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Joined: Jun 2005
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I knew it wouldn't take long for you to ask that Scott.  First impressions are it's very good but not quite up to the "hit between the eyes with a Wow, that thing is a killer B3!" The tones are excellent, the slight flaw is with the leslie emululation but it's still pretty good. You should see the PC based editor librarian. I looked at the KB3 edit screen and all I can say is wow, this thing is deep. There's so much stuff to tweak I can't begin to describe it all. The mod wheel defaults to the distortion tube amp drive control so yes, by pushing that I got so much dirt it was to the point of overkill. Also the sustain pedal changes to the leslie switch. Just me playing the organ by itself with headphones it still sounds pretty darn good and I know with some tweaking I can make it shine. This is what a lot of players on the Sonikmatter Kurz forum say too. Isolated with headphones you can hear very slight artifacts depending on the patch and with the leslie too but on stage it's pretty universal, it sounds great. I am surprised about the keys, yes they are waterfall type with a very small lip so no problem with palm slides but it's a heavier action than I expected. My Korg and Roland VK clone both have semi weighted lighter action keys that are perfect for organ, the PC3 76 is maybe 30% stiffer. It's certainly not a hammer action but just a tad stiffer than I expected. I play acoustic piano anyway so it's no problem but it might be for some people. The keys still feel very good for organ and I would say excellent for piano and the unit is built like a tank. I'm going to use it tommorrow night and I'm trying to get it set up today. The gig is not only organ, I have to do some stuff to be familiar enough that I can gig with it without any train wrecks. It is an extremely deep keyboard. This is not a push a few buttons and start jamming like my Korg Pa1x is. I'm going to just pick some basic presets and put them into what Kurz calls a Quick Access user bank for now and worry about making it fantastic later. I will be happy to do some organ demos for you maybe next week if you would like and meanwhile here's a Youtube video of a guy demoing some organs and I recognize the patches it is what mine sounds like too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnEb-97WYjc&feature=relatedBob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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I thought I would update this thread. I've now done several more gigs with my new PC3 76 key and I can definitely say the B3 emulation is first class. Is it better than the other B3 clones is a matter of taste but it certainly is right there with them. I was wrong in my initial assesment that while it was good, it isn't "in your face" great. It actually is that good. I've been on the Sonikmatter website forum dedicated to Kurz and several of the members have been posting suggestions to me. It's all in the setups of the default patches and how they can be modified. For example there are about 40 different Leslie combinations that can be plugged in as an effect and then each of those can be edited and saved as a user effect. Just that alone makes a big difference. My problem was I had a Kurz PC2 for about 4 years and thought I knew my way around the Kurz system but how wrong I was. The PC2 is like a caveman holding a club compared to the PC3 and the KB3 mode of the PC2 can't even be mentioned in the same breath as the PC3.
This keyboard is by far the best bang for the buck for someone who needs a B3 clone as well as a synth. Heck that statement applies just for the B3 sounds alone, forget the synth. For $1300-1500 brand new off Ebay you can't touch it with anything else out there. You can't buy a used Nord, CX3 or Hammond Suzuki for that and the Kurz still has over a thousand of their world class instruments plus their VA synth plus tons of other stuff I won't go into here. If anyone needs a keyboard like this for little money check it out.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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Bob, thanks for the update. Now, gotta go grab some Mylanta....
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
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