Today was the final day for resurrecting the “shine” and the fury of this Hammond B-3. With the addition of the percussion unit, the BCV is now an official B-3. Kevin Korecky applied both talent and skill as well as creativity and engineering prowess into this rejuvenation and restoration project. The result, sounds fantastic and looks 200% better. He breathed new life into this proud and unique instrument and deserves all of the credit for masterfully adapting and modifying this wood, making it worthy of any stage in the world. The pictures show you the clean and shiny keys, the recently stained and polished wood, the engineering adaptation to the Leslie in support of higher quality JBL drivers and the augmentation of percussion and a larger (huge & blue) capacitor in support of the power supply modification to reduce hum. Kevin also refurbished the pre-amp, and rebuilt the starting motor which was grinding a tad too much and replaced the older start and on/off switches. Thanks to Kevin Korecky of Pro Audio Rentals in Palo Alto, CA without whom I would have never undertaken (financed) this venture. Kevin, you are simply the best ;->
Archive for February, 2008
Hammond & Leslie Fini
Sunday, February 24th, 2008The Grammy’s
Tuesday, February 12th, 2008This year the Grammy celebrated 50 years of service to the musical and entertainment community. There was something for everybody, young and old, for all ages, timeless. I watched it and I discussed it, tracked the blogosphere for input and came up with this: It was long, colorful and full of surprises. Such as Amy Winehouse flipping the preverbal bird to the stoggy, aristocracy of big music business, the academy and the establishment in general. So nice that an artist can make people so nervous, Awesome! A defining moment for her and her mum. Speaking of MOM, some folks got a tad carried away, Kanye, which always seems to happen in the Hip Hop category. Those guys take it too seriously sometimes, carrying heat and acting all gangster. I want to give a nod out to Vince Gil whose gracious acceptance quip to, “a beatle” (Ringo Starr) was tasteful and funny. Herby Hancock winning the big award at the end was a nod to respectability. The Gershwin piano duet that he and Lang Lang performed, Rhapsody in Blue, was absolutely stunning. In essence, for a TV show, that is about as good as it is gonna get folks. Crank that shit up! So, in closing there were some great moments surrounded by a few not so good performances like the the opening duet with Alicia, I am over-rated, Keys and the ghost of Frank Sinatra, whom I listen to alot, was not good. Frank is simply too heavy and Alicia is too light, oil and water, it just don’t mix. Aretha Franklin still has the chops, but gospel is boring. The queen herself, Tina Turner, was on fire, scorching Beyonce in her presence, but I was not quite sure about the look, but still very funky. How about the killer, Jerry Lee Lewis on the comeback trail with the innovator, Mr. Tutti Fruiti, Little Richard and you know for the price of admission, how can you find fault in Grammy? We are all so jaded now that we have no time to reflect on how bombastic and expensive/pretentious we have become as a species. Do you ever get the feeling that it can’t last? But then, every year, here comes the Grammy, brining us all together and making us feel good about our musical souls. I dig that. Yeah, and don’t forget it’s just a TV show, o/k? Thank you Grammy for 50 years of great shows!