opinion. And when I say portable, I mean something under, oh... let's say, 480 lbs.

It really is THAT good btw...

OTOH, the Tyros is weak in comparison IMO. There are good Organ sounds on the Tyros but a great B3 there is not. The Leslie Sim on the Tyros just doesn't cut it for me which is a shame. You would think a $3,000 dollar Keyboard such as the Tyros would have a good and convincing B3 simulation on it. NOT!! Oh well... Maybe the Tyros II. Are you listening Yamaha??

Best regards,
Mike

Btw, here is some info on the XK-3 if you'd like to take a gander: New Hammond XK-3

[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 11-03-2004).]

Does a stand come with the XK-3? I've been trying find this out and haven't gotten any answer on that yet. I've been seriously considering saving up for an XK-3, but I don't wanna order one then get and find out I needed to buy a stand too...

Ryan, I'm not sure there are any offers right now that include a Stand with the XK-3. The price of the XK-3 itself is excellent for an instrument of this caliber. The price of a Stand to rest it on is chicken feed when you think about it.

Here is a Stand that is recommended for the Hammond XK-3:



The Pinnacle KS20 Keyboard Stand is rugged, well built and double braced for sturdiness.

And for a mere pittance of $35 it can be yours.

Here is the link: Pinnacle KS20 Keyboard Stand

PS: If you buy the XK-3 and Stand from Music123 you won't have to pay any shipping charges either. Many other Web Music Retailers offer the same thing.

Best regards,
Mike

[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 11-03-2004).]

Well it don't matter to me whether it comes with one or not, I just needed to make sure if I should buy one or not. I'm saving up enough to buy the full blown deal. The organ itself, the pedals, and the expression pedal, and it they sell it for the XK-3, a half-moon leslie switch (I heard they are either in the process of making it available or have already made it available). When you start getting up to $2900, whats another $35 right?

Actually.. Laurens Hammond the inventor of the Hammond organ hated the 'Leslie' speaker and did everything he could to stop it being fitted to his organs.

True. Fortunately for Hammond though - In 1980, the Hammond Corporation bought Electro Music which was Don Leslie's Company {the man who invented the Leslie Cabinet} and the Leslie name from CBS. Currently, Leslie remains part of Hammond under Hammond/Suzuki, USA.

Beyond that, Hammond was well aware of how Leslie Cabinets were a boon to the sales their Organs. People realized that a Hammond Organ sounded wonderful when hooked up to a Leslie Cabinet and when word got around people started buying more and more Hammond Organs. Over the years, Hammond engineers routinely checked out new Leslie Speaker models as they were introduced and the company was well aware of their impact on Hammond tone cabinet sales. Hammond never admitted it but after 1940, there never was a time when there were "no Leslie Speakers at the Hammond Organ Company." So there was constant interaction with the in's and out's of Leslie speakers by the Hammond Organ Company years ago. PS: I would guess the Hammond engineers intimately scrutinized the workings of Leslie speakers from the inside out, and were "thouroughly" aware of its technology and how they worked from an engineering perspective. Which helped immensely I would think when they finally acquired Don Leslie's Company, Electro Music in 1980.

In fact many Hammond people, some of them Management personnel, respected Don Leslie and didn't support the Hammond Organ Company's "Anti-Leslie" policy from years ago.

It has also been said that Laurens Hammond was musically tone deaf and the reason he rejected the 'Leslie Effect' in Don Leslie's speaker cabinets was his inability to appreciate and notice the improvements the Leslie rotary effect made in the sound of his Organs. If he really understood what most everyone else already knew, i.e. that the Leslie rotary effect provided an absolutely marvelous sound improvement to a Hammond Organ, he probably would have hired Don Leslie on the spot. But being tone deaf he allegedly couldn't "hear" the difference the Leslie's made so he rejected them and their maker Don Leslie. At least, so the story goes anyway.

Best regards,
Mike



[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 11-06-2004).]