What's the verdict on Blue3?

Well if it does I’m all for it. That Leslie has to come up to speed though (so to speak). Unless the nw Amplitube is really that good. I’ve always had problems with IK.

I am not totally convinced IK leslie is an answer to anything. I tried it briefly with VB3, and was very nice…not so with B5. I have been recording in Chicago the last 2 weeks, so I really haven’t been able to experiment with it any further, but plan to to see what it does with Blue3. I have the T-Racks version, which is the same as Amplitube, yet runs independently as a dll unlike Amplitube.

I’ve done a couple experiments with running Blue3 through the T-Racks Leslie - sounds promising!

My gripe with Blue3 is that no matter what tonewheels I choose, its top octave is always brutally shrill and harsh - if I turn Blue3 up loud enough for soloing in the lower octaves, the top one nearly kills my ears! So far, I’ve resorted to putting a dynamic EQ after Blue3 to clamp down on the offending freqency range when it gets too wild.

But with the IK Leslie after it, Blue 3 becomes more rounded and balanced. Upper octave is still very prominent, but not as brutally shrill.

Anyone else noticing this? How are you dealing with it?

Cheers,

Torsten

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Hi Torsten

I use the M3 tonewheel set, just because I like it. I don’t think the choice of tonewheels is strongly relevant to to the shrillness, as most of them still have varying degrees of it. I set Blue 3 on “direct” in the cabinet section to bypass it’s leslie. The IK Leslie itself, slightly reduces the shrill somewhat, and some of the different models also have a certain amount of mellowness about them. I have great success in reducing the shrill with the EQ page on IK. The High Frequency and High Gain will take the shrill out of it. I do, however, have to set both knobs at about the 9-10 o’clock position to achieve my sound. I don’t feel the need to add an additional EQ on the backside after doing this. Of course, as with guitar tones, Hammond sounds are a personal taste, and we all have differing tones and settings that will put a smile on our wrinkled faces. :sunglasses: :musical_keyboard::musical_keyboard::musical_keyboard::musical_keyboard::musical_keyboard::musical_keyboard::musical_keyboard:

Regards

Corky

Perhaps Ray from GG Audio will take a short break from his work on version 2 and chime in soon to give us some insight. Ray?

I have issues with both the shrillness (fixable) and the overdrive (not so much). Does the IK Leslie have a good tube drive?

Hi Fred

Yes. I was experimenting with it about 2AM, so didn’t form an opinion yet, but will go back to it this afternoon and get back to you.
Here is the amp page:

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Here is what I am getting on overdrive. The IK by itself is not quite what I would like for overdrive. I tried VB3fx with Blue3, still not a smile on my face. But, I found I could run the Blue3 out direct (no leslie) AND still use Blue3 Drive settings. Still not enough. THEN I added IK and it enhanced the drive on Blue3. Not too shabby. Started playing with IK amp settings, and it brought the Blue3 drive alive! Still tweaking, but I believe this is the answer to drive.

The sound of the drive depends highly on the sound of the organ plugin. I’m not sure if you can make any general statements over the drive of the IK.
In my opinion it sounds much better than the drive inside Blue3.

Being an old school Hammond guy, I, as many others, tend to think of things as sitting behind the real deal. To achieve that drive, it is normal to think that overdriving the leslie, or playing though a real amplifier (a la Jon Lord) is the only way to go. VST’s are quite a different animal. That’s why I sit up late at night, trying to figure out how to make a VST respond like the real thing. Sometimes it is quite a challenge. The IK really does enhance the plugin. That is why I am going to the plug first. You are right Christian, general statements are iffy, and very opinionated. :slightly_smiling_face:

I didn’t realize IK had a demo version of T-Racks, gonna check it out!

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The same is true for the shrillness. I had a chopped C3 with 122RV Leslie some years ago which sounded stunning! But it also had that shrillness.
I try to adjust that with equalizing. But I’ll try the other suggestions from that thread too! And in the end I don’t play organ without expression pedal. So if it gets to shrill, I adjust the volume immediately.

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Well, 1st impression is that the IK Leslie sounds purty stonking good. Will need to play.

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Just like people, every Hammond is different. I guess that is why I like Blue3. I’ve heard “that” shrillness in some Hammonds. I play bi-yearly in a church with a C3 that has that shrillness, but I love it, and if it gets to be too much, the drawbars become my EQ. And yes, expression pedal is my friend. I alway oil the organ for them on my visits so it will maintain that great sound and playability.

I like the “shrill” sound to be a bit reigned in and warm but I also like the low mid cut back so things don’t get woofy, and the high end still cuts. The trick for me is to get, on one hand, a really toppy KE sound without the shrill that hurts and causes fatigue… but then for a full out rock organ get it dialed back and warmed up. I always need the equivalent of two rigs lol

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LOVING Blue3 + IK Leslie. Really good. It will be interesting if there really VB3 update about to happen! :wink:

Also consider the upcoming Blue3 V2 we know is coming.

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Yep, very true. Well, the GSi news should be out in a few days, seems like, then we’ll know what we’re dealing with there. The organ modeling in Blue3 is pretty much above approach already; if the update primarily deals with the processing it may be a moot point to me; we’ll see. I wish the IK Leslie offered a bit more in terms of virtual mic placement but that’s a minor quibble. I got a sound closer to what I like by “tilting” the mics; basically turning the right side up louder. The Leslie kills the shrillness for me, btw, I’m not being bothered by it at all. In fact, I’d say the brightness of Blue3 is now a plus in my book.

It has been nearly 2 yrs since Guido at GSI stated he was going to revisit VST software. Been hoping so for that length of time. If this “happening” is what he promised, it could be anything from 64bit for Mac, to a virtual Baritone. Could very well be VB3 v3 for his hardware line. If he comes thru…yay! I will get excited then. If not, I am good with what I have.

You really have to try a lot of things with these plugs, especially if you have a specific “tone” in mind. Just like hardware. In most cases, out of the box presets suck. Glad you are discovering…I learn a lot from others.

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