First outing with the Elka X-605

Right, well, I just got her upstairs (anyone got a spare spine knockin' about ?!) and the first thing I noticed was that the paltry keyboard stand I had is in no way suitable for the task, so it remains floor bound for now.

She powered up and once connected to an amp, she sounded very good, in so much as there were no discernable crackles present on any of the settings. The drawbars all moved freely and worked, as did all the other switches and settings. The only thing wrong with this beast is the the missing parts (legs & swell pedal) and some very minor cosmetic things, such as a few scuffs in the Tolex, tarnished latches and a missing washer where the music stand sits. Not bad at all for a 30 year old bit of gear.

But, after playing with the sounds and tinkering, I began to wonder how this might add to my collection over and above being another nice item. I already have an extensive studio that sports some fine, modern hardware (Akai S6000/Z8, Alesis Fusion, Korg Prophecy, Yamaha CS1x, and much more) and I know that in the Fusion alone, it has many organ patches that would probably cover the range of the Elka and then some. I know that you can not normally "beat the real thing" but I am beginning to think this may be of little value to me in the long term.

One option I have considered is keeping it for my kids to use. Both have exhibited early signs of interest in music and playing keyboards (they are aged 4 & 2) and this could fill a gap very cheaply, but then so could any other keyboard, be it an organ or a synth. The benefit being that a more modern, MIDI capable synth would be lighter, safer and much more flexible then the Elka.

I am very tempted to keep her, tart her up a bit and merely add it to the collection, maybe even take some samples from it. But, as I'm sure we all know, we have partners who simply see large units like this as just "another piece of clutter".

I'm not going to make any rash decisions yet. I will see how I feel. It is a nice organ, and once mounted on proper legs and with the swell pedal replaced, could indeed be more attractive.

Time will tell, but for now, I'd like to see if anyone has some legs and a swell pedal. Answers on a postcard, please :o)