Re: Hammond XB-2 pedal [was Re: Pedals for Clones]

[Brad Baker <bpb@bpbsn.cca.rockwell.com>]

"ml" == Mark Longo <longo@zk3.dec.com> writes:

 ml>    Of course the $64 questions is: is there any REAL world
 ml> audible difference between the expression and volume pedals?
 ml> Unfortunately, I don't know, never having used a volume pedal.
 ml> Anyone used both who cares to venture an opinion?

i've used both, tho unfortunately not on the same setup. i've used the
b3 with it's swell pedal and micro-b with volume pedal. all the time
i've had the micro-b i've been unsatisfied with my live setup and i
haven't really been able to put my finger on why until now.

at one time i made an a/b comparison of the micro-b with the b3. i
drove both of them into a combo preamp and into a stock 145 (the combo
preamp has two inputs). i set them both to the same level and chose
the same registration, 88 8000 000. That micro-b sounded pretty darn
close, a little brighter perhaps, the chorus a little different, but
the tonal content was not at all unacceptable. playing it live on a
gig though has been another matter and has been such an inferior
experience to me that i've been constantly trying to correct things
about my setup. i've changed the driver in the leslie to stock. i've
fooled with amplifiers, tube and solid-state. messed with eq and 'verb
and just what the problem is has, up to now, eluded me.

now, first and foremost, as you posted in your pro-3 review, we
acknowledge a certain visceral effect that two manuals, presets, wood,
drawbars and a bench have on one's playing style, and that i can't
duplicate when i play live at this time (it bugs the hell out of me
too). but there's another difference between the b3 and my portable
setup that also affects my playing style and the enjoyment i get as a
result. i'm wondering now if the tonal variation of the b3's swell
pedal might be a substantial part of what's missing from my live
playing situation.

my playing technique (such as it is), makes constant use of the swell
pedal. i play mostly organ jazz, lotsa swing tunes, and i'm constantly
rocking the swell pedal backward, pretty much unconciously, with every
beat as i comp. my volume pedal broke on a gig once and i couldn't
play at all until i'd spent half a set repairing it. i rarely play
with the pedal maxed out, which means that it's response (the b3 pedal
that is) has the mids and highs greatly attenuated over the max'ed out
postition. as that pedal is moved the timbre of the sound is changed
in a dynamic way that gives it more of the characteristic of an
acoustic instrument; play louder the tone gets brighter, play softer
the tone does also. the tone is constantly changing with volume and
since i change the volume constantly the tone is changing
constantly. my live sound doesn't have this characteristic yet.

of course, this whole thing might end up being just smoke and mirrors,
but nonetheless, i guess now i'll have turn my volume pedal into a
swell pedal to find out.

you know, you folks with xb2s might be in the best position to do an
a/b comparison of playability of swell vs volume pedals, that is, if
as you say the xb2 really changes timbre with volume. how 'bout it?

brad baker
bpb@cca.rockwell.com