Nord User Forum

[Mooser]

I just purchased a Leslie 3300! It'll be in in about a week, with cover. I read Jim Alfredson's review, and he seems to indicate that simply sending the sub-woofer output to a direct-firing monitor helped a lot. He later added a dedicated sub-woofer.
I was thinking, I've had a few Leslies, but I never expected I would buy a new one, but the 3300 is a bargain.
I've been using a Pro 3X and various bottoms (powered speaker, Peavey amps) but there are, to my ears, two critical components missing, and I can't adjust them in, no-how.
For rock, it's not bad, since subtle timbre differences disappear at high volume, but it doesn't satisfy. I hope the Leslie 3300 with my C2 will be better.

[Michael Wright]

Congratuations! I think you will enjoy it.

[Mooser]

I pulled the trigger on a Leslie 3300 yesterday! It would have been nice to try it at the store, but I had to go the "special order" route. Got it through the local Guitar Center. Should arrive end of next week. ($2495.00) Ordered the Leslie cover, too, a bargain at $79. I was just looking at guitar amps, and that Leslie is cheap!
I assume any 3300 purchased these days will have the up-rated driver and pre-amp upgrade (They were, for a bit, frying drivers.)

I tried various "bottoms" with my Pro-3X single and multiple, I adjusted it every-which-way, but there are a couple of essential components of 'the sound' missing. There's a more bell-like roundness to the perc. sound, (as opposed top highs being shrill) and definition <i>and</i> the 'breath' (I don't know what to call it) in the midrange that's missing. (Motion Sound should have sourced a better driver and the right horn, or something.)
So I hope the C2/3300 combo will sound better. I can't wait to A/B the 3X against the 3300. That should be interesting.
Even if the 3300 never leaves the house, it's still the least expensive Leslie made! And so flexible, but not overly complicated. Adding the "sub out" with volume control was sheer genius.

[bluesduespaid]

I completely get it... The look I got, when I drove to pick up my Motion Sound Pro 145. Then the look I got, when I changed out the low end speaker. And the look I got just two days ago, when I picked up the proper mics, mounts and cables for her. (my "Leslie", LOL).

You sir, stand with GIANTS!

[Hambone]

Has anyone seen and/or heard the Leslie Studio 12 yet? I've been dying to learn something, anything of this thing since it was announced a year or so ago.
http://hammondorganco.com/products/leslie/studio-12/

[Mooser]

The Studio 12 is listed and people are selling it. It costs about $1500. But things will go better around my place if my wife never knows the Studio 12 exists. As far as I know, the 3300 is the least expensive Leslie available. The Studio 12 wouldn't work for me, because, well, it just wouldn't. I've checked as much as I can (since I couldn't try one) and a Nord C2 or C2D with a 3300 seems to be a good combination. I'll hope for the best, and try to record it and put some files up. Hopefullay I'll A/B with the MS set up.

"You sir, stand with GIANTS!" Actually, I'm sitting over here with the chumps. I'm only doing now what I should have done from the beginning instead of wasting a lot of time and money. I listened to my back instead of my ears. Maybe I'm too old to listen to anything else. I had high hopes for the MS, and really wanted it to work, but I cannot get it to make a satisfying organ sound.

[Michael Wright]

The Studio 12 wouldn't work for me, because, well, it just wouldn't

I looked at the specs on it when it was announced. I don't think the Studio 12 would cut it in a band situation, nor for left hand bass. YMMV.

[cgiles]

I use the 3300 for gigging with my C2D (and before that with my C1). I also have an 'upgraded' MS Pro 145 back in my storage room which hasn't been turned on in about two years (JUST DOESN'T HACK IT). I use two powered speakers (EV SXA 250's) with my KeyB Duo Mk111 which I bought specifically as a 'home' instrument (too heavy for gigging and afraid of damaging) but I would use a leslie except for the expense of owning two. I have tried the KeyB through the leslie and the sound is 'killer', very, very authentic. Only downside to the Leslie; once you've used it, it's hard to settle for anything else (like when the gig environment won't accommodate it). The sim on the KeyB is pretty darn good with a good set of powered speakers but you CAN tell the difference with the Leslie.

Enjoy the new toy.

chas

[Mooser]

"Enjoy the new toy."

UPS says it is in Portland, and will be ready for pick-up in Tacoma tomorrow. Why does everybody call it a "toy"?
You know, it's really something, isn't it? When a guitarist wants a new amp, he can sling his favorite ax into the car and go try tens of choices. For hours, if he needs to, before he plunks down his hard-earned. I've never even seen a Leslie 3300 in person, let alone heard one in person, let alone had a chance to try one. It would be nice to have tried it, and be sure of what I am getting.
I went so far as to actually call Ray Gerlich at Hammond, who assured me that the driver and pre-amp problems were yeeeaarrrs ago, in the initial production. He was polite, of course, but his voice had a 'why on earth am I still getting calls about this?' quality to it.

I'll never forget what my friend Barry, an electronics technician by trade, said when he saw the inside of my Motion Sound Pro-3X: "That isn't a manufactured product, it's a science-fair project!"

Given that the 3300 isn't in the usual wooden cabinet, I was afraid it would sound different than the more traditional Leslies, possibly harsh or shrill. After the Motion Sound experience, I'm not taking any chances! Just because something has a horn which twirls doesn't make it a Leslie! There's more to it than that. But those who know, like Jim Alfredson, all are unanimous in saying the 3300 is very close to a 122 tonally. And nobody seems to be saying that the 3300 and a Nord organ don't work well enough together. Maybe it will sound good with my CV.

At any rate, I've learned a lot about Hammond (and clonewheel ) organ sound in the last couple of years, and it comes down to this: When you set the organ to 888, perc. or 88800008 or 8888 and play it,( the standard settings) you've got to love the sound of it, even playing a single note or chord, and each octave should have its own attractions.
If it doesn't make a sound that you love, the battle is half lost. It's very hard to play past an organ sound I don't like. If I don't want to hear it, why should anybody else? So much of how the Hammond-style organ is played is for the sheer sound of it, too the glisses, the crushes, hits, thumps, screams, the Leslie effect which comes sweepin' down the plain on run-up, and the Doppler train that leaves the station with two lights on behind on run-down.

[Mooser]

Okay, it came, and I wrestled it downstairs, into the organitorium, unboxed it, started it up and started playing, but reading the manual, I noticed it covered two products, the road-case 3300P and the wood-case 3300WP. The manual lists the "P" at 125 lbs, and the wood-case WP at 111 lbs. I think they are reversed! I'll have to weigh this thing.
When I change from something I'm used too (the MS set-up) it's hard to hear the new sound. I knew it was much better, and for the first time, the right sound, when I started it up yesterday. Today, with fresh ears, I'm starting to hear how good it is.
Bass fooled me at first, it was so much more transparent, I missed it, and thought it was weak! It's not. Oh gosh that Leslie horn is sweet! The MS horn is, well, not, and I've never been able to change it by tweaking..
And there's an entire octave ( 3rd octave from the bottom) where I couldn't play chords, (in the 808 or 838 registration on LM)
because they were just mush from the MS. Now they sound rich, and each note is delineated.
Okay, there's a quality I call "Les" (pronounced "lezz") which is what makes a Hammond organ on 888 sound so good through a Leslie. Well, my friend's 21H ($50!!) has the most les I ever heard, the 3300 doesn't have that much, but it has enough to make the C2 sound right, and that subwoofer outlet is fantastic. Simply by sending it out to a keyboard amp or powered monitor gives the bass impact, but it's not like the bass is inadequate.

The stock tube is way too hot, it gives me mid level distortion at the lowest setting. Maybe it breaks in? Or maybe I'll try some other tubes. To show how over-the-top pleased I am, I will for the first time, use an emoticon: