Clonewheel prices

I was talking to my friends the other day and said that either everybody wants to play a hammond (clone) all of a sudden, or everybody just feels like being {censored}ing stupid and impatient. I've been scouring ebay for an organ clone for the past month and I've seen nothing but stupidity from the buyers. Browsing past threads here, it seems like people are paying twice what they should be for the old models of some things. The old CX3, for example, has averaged about $700. One of them went for $812, and had a BROKEN AND GLUED-TOGETHER KEY.

The higher end / newer models all seem about right for prices, but if someone is looking for an affordable model, it seems best to just save for 2 weeks and spend $100 more for a clone that sounds 100 times better.

I've been keeping my eye on 'em, too, although I don't have to anymore. There are a few VK7s on Ebay that are still at reasonable prices - even a VK8 going for a good price. No one is touching the OB 3 squared it seems.

If you're interested in a new Electro (and you are in the US, right?) PM me - I'm not selling one, but may be able to help you get a deal.

Depends on how good the deal is. (I'll send a PM).

I'm looking at VK-7's right now. Trying to read reviews and see if the action plays at all like a hammond, even if they aren't actually waterfall keys...just the touch response/feel of playing it.

Ah, my friend, you've come to the right place. i have a vk-7 and will sell it soon as I've now got an XK-3. It won't be worth my while to ship it out of Australia, though. I really like it, as do many others. There was a VK-7 appreciation thread on the KC forum not that long ago you should check out. Good luck.

I have a new CX3 and you're right, most of these clones seem to hold their price quite well.

The VK7 seems to be the one which goes for a decent price. About the waterfall keys, I really like them and couldn't imagine playing an organ without them now... but if I hadn't experienced them I doubt I'd have missed them... especially as a lot of real Hammond organs don'thave waterfall keys anyhow (e.g. L100 range).

The cool thing about the new CX3 waterfall keys is that the note is triggered immediately rather than at the bottom of travel... this allows for machine gun like trills.

I never did play the old Oberheim OB3... though I thought it looked gorgeous...

Been looking to replace my XB2 with a new clonewheel. A friend of mine just bought a Hammond XK1 for $1,399 from Musician's Friend, love the sound of that 'board.

I have a feeling that this is going to be happening a lot this fall. There should be more used clonewheels on the market as a result. Patience, my friend...

.... or you too could surrender to the XK1.

Yeah...I don't own a hammond but I get to play them semi-frequently, and I'm soon going to be studying jazz organ a little...so I want something to practice on that feels like the real thing.

YES! So glad that someone besides me thinks that this is important. I think the VK8 and XK1 have this feature too, correct me if I'm wrong..

IMO the VK8 has the best Hammond keys, followed by the new CX3 and XK3 (have not played the XK1 but I believe it is similar to the Korg).

The Electro doesn't do this?

Well, you could always make do with a B4 as I do. A lot cheaper than a clone. All you need is a laptop and some keys (plus an amp and speaker).

Bryan

No, but it has a fairly shallow key dip which helps. Read somewhere that the Electro has the same Fatar keybed as the new CX3, just more heavily sprung.

Seems to me that if you don't have B4, a laptop, a good sound card for the laptop, and a controller, you'll spend just as much as a clone. Definitely more than a used VK7.

The CX3 and VK8 do their best to mimic the Hammond-bussbar trigger early thing... (they don't really do it because all drawbars fire off at once) but the Electro doesn't. And I agree with O'Funk that it does help get the feel for fast percussive licks and trills. It is something I'd want in a clone.

I'm curious what you think the analog CX3 and BX3 should be selling for. The CX3's i've seen over the past six months or so seem to be selling for between 1/3 and 1/2 the price of the new ones. Used digital CX3's seem to be selling for about 2/3 the price of new. I haven't seen a BX3 for a while, but even the older analog ones I saw were selling for between 1/3 and 1/2 the price of new. (New meaning current discount prices of course, not retail).

I hear what you're saying about Ebay in general - it gets frustrating when some folks will pay more than you'd like to. That's the downside to a large audience - but the upside is that you can find gear that would never have been possible to locate any other way - unless you lived somewhere like LA or NY.

But by being patient, paying close attention to auction end times, and by being VERY careful about when you place your bid, you can get some reasonable deals. For example, I've noticed that auctions that end early in the day tend to end at much lower prices than those that end between 9pm and 12pm eastern time in the USA.

Good luck in your clone search,

Lou

Actually I came across another completed CX3 auction that was over $1000 (1069 or some weird {censored} like that) done with a BIN. The new CX3's go for the exact same amount that this one did. Either the person didn't realize there are different versions of it, or they REALLY wanted an old CX3.

{censored}, people are stupid.

I was looking at 2 CX3's (new version). One was supposedly perfect, I don't remember if it had the pedal or not. The other one had the pedal and was brand new, resealed in the box, because it had encountered the love of shipping companies, and had a big chip of wood missing off one corner...and all the chunks were glued back on. So it really didn't look THAT bad, but you'd figure people would pay less, and some anal folks would be turned off by it completely. The CX3 with no issues went for under 900. The one with the crackathon corner went for 1300.

Then there were 2 VK7's. One had an SKB case included, the other one had a soft case. The one with the soft case went for 20 bucks more. I would think that without the SKB case, it would be worth 100 bucks LESS (maybe more than that, I don't know).

These people are retarded or totally impatient. Or they enjoy spending 50% more than they should be. And prices seem to be in an upward trend with each new listing. I saw some threads here where people said what they paid or what others should pay for some models, and I went because some of these I have never seen anywhere near the prices from 6-12 months ago.

I'm gonna call a few folks around here about M3's...real tonewheels for under half the price of this other {censored}.

http://cgi.ebay.com/KORG-CX3-VINTAGE-KORG-ORGAN-CX3-NEAR-MINT_W0QQitemZ280035504666QQihZ018QQcategoryZ16219QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Look at the outrageous price on that. Old version CX3. The BIN is more than what the new version goes for on ebay. And I bet some moron is going to buy it too.

Part of the problem with clones is they are an exception to buying a synth. For as many as are sold more synths are sold in comparison. Every pro rig I see rarely has a clone in it. I see it a third of the time. Most people are not particulair about an organ sound. Manufactuers know this. I think people would be suprised what a dealers cost is on an XK-3 or CX-3. There is very little profit margin.

UN-GODDY!

I my CX3!