[HAM] why are tonewheels superior?

[Phil Glatz]

> >The tonewheels generate sinusoidal waves, which are free
> >of harmonics and as pure as you can get.
>
>There's where you went wrong. Nothing could be further from the truth.

So the output is not a pure sine wave?  I always heard the Hammond 
system was based on additive synthesis, based on Fourier's analysis 
of adding multiples of harmonics of a pure tone.  The tonewheel 
circuitry uses filters to remove harmonics, trying to get as close to 
harmonic-free fundamentals. And the synchronous motor guarantees an 
extremely constant frequency.

>By the same token any computer based workstation keyboard should sound
>much better than my 1905 Steinway which hits these long metal...

Apples and oranges - the Steinway is designed to create sounds 
mechanically, while a computer keyboard is designed to trigger a 
switch.  The objective of the tonewheels is to create pure 
fundamental tones that can be added in various proportions to create 
more complex sounds.  My question was that since the idea is to 
create a pure tone to begin with, why should it make a difference how 
it was created.

And please don't get me wrong; I meant no disrespect to the classic 
Hammond organs.  I have backgrounds both in music and engineering, 
and have been crazy about traditional and electronic instruments most 
of my life.  I've always considered the late-fifties Hammonds the 
ultimate in electrical/electronic instruments because of their 
soulful expressiveness and very high standards of quality.  I'd take 
a B-3 or A-100 over anything created since without thinking twice.

My question was a theoretical one; assuming the sounds are created 
with pure tones, why would it matter how they are created?  Are the 
ones from tonewheels somehow purer - or do they have some slight 
imperfections that make for a richer sound? Assuming everything else 
is equal, what difference would you detect if you were to slip some 
high-quality oscillators in place of a tonewheel generator?

I'm not saying new is always better; I much prefer my IBM computer 
keyboard fro8 1984 to anything more modern.  It was simply better engineered.