Sadly, I was naive enough to thing that a serial number for Amplitube meant that I owned it. Amplitube is the environment but you still have to purchase the cabinet. I used Blue 3 and liked it, and used the Evil Ways without the IKmultimedia plug. These virtual B3s would better than most of the previous emulations, but there is something about them that looses the full wooden (that’s all I can think to call it) sound of a Hammond. Dance floor was full. Our drummer liked that. Fundraiser raised $140,000, so they were happy.
Hi John
Sorry about the Amplitube mixup. They tend to confuse things.
They are getting closer to the real Leslie sound, which is where that “wooden sweetness” resides. That is why many of us keep looking, and looking, and looking…
Acoustic samples b5 comes closer to that sound than the others. I would think (wink wink, nod nod) Ray and Guido would, at the very least, check out the sound B5 gets thru it’s Leslie (which I think is partially, or mostly, sampled) and emulate that great cabinet sound. I use Blue3, and both VB3’s, and they make me very happy, but there is still something that makes me play much better when hearing the cabinet sound of B5, even tho it isn’t perfect. (nothing is)
That said, there are many parameters I haven’t set hands on with the NEW VB3 II and Blue3. I expect I will find more in these plugs than what is on the face value. I been extremely busy with a wealth of gigs, rehearsals, and Dr appointments the past several weeks, so my time has been limited, but I do stay up to 4 or 5 AM after gigs doing new song setups and testing sounds. Of course, I work on my Hammond sounds as well.
In the end, the audience doesn’t care how your organ sounds. They never did. BUT, us Hammondites know the difference, and I gotta tell ya…if I am playing the real thing, I become a Hammond playing fool. A keyboard SUPER GENIUS …at least in my demented mind. 
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I still play a B3 every week at church, and it’s amazing- it’s like hey, there it is! 
You don’t have to do anything, you don’t worry if it actually sounds like a real organ and Leslie- because it is! I can just play. And as an added bonus, you get the real waterfall keys which makes a big difference to me.
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Hey Doug
I got a few minutes to look at Blue3/IK Leslie setup. Really nice for the Santana sound. Just as an experiment try the drawbars as pictured below. If you go to Evil Ways at Woodstock on YouTube, you will see this as his settings. It adds that slight sparkle in the sound. During the solo, there is more key click in his tone, and I tried to find it in Blue3, but was never able to dial it in. I tried the “key click” volume knob, but got nothing more. I will work with it a little more when I get a few
.
Corky
EDIT:
i took a few more minutes to do a few more experiments on the Santana Evil Ways sound. I used the same drawbars above. Here are my observations.
B5/Internal Leslie - Used a 1968 B3. Great response on organ sound, but had to tweak Leslie and other controls on main page. Tried it with IK…big difference…was really good.
Blue3/internal Leslie - Used a late 60’s B3. Another great response. Spent a lot of time getting the sharp flutter of the horn reduced, EQ’d less highs, and was able to get a decent sound. Pulled up IK…no comparison.
VB3 II (1st version…my test machine hasn’t been updated to the new version) There are plenty of parameters, but Leslie just not good. Added IK…big improvement. I will try this soon with the new version.
VB3 1.4 My best friend for several years. It did very well with it’s own Leslie. Again, IK…big improvement.
Overall, I was able to get a decent Evil Ways sound with resident Leslies (except earlier VB3 II). The IK Leslie just puts all these plugins in a different class. If IK Multimedia ever decides to develop a Hammond, they will probably run away with the prize. Once I get this sorted out, I will share the settings on the individual plugs if anyone is interested.
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There are threads on other forums bitterly complaining about IK’s confusing sales and marketing. It took me a while to understand the method to their madness. I got on their radar when I bought an iRig for my bass. They then started sending me emails for free amp simulations which turned out to be “Custom Shop” versions of AmpliTube and TRacks. Indeed you do get generic Ampeg, Fender, Marshall and Mesa amps and cabinets and a few microphone emulations that are pretty good considering they are free. For some reason I at that point had a $15 credit (Jam Points) so I bought the $50 Ampeg SVX “collection” (all their Ampeg bass amp emulations) for $35 which seemed a good value to me. Since then every purchase I have made has been anywhere from 50-75% off. The Amplitube Leslie cost me $45.
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It’s a very strange system, but like you said, doors will eventually open. A good way to keep you on the hook.
It’s funny but I’m just now remembering, that I thought I owned the full AmpliTube 3 at one point when it was just the Custom Shop version.
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Here’s my Tony Kaye sound… it’s closer than I think I’ve ever had. It’s still not exact, I did it based on my memory of the sound and when I a/b’ed it to the original it’s a bit too meaty mid-range. Probably selecting a different organ model would mail it.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1YJOMDEvVyItXBuO_BFuVdCb3GV2DMqyT
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Hey, it sounds truly great and muscular 
on its own, but I’d be worried of this sound in a band context - it’ll completely dominate the frequency spectrum and compete with the bass and the low guitar range. For band usage, I’d simply put an EQ after it and do a broad Q dip somewhere around 250-350 Hz (plus possibly a highpass around 100Hz) to give the rest of the team a chance to play their bit…
Cheers,
Torsten
Care to share with what and how?
@Torsten- I totally agree, and that’s some of the subtle difference between this and Tony’s actual sound. Plus there’s just something sweeter about his distortion in the upper treble range. That’s the kind of minute detail that you can stay up until 5 am every night killing yourself over
@Corky I’ll get screen shots tomorrow if I can but here’s what I remember: VB3 v2 with its internal overdrive set to about 12 c’clock into IK with the amp bypassed and I think, the 122A cabinet. I did add some random tube overdrive into the chain before the Leslie but I forget what, and I may play with switching that out to get that last bit of the sound it’s missing. The mics were set to 180 degrees, not quite mono (like, 10 and 2 o’clock) and not too far. So the bulk of the sound is stock GSi and IKM. I’m become somewhat convinced that I like the sound of the Leslie with the amp bypassed and the overdrive coming from somewhere else. I think I may have settled on the C3 1965 model in VB3 as well. That’s where you can go flippin’ nuts. Such subtle differences.
Edit- listening back to Tony’s again. It’s definitely a scooped sound, a warm low and then not a lot of low mid at all (that 250hz dip) and a high mid to high peak which he could get away with because Steve Howe was using such a jazzy tone.
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That’s what I discovered in mine. It has a hollow, scooped sound to it, and there is also a slight shimmer to it.
I still need to try yours…
howifeel, it was VB3. check out the last part of my post
Tried some eq- it helps but I think some of it is drawbar registration too. I’m all out, I think he may have some of the uneven harmonic drawbars back a bit.
It is. If you look at my screen shots, you will see what I was going for. EQ only did so much, so I knew it had to be drawbars.
Wow, that looks more extreme than I would have thought… I’ll play with it though. Tony was generally an 888888888 kind of guy but apparently not in this case
He probably had to tone it down to give the band some space, lol.
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Yeah probably exactly that For the times they had the weirdest sound, too- bass player that was all treble, drummer who needed a snare higher and ringy-er than the drummer, guitar player with no fuzz who couldn’t play blues and a singer higher than all of them
For most of the time I had a real Hammond my standard setting was about 888864033. More or less.
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So, I have been working with VB3 and Blue3 trying to get the Leslies to sound okay. I don’t have time or money as I am also in school. I can’t get the sound I want with their built in Leslies. I am seeking to get the IKmm Leslie in the hopes it will do better. Have to wait until it is cheap. It is insulting the way they conduct business, and I won’t pay full price because it is not an absolute necessity, I just bought Blue3 and I don’t like IKmm ethics in product sales/dist. As my Dad used to say, “You can have all the toys, but you still have to play. An accomplished musician can make a mediocre instrument sound good.” I can make a great instrument sound like crap. He made sure to let me know that (actually he didn’t, but you could tell when his feedback was more encouraging and less genuine).
Seems the slow speed in the associated Leslies for VB3II and Blue 3 is more acceptable, but when engaging the fast, the ugliness comes forward. I agree with Corky that it affects my playing. I like the VB3II organ, but the leslie took a step back. If I could have the VB3 Leslie and the VB3II organ going through it, I would be happy. Looking at that tomorrow.
I really like Blue3, but whats up with all the Volume settings turned up to unpleasantly (digitally maybe) distort every patch. I am having to set the volume on every patch. I am a stickler for giving the sound man a consistent level so he can focus on the stupid lead guitarist and lead vocalist who sandbagged him at soundcheck.
No…I am not critical at all. I love listening to Bill Burr.