In a message dated 1/9/2007 4:24:24 P.M. Pacific Standard Time, kornowicz@... writes:
Ken Leonard's website, which seems to be down at the moment, goes
into some detail as to why Pinder's MkII sounds so much different
than the KC Trons. When it comes up again, look for the audio
comparisons of Jerry Korb's MkI to Frank Samagaio's Pindertron.
I noticed that on the live recordings, Pinder uses what sounds to me
like the Hammond C3 (left keyboard?) played in unison with 3 Violins
to reinforce them and give them more body. Has anyone else noticed
this? Could be my ears playing tricks again, though.
Bernie
Basically, KC's MkII's had the stock tube preamp (as does Jerry's MkI) which yields more of that "icy" sound. The Pindertron (#134) has Mike's custom-built solid state preamp which rolls off the high end, giving it that "warmer" Moodies sound. The audio comparisons definitely highlight these differences.
Regarding the Hammond sound, I don't detect this combination in listening to live recordings in my music library, and never heard Mike use it in the 6-7 performances I attended between '68-'74. He did use the Church Organ (Station 6) for pitch bends, i.e, "Have You Heard", etc. The Church Organ was also used in the bridge section of "Peak Hour", along with the Italian Accordion for the verses and final coda (adjacent tracks on Station 6 on his stock MkII tapes -- which I have).
Frank 1