Al, no doubt your band is as talented as it is COLORFUL ... the drums look great too - but do they have that "live, in your face, up front sound?" ...

Fran as much as it pained me to leave NY after living there for 50+ years, I haven't looked back one bit. The weather down here has been glorious this year.

I highly recommend a change of scenery (and temperature) for your mental health. I'm sure this past winter kicked your butts pretty good.

p.s. those are called bony-ass legs and they belong to the guitar player! LOL

Absolutely gorgeous stand Al...very contemporary.

Ian

Here I am, sitting in my office with a space heater running and freezing my butt off and Al posts a photo of a rockin' keyboard stand, palm trees, sunshine, someone wearing shorts and green grass. Al, you really know how to hurt an old man's feelings!

Cheers,

Gary

I first remember being wowed by these Stands at Namm. Reds my favorite color choice too, with the finnish reminesent of those classic era show cars. Warning to glitzy guitars and flashy drumkit setups. The AX90 finally gives us keyboard players a chance to elegantly show off our rig too. Congratulations Al.

One Question: Al, do you use a footpedal(s)/multi-footpedal unit when you play? If so, where do place it/ them and how do keep them from slipping and moving around? My frustration with my older Apex stand has been not being able to find a suitable place underneath the Apex stand to comfortably access the footpedals while standing or prevent them from slipping-moving about, especially because a cable runs out the back of the footpedal unit(s) preventing it from being fixed and secured from moving by the stands legs. - Scott

Howdy Scott,

I don't know if you can see it in the picture, but I have two sustain pedals on the floor in front of the stand about 3-4 inches. They do drift but the stand stops them from moving too far and of course they do go askew because of the cables.

I've been meaning to get some of that non-slip material they use for "under carpeting" and glue it to the bottom of my pedals to stop them from walking. I just haven't gotten around to it.

Try that rubber-ish 'shelf liner' material they sell at hardware and kitchen stores. Cut it to size so the stand is on it and the pedals (but not your shoes, they will tend to tear it up) and pedal creep is OVER!

Hi Al , thanks for sharing the photo very impressive .
I notice that in your setup you have a Roland VK-7M module .
I'm thinking of getting one and hooking it up to my midi accordions via my technics smac 1200 module .
As I would like to get that Hammond sound to play such things as Whiter shade of pale , Green oinions and Time is tight ...etc
I would appreciate any Comments /advice on this subject .


Best Regards ...Giovanni

Hi Giovanni,

I've had that Vk8m module for many years now. I just love the tonewheel emulation and the Leslie simulator. I also LOVE having real tactile drawbars. It's great during live performance if I need a little tweak here or there. The D-Beam controller is great for turning the leslie fast/slow at the wave of the hand. People look so quizzical when I do that. The Motif and the T4 cannot match the Vk8m Hammond sounds. I wish they did so I didn't have to bring so much equipment, but hey, its easier than lugging a Hammond/Leslie around.

It's a great investment and I've gotten my money back fourfold.

If you do get the Vk8m, look into getting this upgrade pack from soundside http://www.soundside.de/shop/vk8upgradepack.htm

It adds some great voices (not samples)

Best of luck with your decision!

Regards

Hi Al , Thanks for taking the time and trouble to answer my question on the Roland Vk-7m module .
Yes I agree it is very impressive and compact .

Whilst it goes without saying the "D beam " is a good idea , for my purpose with the midi accordion I would prefer the basic control of slow /fast rotary , and brake to be controlled by simple foot switch operation so as to keep the right hand on the accordion treble keyboard .

I'm waiting to hear if the modification can be carried out successfully .

regards ...giovanni