I found my next toy!
For the last couple of years, I’ve been playing the Hammond SK2. It’s a fantastic instrument! It has two manuals, so I can easily have two different sounds going, without having to worry about splitting the keyboard. It only weighs around 35 pounds, so it’s easy to carry to/from gigs. It has some great sounds on it – in particular, the acoustic and electric piano and clav sounds are excellent… and, of course, it has spectacular Hammond organ sounds! For me, there just isn’t a more soulful, expressive instrument – I love that classic B3 sound!
Hammond just released the newest version. Introducing the SKX:
The new model has 3 sets of drawbars, so I can adjust the settings of each manual without a lot of extra work. It also has some updated sounds – all the best sounds for a gigging keyboardist. And now these sounds can be layered and combined, and the mix volume can be adjusted with a simple twist of a knob.
Where the SK2 had a single bank that would make 10 favorite voices available at the touch of a button, the SKX allows for multiple banks of favorites – so I’ll never have to hunt through a deep menu again. The other cool new feature is that this instrument comes with the traditional 11-pin Leslie jack, in case I want to run it through a Leslie speaker cabinet. It does still have the internal Leslie simulator – which sounds great – but if I want to get the real thing, I can.
I don’t have this beauty yet, but it’s on my list. I can’t wait to play it! Hey, maybe it’s time I pursued an artist endorsement from Hammond! You can be sure – as soon as I get it, I’ll let you know so you can come hear this fantastic instrument for yourself!