[HAM] XK-3 Hammond Keyboard

[William Mark Bristow]

Guys,

You should really take time with the XK-3 - and a real Leslie or a
Motion-Sound Pro-145 is a must.  

When I first got the XK-3 and Pro-145 - I didn't like it at all - finally
decided - too much tube preamp - one in the XK and one in the Pro-145 was
MUD, so don't use the tube on the XK when going thru the Pro-145.  Tweaked
and played and fooled around, and I can sit the rig beside a stock 1953 B2 &
mid 60's 145 - and there is very little difference.  

I've played Hammonds for 42 years and own an 1961 B3 EIS with pedals
(chopped in about 2001) and 2 Bill Beer High Power 122's, the stock B2 &
145, and have owned various TG Hammons over the years - as well as having
played probably more than 100 Hammond/Leslie rigs in churches over the
years.

If you set the XK right, you can play bass with your little finger, left
hand lower and right hand upper all from the keyboard.  The manual split can
be momentarily disabled when you want to do a gliss across the full
keyboard.  It takes a little getting used to as opposed to the way I would
normally play on a full size organ - but the XK-3 absolutely sounds like the
real thing.

Although the chorus is a little "thick" on C3 - C1 or C2 gives an authentic
sound.  My EIS B3 has an adjustment knob to give more or less depth to the
the chorus.

The on-board Leslie really sounds one dimensional - until you add that thick
chorus - then you could get by - playing licks with a band with the
on-board.  But for player satisfaction - a real Leslie or Motion-Sound
Pro-145 or such is definitely needed.

I can play the XK-3 thru the 145 and it will match the B2 99.9% -- yes there
are slight differences - but you could set another B2 or B3 beside mine and
there would be differences that I might or might not like - the point is I
can go into the menus and with very little effort tailor the XK-3 to the
sound I want to hear.

I always adjust the Bass Treble Mid on the XK-3 from venue to venue as
acoustics are different - as I do the same with the EIS B3 which has active
EQ - to get the sound I want to hear.

Yes, the presets on the XK-3 work differently (controlling the entire organ
and its various menu settings).  I hardly use the things - but I hardly use
them on the B3 - just grab a handful of drawbars and adjust til I hear what
I want.

Spend a little more time with the XK-3 before you discount it - it's a very
good keyboard.

Mark Bristow