ReallyFastEddie's Xanga

Gone fishing !

Sat, 04 Feb 2006 01:46:17 GMT

http://eddielandsberg.livejournal.com/

I have decided to give LIVEJOURNAL a shot. You can read my new blog at here.

bull shit...

Tue, 31 Jan 2006 19:59:41 GMT

There was an interesting article in the news today about a bull - - for the first time in Mexican bullfighting history JUMPING the ring, and going mad in the stands.   Fortunately it only injured two people (non-fatally) before, to the horror of 1000s of observing Vegans and PETA members, it was put to sleep forcibly. (*Hey, ever see a bunch of Mexicans haul ass so quickly???)

In all honesty, I don't get bullfighting, but I can tell you a story about a man I much came to admire.   He was neither Mexican, nor did he fight bulls.   He was however, relatively low class, white and fought buses.    No, I'm not kidding... buses as in public transportation.

Now at first, this might sound silly, but he did it, and made money, usually in settlements of about $10,000 at a time from the local public transportation company.

Here in Japan, really big guys known as sumo wrestlers fight each other.   In other parts of the world people box, wrestle, kick and beat the shit out of each other in all sorts of competitive ways, but as for formidable oponents, buses are as big as you can get.   You just can't take on a bus (or in that case an airplane or deisel truck) and win - - not unless you have a really really really good method and are a well trained professional. And it is for this reason that I think this guy was dealt an unfair blow in life when he finally got 15 years due to "insurance fraud".    Instead of being incarcerated, a new sport should have been created in his name, Olympiad Bus Dodging, and he should have been given a productive job as a coach. - - Slip and fall at 2:00 in the morning on some old ladies front curb when there is no wittnesses may be cowardly... but allowing oneself to get broadsided by a bus intentionally in my humble opinion represents true skill and bravery.   My hat goes of to this bold little felon, wherever he is today.   And that leads me to another Mexico related story in the News.

Apparently the biggest drug smuggling tunel of all time was discovered leading from a factory somewhere past the border in Mexico, to a factory somewhere in San Diego.   The thing that really amazed me about it was that it actually makes the premise to Hogan's Heroes seem more credible.   And for that, I will be ever in dept to these bold drug smugglers, who incidentally were smuggling Marijuana... something, that if legal could easily been grown domestically in anybody's own backyard.   Hmmmmmm, how strange. The U.S. wants to make it hard for Mexicans who want to support their families to sneak into the U.S. to find cheap paying jobs (that few American's) want anyway, but at the same time, have laws that deprive many other young Americans from engaging in certain types of potentially harmless entrepreneurial and agricultural work of their own.   My conclusion : who needs pot to make people lazy... Why not just ban work altogether ???

A Brief History of the Middle East

Mon, 30 Jan 2006 21:18:14 GMT

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/01/30/denmark.cartoon.ap/index.html

The gunmen demanded an apology from Denmark and Norway and said citizens of the two countries would be prevented from entering the Gaza Strip.>>

What ???    Do Scandinavian people actually see the Gaza Strip as a major tourist destination ???

I think we have the case of one group of people who've probably eaten too much smoked fish and spent too much time in the cold, vs. another group who've probably drunk too much black coffee.   You know you're slipping when you're burning Norwegian flags and banning people from coming to a war zone.   I do not think it is a major world tourist destination.   Personally speaking, the Middle East isn't anywhere on my "list of places I want to go" record.   If I want to each Shawarama, I can do it in Akihabara... And if I want to go some place hot and with a lot of sand, I should point out that Atlantic City, NJ happens to have not only the Atlantic Ocean and a beach full of broken seas shells, monstrous jelly fish, remarkably salty water, and a whole miscellaneous hodge podge of fun from discarded condom wrappers and hyperdermic syringe needles to play with, but amusement parks and take out Chinese restaurants to boot. And if you want danger, try going a block from the casino 10 seconds after dark.   It is not the Israelis or Arabs who are going to kill you but good warm hearted Americans who will mug and kill you just because they like your sneakers (or need the money to buy CRACK.) Of course, a mile or so down, there is somewhat of a Jewish occupation (a relative of mine has a house there) but the natives don't really care much and they're probably smart enough to realize that they get flooded every time it rains anyway, which is one of the advantages to living in the low income high rise housing project .

But as for J. vs. A. (the Jews vs. the Arabs) the way I see it is this. Both these people were once a consortium of Nomadic Tribes who wandered back and forth around the sweaty desert since the beginning of time.   Like balls in a pachinko machine, yes, on occasion the cousins did battle and collide, but that was life for them. They didn't have TV or video games to amuse themselves in pre-Biblical times.   Fighting over concubines, wells and who did what in who's sand was the only entertainment they had. I think the big problem came when the Toffee Eating British from N. Europe came along and decided to SETTLE the land, as in building a permanent infrastructure.   The problem with this is that in traditional Middle Eastern culture, the tribes set their tents, and when the time came picked up and moved on. Maybe they left their unseperatable trash behind, but the next people to come along were probably delightful to pick through it for scraps. In the case of the Europeans, picking up and moving may have been in the agenda, but in a different way. It was like a game of "tag" - - once they claimed the land and said "you're it", in their view, it was theirs forever, meaning you had to live by their rules and pay rent to them whether they were there or not, and just to make sure you do, they'd always train goons (from among your people) to look over your shoulder...     With the advent of Judaism and Islam this became an even greater issue since it united many of the tribes into a smaller number of peoples, all who all their own land to claim and cling to.   - - so when things heated up, the Toffee Eaters decided to get out, but have one last laugh... since they couldn't return things to the way it was, they simply promised the same land to both people, went on their way and had a jolly good laugh about it.    Eventually, the Jews who had been away on a milenium long vacation (ironically themselves in Europe and later the Catskills) decided to come back home, and boom... everyone was wanting to CLAIM and SETTLE the same land permanantly so they'd have really nice places to play with the sea shells and build sandcastles.   Only the Jewish people got really good at developing the land (doing to the Middle East what the Italian and their own respective mafias did to Las Vegas) and they built some pretty enviable cities that swung and were a real gas (atleast from a middle eastern perspective.) And soon, people started playing musical chairs, trying to grab whatever they could and push out whoever they thought was necessary.   Each time a land was claimed, a chair was removed and the fight for the remaining chairs (or reclaiming already claimed chairs) became more intense.    Tribes fought tribes, and in the end, even though tribal and ethnic differences existed, the difference between the Jews and Arabs were enough to unite all the fighting factions on one side against the other... and now everyone is trying to take over the same casino and resort - - and all being able to legitimately say that their ancestors once occupied the land.   SHIT, they all did... they were nomads.   That's what nomads do... they wander in circles.

In the end, I think it is funny.   After WWII many Jews wanted their own land... Though the "Holy Land" had more of a religious significance, and Siberia was just - - well well too freeze your balls off, I think the whole problem could have been solved by giving the Jews NYC and the Catskills... and letting the Arabs keep the Middle East and let them Schvitz and fight among each other. Unfortunately, back then even the U.S. was discriminatory and didn't EXACTLY want the Jews (or in that case the Arabs) either (read VOYAGE OF THE DAMNED.)   As a result, the Jews wound up reclaiming their ancestral homeland.... and that is the mess we are in Today... Two Nomadic peoples trying to claim each and every piece of real estate that any of their ancestors ever shit, showered and shaved at over a 10,000 year history, each and everyone believing that not only do they own the same land, but being all too willing to fight for and defend the sanctity of their land.

Personally speaking, I think both the Jews and Arabs need to come to their senses.   In terms of being a "Holy Land", yes, the wonders of the middle east are culturally significant.... but trust me, if you want to have, see a show, and enjoy the girls.. Las Vegas is the place to be ! Both could unite and take it over in a day. As a foot note, the Chinese have taken over my neighborhood back in Philly, and London is now over-run by the Indians. Go figure...

Porta on the Go ! ! !

Mon, 30 Jan 2006 03:05:52 GMT

Moved the B-3 Portable from my apartment yesterday, for the first time.

While the day has not yet come when Hammond Suzuki will ever be able to run an advertisement on TV that goes like this :

Wow ! I just bought my new B-3 organ, and playing it is just half the fun. What I really enjoy is taking it apart, putting it back together and carrying up and down steps, through narrow corridors, and loading it in and out of the car. That's the real fun in owning a spanking new B-3... the joy you get from the physical exertion moving it around.

...the truth is while this day has not arrived yet, and probably will not arrive until technologies such as VASE II are surpassed by breakthroughs in Quantum Physics, Nanotechnology and the advent of pocket size Star Trek Like teleporter devices, the truth is that the New B-3 Portable is relatively easy to take apart and put together.   Very little screwing, bolting and connecting necessary. (You know, just a side thought here : I think that would be a name for a nice and nasty Wynonie Harris type blues tune, "I'm Going Screwing, Bolting and Connecting with My Baby Tonight" !!!) All in all, I'd say it only took about 5 minutes each time to take it apart and put it back together.   And once it was up and running, there were no problems.   Sadly though, despite the fact that it was relative easy to lift and move, we had some tricky corridors to navigate, and I can't say I'm feeling too "genki" today. Pain being a relative thing though... I'd say the lower back pain and bruised ribs are MILD as compared with prevoius moves.

So how did it sound? Well, the upper part to my Leslie System 21 hasn't arrived yet, meaning that technically speaking I was playing the organ without a "Leslie" (that's to say no rotary effect) and also without the treble speaker. The Leslie is a key factor in warming up the sound of a Hammond, yet even without it the organ did sound pretty warm and punchy, especially during the blues set I sat in on. Word of advice : One of the secrets of playing a Hammond without a Leslie is knowing how to use the swell pedal. If you know how to control the expression pedal, you can actually create a very authentic Leslie effect without actually having Leslie as long as you run it through a good speaker, and in fact, if you don't know how to use your swell pedal and only floor the thing, you can actually kill the Leslie effect !   Anyway, the clip below is proof... I think its hard to tell that I'm not playing a "real" tonewheel B-3, and further, the absence of the Leslie is not so apparent.   Have a listen...

http://www.tokyojazz.net/blue.aif

Not such a bad waste of money, huh.

Anyway, yesterday was an unusual day for me...
I woke up at 8:00 AM (the time I'm normally going to bed.)
Moved the organ. Rehearsal in Shinjuku at 10:00.
Rock band (!) rehearsal at night at Shinjiku, then sat in at a blues session.
Then went to bed at 11:00 PM.

Oh shit, I just realized why I pulled so many muscles... It probably had something to do with the stuff I had to take to GET to bed... I guess that's why they call it a muscle relaxant.   Because it relaxes the muscles... ergo, muscle relaxant... Doh !   I did this once before.

Young, frisky, on the go...

Bobby Ologun

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 18:20:28 GMT

O.K. There's good news and bad news.

Even though he's a K-1 Boxer, he's funny and non-threatening.

Bad news... this kind of fucked humor went out with Amos and Andy.

If you're Japanese and you think there's anything funny about this guy, rent the Spike Lee movie Bamboozled, and you'll realize how unharmless this is. And if you're foreign and you're not familiar with this guy's wonderful routine here it is.   Don't get me wrong. I think AMOS AND ANDY were funny... but this type of humor went out a long time ago.    Japan is basically an island with a lot of technology and an almost George Bush like lack of understanding of the outside world.   Many Japanese realize this and strive to become more cosmopolitan and even learn about neighboring countries who are even more foreign to them than Europe or the U.S.   The mass media, however, isn't really in on the game - - and while there are many intelligent white gaijin talent on TV, the image of black people in general is awful (which is ironic, because it seems to me that many aspects of Afro-American culture are indeed more popular here than in the U.S.) In general, however, if there is a black talent on Japanese TV he will inevitably have two qualities - - the perfect mix of being loveable yet savage like.   My answer to this - - many Japanese themselves feel STRAIGHJACKETED because they are not allowed to be as diverse as they want... so in presenting a less diversified image of foreigners it is hurting the Japanese themselves.   It is giving the message : See, those are people are non-diverse too, so we should all be the same too... otherwise we will laugh at you in an exagerated Kansai dialect and hit you on the head with our hats.

This joker, Bobby Ologun made headline news the other night after a dispute with the talent agent he worked for.   Apparently he wrecked the office.   Upon release from police custody he immediately went into his routine before the press curling up his lip and making monkey faces.

My admonishment to the Japanese public.   If the guy stutters and talks like that because he's brain damaged, I think its cruel to laugh at him.   And if he isn't brain damaged, whether the public who think he's funny either are.   Then again I'm sure he's laughing all the way to the bank, but at who's expense ?

Oh... some more good news... He makes Bob Sapp look like Jesse Jackson...

How To Clear Your Property

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 10:19:23 GMT

The property of Eddie's Lounge is finally cleared out and finished.

Everything is either sold off and trashed - - life starts anew.

For a while, I didn't know how I'd unload all the stuff and was feeling remarkably overwhelmed, then I realized how to do it.   For anyone moving in Japan, here is my advice...

1.     If you really want to make money selling your stuff, go to japantoday.com and post a Gaijin Sale.   Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time. You really need about a month to do this efficiently.   Unfortunately, my ex-wife suddenly dumped 12 boxes of possessions of mine she had previously confiscated and/or claimed missing meaning I had to "trash and stash" against the clock.

2.    Become a Buddhist, atleast temporarily.    Get into a state of mind where you're willing to (atleast temporarily) renounce all of your worldly possessions. Trust me, this will help you in the short term. Force yourself to realize that nothing is forever, all things constantly become brittle or rusty and erode and decay. Even the sun, the planet, even LIVEDOOR, Google and the McDonald's Corporation will eventually go "puff" one day. Only your spirit is constant and ever-renewing, therefore in connecting yourself to the material world through these possessions, you are also condemning yourself to the same fate of the material world.   After you buy in to this BULLSHIT, move on to step three...

3. Utilize the "trash bag" method... First, get a lot of boxes and trash bags as the name implies.    To start, assume everything is trash and you don't really need it (even if you do).   Then after "salvage" what you want in order of importance.   With each item, you have to ask yourself, "Do I really want this?" and "Is it of real personal value to me or anyone else?"   In the end you'll be surprized how much junk you have.    (You can also turn this into a fun game.   I call mine "Autobahn" Oooooooo... Its 1939, and the Nazis are about to raid the town and round everyone up and send them to concentration camps.   You can only take one bag of your personal possessions then have to run your gazooks off... What will you take?    Remember, in order to run your ass off you have to travel light!" Just to lighten things up, get a loop of the theme to the PRICE IS RIGHT or have HOLIDAY FOR STRINGS playing in the backround to juice things up a bit. A fun game indeed !

4.    Next, call a recycle shop.   Don't expect them to give you a lot of money though.   They KNOW that if they don't take your stuff you will have to pay to get it removed, so with a lot of stuff they'll actually say, "We'll do you a favor and take it for free..."   If you are limited for time, and can't sell it to someone directly, they are doing you a favor.   But don't be afraid to negotiate - - in particular, make sure they're willing to take out the BIG things that WILL be costly to remove, then the deal is truly fair. (Incidentally, most of them have a rehearsed sales pitch.   For example, if they want to buy something they'll ask you about the year and model then exhibit a displeased look. "hmmmmmmmmmm... 3 months old, tsk tsk..."    Respond by breaking down in tears explaining that your mother gave it to you right before she became sick and that you really need to sell it to support your drug habit... I mean, her operation. (Actually it won't accomplish anything, but sometimes it is fun to hear the sound of your own voice.)

5.   Call your friends and ask them to come to the property and pick out stuff they want.   tip :   Hide garbage inside the more expensive stuff that they're likely to take and always push them towards the bigger stuff, even if you know its useless and broken.   Also, before they close the hood to the trunk of their car, throw additional garbage in.   Let them get rid of it... afterall, you gave them a free toaster oven. Nothing is for free in this world... not even a toaster oven (which incidentally almost set the apartment on fire last night.)

6.   For fun, try this.   It will require an onion (or some kind of handy eye irritant that will irritate the eyes, but *not* blind you) and a totally useless but shiny piece of trash.   Excuse yourself from the room briefly using the onion to induce tears from your eye.   Wipe them dry (you don't want to overdue it... you just want to well up).    Return from the room carrying the useless object and dramatically say to the person, "I want you to have this... No. I insist,"    When the person accepts this, leave the room, stand before a mirror combing your hair and think, "Ah my little friend, how cheaply I have bought your silly little soul," and laugh like a madman.

7.   After sifting through the garbage, remove the important stuff from the property. I did not want to burden my friends, although I'm sure they would have helped (especially after the onion trick) however, I decided to save the "big favors" for some time in the future when I might really need them... and instead used a taxi. Be sure to remove the stuff you want to keep from the property before preceding to the next step...

8. If you were able to separate the trash, you can simply put it out, but if you have a lot of stuff and separating it isn't convenient, you can call a waste disposal company.   I paid Y50,000 to get rid of about a truck worth of stuff.   note : Waste Removal are not necessarily CLEANING companies, and they don't necessarily bring boxes... this means basically they bring the truck, pick up the stuff and maybe help you remove it... so be sure to have adequate help and boxes.   Also, if there is any stuff that is not trash, be sure to put it in a designated part of the room and repeatly say, "No trash, this no trash... no take, keep... no trash..." Remember, the people who work for these type of companies are not necessarily doing this kind of work by choice.   There's a reason.

9. Hopefully by now the property is empty. This leads us to the next and final stage of clearing a property.   It is called, "the getting screwed by the landlord stage".   It is very simple, you clear and clean out the property, return the keys and they keep MOST of your "deposit" (minus a small token amount) for cleaning and repairs.    Knowing this, before you leave it might be a good idea to drop the old Levi's and pleasure yourself right in the middle of the room,... Think of this as sort of a last right and something that, if you were normal, you would have never done when it was your place.    But now it isn't so ship ahoy, matey !

And with all this said and done, you are now free to go on with your life....

B3-P Pedals and Bench Arrived Today...

Sat, 21 Jan 2006 19:30:02 GMT

The good news is the pedals to my new B-3P arrived today.

Bad news... when we leave the apartment we probably won't be getting much of our deposit back. Got a little over zealous destoying the cardboard box it was taken from... and let's just say, while I'm pretty sure it wasn't my fist, something hit that wall, and it ain't lookin' purrrrrrrdy... (Actually, just a small gash... erps...)   Reminds me of my childhood.   For some reason phones were constantly being destroyed in family squabbles...   I don't know, something seems quite symbolic to me about a broken receiver... its almost as if to say, "Hey fellers, we ain't communicatun' so well here..."   Anyway, that's how fights began and ended in my household... a phone had to get destroyed.   Fists through the wall (another American custom) were far less common in our house. But I digress...

Put the bench together.   Took the pedals out of the box. They're actually a bit heavier than the pedals on a B-3 but have a nifty little rail that you can use to carry them (and again, like the organ the weight is balanced.)   Having had experience I actually don't mind the extra weight. I say this because my experience with chop pedals is that if precautions aren't taken in the design they have a tendency to slide further and further and further away from yuh.   Last year I did one gig where the pedals slid so far I almost wound up having to slide under the organ with them to reach the expression pedal... I was just getting shorter and shorter, not to say that I'm not short to start with. (In all fairness, I could have taken Milt Bucker easily in a fight.)      - But anyway, despite the extra weight, there's one other thing good about them... No more of them sharp little pedal tabs. (One of my fantasies is that somebody will one day make a horror movie which will involve someone getting impaled by a set of Hammond Pedals...   the closet homosexual Church organist, the satinic force flinging him across the room into an area where a Hammond technician has just finished fixing the B-3. "Will yuh hold this for a minute..."   Wham... He look down with a horrified look to realize he's been impaled by a set of Hammond pedals. Even if they can't go deep enough to do much internal damage, all that rust is bound to require enough of a tetanis shot to put anyone under.   He's a goner. Blood drips from his mouth... scene fades to white and some "15 years later..." scene transition shit. His son is playing organ in a Deep Purple rock and roll tribute band and banging some corrupt politicians daughter.)

Enough dreaming... The pedals on my old A-100 were majorly messed up by the tech who did the project and really had no idea what he was doing.   They were constantly dropping, resulting in either pedals that didn't played... pedals that played but rumbled violently, to sustained tones.   These pedals, of course, are made to work.   They have a bit of a console/string bass sound though (you can control the sustain) - - actually not so bad, but I'm sure there's a way to get a normal Hammond sound too (haven't gotten the instruction manual in English.) Even if they can't they still sounded pretty good.   In fact I tried doing a Rhoda Scott (i.e. wearing a dress while playing the Hammond), then a bit of Ken Griffin, and finally back to my own style.   Was also having a ball doing the start/stop motor switch trick and a voice in my head saying, "Don't overdo it..." Me answering : oh shut the fuck up... for Y1,x00,000 I can enjoy the organ however I please and overdue what I want.

Now 5:30 AM... a bit over a day and a half to clear the property that was once EDDIE'S LOUNGE.   The Hammond and my Dark Shadows tapes make me happy and content... entering the property to that club kinda sickens me a bit to be honest.

See you on the flip side...

Wilson Pickett

Fri, 20 Jan 2006 07:48:17 GMT

One of the strangest phenomena in the music world is that legends seem to always go in pairs. Charles Earland and Grover Washington Jr. must have gone about a week apart from one another. Big John Patton and Shirley Scott (both my organ teachers) died about a week apart too... and now, Lou Rawls and the mighty wicked Wilson Pickett today. I saw Wilson Pickett one time... he opened for James Brown... my impression was that his voice was actually more powerful, but I think JB's band had more of a "rishi" going for it. (Rishi is an African world similar to "soul" - - when I listen to music and get a nubious feel I like to say the music has a "rishi going for it".) In retrospect, I will never forget that orange vinyl apolstered organ J.B. and Sweet Charles were playing. Maceo (circa his Gheri Curl days) was still with the group as was St. Clair Pinckney and presumably Clyde and Jabo. It was a 4 hour show in a lilly white suburb of Philly... revolving stage (The Valley Forge Music Fair, famous for its state of the art sound system.) My worry when I bought the tickets was the JB was going to do that LIVING IN AMERICA pop crap that had put him back on the charts a year earlier... but no, he didn't. It was a time warp to the 70's and a lot of funky instrumentals. Sound was similar to the SOUL SYNDROME era when he was doing "Funky Men" and "Smokin' and Drinking" - - very funky, yet Jazzy too. The band literally JAMMED for several hours... JB even played drums and organ... and the players were doing a lot of soloing. Half the audience walked out and by the time the show was over, and I could swear my father could be heard snoring half way across the room (hey, I needed I ride !) - - I was so blown away, I could have pissed my pants and not cared... You wouldn't have known that the sold out crowd had narrowed down to a half a dozen people and the band still wouldn't get off the stage. JB must have realized he was playing squaresville, but still wanted to make music, so instead of singing and dancing he was in music mode (just as he was on all those SMASH label albums on which he didn't sing, but played organ due to a legal injunction by KING.) The organ sound on GIVE IT UP OR TURN IT LOOSE (very similar to the version heard on IN THE JUNGLE GROOVE) stayed with me for years. That and several other albums including Charles Kynard's Yo Mamma Don't Dance and The Counts Its What's Up Front That Counts is probably what really sold me on the B-3 sound - - not to mention the groups Rasputin Stash and Black Heat.

Anyway, Wilson Pickett opened up that night, and now he's closed the show. It is pretty amazing how at the time I was born, if you turned the radio dial way to the left, black music meant great, powerful, groovy, funky cutting edge music. Today, Urban Music has made it to the center of the dial. Everyone is listening to it. The racist system that was common when I was a kid when "black" music had its own section is gone (meaning Tower of Power always got put in Jazz or Rock) but today the music is stagnant, if not awful. Something gained, something lost. Now that white people have discovered soul let's hope that one day EVERYONE is going to get around and put the SOUL back in SOUL music, regardless of where they're coming from !

Meanwhile, I wonder who's next to go. Hopefully not me... and if I do, I hope I don't die the same week as Brittany Spears or Kenny G...

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Thu, 19 Jan 2006 12:23:44 GMT

O.K. so back to the B-3P.   I'm running it through a Leslie 21 now. Waiting for the upper rotor to come, so actually what I'm hearing is the organ without full Leslie effect.   Even without it though, I like what I hear.   Mind you, I do not believe - - unlike many players that a Leslie Speaker is essential.   Groove Holmes, for example did some great stuff without the use of Leslies, and a lot of those old Blue Note recordings feature a mix from the line out of the organ (mainly used to capture the bass, but can actually add a bit of brightness and crunch to the sound.)   Of course, this does not mean you can run the organ through any old guitar or keyboard amp.   That's the problem... and I wish I could conclude the statement telling you what kind of speaker you need. All I can say is that my A-100 used to sound great alone with the organ being played through its built in internal speakers.   Very punchy, very groovy bass.   Now, am I saying that players should suddenly stop using Leslie's ? ? ?    No - - I'm just saying, not having a Leslie is NOT the end of the world if you have the right type of speaker.   And for this reason, I highly recommend to players to get quarter inch out jacks put on their organ, so if and when it is necessary, they can run the organ into something else.

Now, as for the Leslie 21 - - So far so good.   Though I worry what the upper rotor will sound like.   (The bass is no problem.)   My experience with the Motion Pro was AWFUL, so I am still a bit traumatized.   The problem with the Motion Pro was that it was prone to so many mechanical problems, had no warmth, and the tremolo effect just didn't seem to excite me.   The bass however was nice and juicy !   - - Will the Leslie 21 prove itself different... ? Well, so far, just running it through the Model 2121 without the rotary effect, things look promising.

Now as the B3-P itself... If you've been reading my blog, you probably know that my first encounter was VERY unpromising.   This was the fault of the staff at the shop who weren't trained how to set it up.   In turn, this is the fault of Hammond Suzuki who don't seem to give much support to the players like they should. (In the old days, the dealers and dealerships really knew how to suck you in... I wonder if anyone reading this blog remembers how you'd go into an organ/piano show room in some shopping mall, and next thing you know the salesman will have sold the entire family not only lessons for life, but an organ or piano (to pay off for life) too. - - That's not happening today. The truth is that the B-3 was supposed to be a HOME MODEL organ for people wanting to doodle AT HOME, but today, I don't think anyone really takes this market seriously, because organs (and even pianos) don't seem to have the place in the American dream that they used to. TiVo and Cable Porn has replaced it.

As for the B3-P, the truth is that, they almost lost a Y1,400,000 sale (*retail price... not saying what I paid ;-] ) because the clerk at a store did not know how to set up the organ.    The mistakes the clerks made (besides not knowing the features) were blatant. A mere day of training could have turned them into much better salesmen. Ex. Both the upper and lower rotor had been taken off the Leslie ! ! !   When we switched to the System 21, I complained the sound was too bright. The clerk just nodded in agreement... what he should have done was turn down the treble and turn up the bass.    The clerk also did not know about a whole secret panel of controls which would have resolved other complaints I had... Now that I own the unit, I went into the control panel and made some simple changes (*not telling unless you take a lesson with me.)    The changes gave the organ a lot more warmth than it had with the factory settings, and I wonder why they weren't set like that in the first place.    In addition, had the sales representative been adequately trained, he would have started to show me other features... the kick switch, the cool "start stop" switch note bending trick you can do... Considering that this project was THE most expensive item on the floor, why weren't the staff trained to move it?   The truth is simple... Hammond Suzuki will call people who "buy" their product endorsers, or companies like that will have celebrities endorse their products, but they're not wise enough to have trained players on the ground who know how to work it going around to different shops and building relationships with the players (potential clientele) and the staff.   People like me, who are out playing the organ on a regular basis, have students, and KNOW how to entertain people as well as play an organ so it sounds like an organ can be very useful in inspiring the public.   But, instead, Hammond just goes for PR... which worried me a bit at first.    Their PR claimed the NEW B-3 was JUST like the OLD B-3.... the NEW B-3 I played at the store did not sound like the old one.   It was a piece of shit, and this was compounded by the fact that the staff seemed to have no pride or interest in the product.   Fortunately, however, I decided to get it anyway.   Why? I'll explain... its because a WORKING AND RELIABLE organ in itself is something not to be shunned.    In the past, of course, I gave up on digital clones because they didn't have the full feel and features of a real B-3.   Little by little they got better (weighted keys, double manuals, etc. etc.) but still they had MAJOR drawbacks.   Most in fact, for the dedicated organist really won't do.   They are indeed dream products for keyboardists who want to add an organ sound to their rig, but not for organists who like to play like organists (and not keyboardists) most of the clones feel cheap or are confusing to play (and definitely don't sound as close as I really organist would prefer.)

Here's another strong point of the NEW B-3 which other products have missed out on.   Chorus/Vibrato.   The chorus/vibrato is AWFUL on most of Hammond's products... so bad, I used to play my XK-2 with the Chorus/Vibrato turned off all together.   Now, this new Vibrato/Chorus system is A+++++.   (When the sales clerk heard that I played a real Hammond, the first thing they should have done was hold down a key and start turning that knob then ask me, "So what do you think of this ! ! !"   That would have been a major sales point!)

Another big plus on the Hammond is that the action is a lot closer to a real B-3. At first, it felt VERY different, but once I got used to it, it felt pretty much the same.   As for response, hammer-ons, smears and pops CAN be done... however, as the organ had been set up at the shop I went to, they couldn't. (You have to darken the sound a bit first.)

Anyway, I can go on and on about some good sales points on the NEW B-3, but again, the final judgement is about 2 weeks away when I play it for real.   I will close with one other word of praise...   Aside from its nifty look, the B-3P is definitely PORTABLE.     Though 100kgs. (meaning it wouldn't need much of a handicap to fight with me in a sumo match) it is an evenly weighted 100 kg and setting it up is very easy.    In fact, I can give you a bit of advice... If you're going to get a CHOP instead of a clone, do not go for the SCREW IN LEGS type... the kind where you have to tip the organ onto its side then screw in the legs.   The tip and lift is what HURTS... instead go for one with a sturdy stand you just put it on... lift up, but down... boom, doodads not retracted.

I suspect that Hammond might have another lap to go before it can truly say that it has duplicated the B-3 to the point that a new B-3 is INDISTINGUISHABLE from the old... but Hammond has reached the point that it has a product that is ALMOST indistinguishable from the old... and has definitely done the seeming impossible !

P.S. You can have loads of fun changing the percussion settings, master tuning and other things to get a bit more funk out of the organ, and it also has a transposer. This means that I am not going to be able to un-nerve musicians by calling tunes in keys that neither I nor they can really play, then chastise them for not being able to hang... mu-hahahahahahhahaha... mu-hahahaahaahahhahahaha... muhahahah... nevermind...

B-3P outside the box...

Sun, 15 Jan 2006 13:17:43 GMT

My new B3-P came today. I'm a bit tired (didn't sleep too well last night) but had to say that my first impressions are good.   The bench, pedals and upper rotor of the System 21 Leslie isn't due to arrive for another week, but the organ itself actually is sounding pretty good. Its not a tonewheel organ for sure, however, it comes fairly close and has a couple of cool features... including the legendary and much sought after foot pedal kick switch (!)

My full verdict won't be in until I do my first gig with it, but so far I can say I am relieved....   I think I made the right decision. Though I suspect it might be lacking in balls as compared to a "real" tonewheel, considering the horrible condition of my A-100 (which had been butchered during a flawed chop job), its great to have a unit that fully working. - - My A-100 in contrast is now in the hands of an apt musician who happens to be an engineer. I am sure he will return it to full health and be able to maintain it to its fullest ability.   It was a great sounding organ and had a great sounding test model Trek II pre-amp in it.

As for the B3-P, I have to say for once I was able to move an assemble a full console organ with very little sweat.    100kg. might sound like a lot, but unlike a real organ its a balanced 100kg. and has a sturdy (yet really slick looking) grip that's very natural and gentle on the hands.   In the case of a real Hammond, you're pretty much holding on for your life, and no matter how you hold it, its wanting to rip your shoulders from your sockets.   This new organ is slick and sturdy... atleast that's my first impression !

More to come !