Re: KP portable B3..

[woodfin@LANL.GOV (Gregg Woodfin)]

  Hi David,  thanks for the post.  I just bought the portable B3 sight
unseen primarily on Bill's reputation (I also got it pretty cheap).  I'm
looking forward to getting my hands on it.  I'm planning on calling Bill
(maybe as soon as I finish this) to get more info on the chop job.  I
thought Bill was already on the list.  I've been patiently waiting for him
to answer.

Gregg


>Seeing all the posts about Bill Beer's portable B3, I thought I'd leave my
>comments.  Bill is only inches away from subscribing to our list.  I keep
>telling him all the good stuff he's missing out on, and we may hear from him
>soon.
>
>I called him last night to get the scoop on the portable B3.  He said he
>hasn't made one for a while, and I remembered seeing the last one built
>during a visit to his shop.  It resembles a big Rhodes piano case.  He uses
>birch plywood and screws and glues the cabinets together.  It's covered in
>vinyl that looks like Tolex to me.  He said he uses an aluminum extrusion for
>the front rail (below the lower manual) for strength and to mount controls.
> I told him that Chester Thompson's rig was in KEYBOARD this month, and he
>said he sold it when Chester was a young man!
>
>It weighs less than 200 pounds!  He rebuilds your organ and puts it in his
>case.  Freight is the painful part.  I bought a rebuilt walnut B3 from Bill a
>couple of years back, along with a high-power Leslie.  I had one of his
>solid-state preamps installed.  The horn driver in the Leslie looks like it
>may have been designed for a battleship, and will really clean your ears out.
> I didn't appreciate this until I went out with my guitar-playing,
>try-to-keep-up-with-my-Fender-Twin brother.  Believe me, he now knows the
>fear of HAMMOND.....  For whatever weight was lost in the organ, it shows up
>in the Leslie.  It's got to be fifty pounds heavier than stock.  Very clean
>sound, but will distort when pushed...
>
>Bill does great work, but you have to be patient.  It took over a year to get
>the Leslie.  I don't think it will take that long to find his way to the mail
>list, tho...  
>
>--David--
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