Genuine Soundware / GSi Burn

The GSi/Crumar "Burn" has wow'd me, a die hard real, working, Hammond B3/Lesle 122 player.
Highly suggest real and clone players seriously looking at this and buying.

Metal encased, ability to lock.
Incredible sound and accuracy. Much better option over the Ventilator 1, mini, and vers 2 imo.
Incredible edit ability including:
- offers many different cabinet variances (122 and 147, Model 16, combo amps, etc. and the sound is amazing (and I never get wow'd by Hammond clones or Leslie pedals).
- also offers non-leslie effects to call upon and tweak like delays (analog and digital), phaser, chorus, more so it pairs with other elec pianos/keys well, not just organ.
- design your sounds/settings and save to any number of user presets.
- has a standard ring-tip-sleeve REMOTE jack (for added stomp or halfmoon switch pedals)
- MIDI In and Thru onboard. Easily control all effect aspects an your clones.
- offers a "pass-thru" on the right input ch, allowing one to connect audio in from another source and play through un-effected. Great feature for many uses.
- Has a nice, editable/flexible reverb to be called upon and used (or turned off).
- True bypass, stop, and speed stomp swithes on the front. switches are not the "click" type.
- 12AX7 tube inside, Overdrive can be turned one in addition to the simulated cabinet tube modeling for some really screaming and musical overdive.
- Faithful reproduction of the leslie sound, but with tons more editable features compared to the current competition (Vent, Hammond Leslie pedal, etc).
- ability to separately edit the upper and lower rotor aspects and operation compared to the competitive products. Quite important.
- Headphone out with volume knob.
- Upgradeable ROM (latest update 1.01 adds the 147 cainet, very nice).
- Records well, fits in the studio scenario so nicely.




UTILIZATION

Easy editing, simple setup, clear to understand interface, MIDI ready, one incredibly MULTI-functional fantastic sounding leslie sim. Best of the bunch (and definitely the best bang for the buck)

SOUND QUALITY

I currrently use the Burn with my: Hammond B3/C3/A100, XK series clone, rhodes piano, wurli piano...more to come. I use real hammond/leslies for many years and did not think I would like any leslie simulator pedal. This one amazed me though, I was shocked. Use it all the time now (practice, recordings, performances).
The Ventiliator (and Mini Vent and new Ventilator 2) is a good sounding 122 sim as well...but honestly, it's seriously limited in scope and way overpriced compared to the BURN. Plus with the Ventilator, you have to pay for modifications if you want the added controlability and accessories in many cases - no thanks.
The Burn decision and choice was easy for me.

OVERALL OPINION

Thing I like most is what it's designed for - a leslie simulator, but one with added features galore.
Have yet to find items I don't like about it. I guess perhaps the wall wart external power? (but 90% of these like items use that).

This is a very flexible piece of gear, and the guys at GSI are constantly updating their firmware to improve their products - which means you won't be forced to buy a new gadget a few years down the line. The input gain is a little on the low side, but it's easy enough to use the headphone output to increase the volume if the sound guy needs more juice from the keyboard. The input / output / MIDI options are very flexible.

UTILIZATION

The menu on the unit is very intuitive, there is a PC or Mac editor available, and the manual is very clearly written.

SOUND QUALITY

The leslie simulation is top-notch. The doppler effect is VERY well modeled, and unlike most other sims I've heard, the high end doesn't get annoyingly pitchy when it's switched to fast speed - not only that, but you can dial in the level of frequency modulation you want. The cabinet characteristics are also very well done. The overdrive is generally very good, though the tube gain kicks in a little hot. The only caveat here is that one of the preset effects (the 147 amp model) on my unit exhibits some audio artifacts that sound a little like static. I've been in contact with the builders, though, and they have been very good about helping me figure out what's going on. This should be resolved soon enough, and it seems to only affect this one effect. The 122 preset is my personal favorite, anyway, and it sounds FANTASTIC - my old Hammond XK3 hasn't been this much fun to play in years!


OVERALL OPINION

147 preset issue aside, this is a GREAT Leslie simulation pedal. It's flexible, it's very programmable, it's very, very authentic in its sound quality. For the money, you can't go wrong with this thing. And the fact that these guys will offer frequent firmware updates for the life of the pedal is a HUGE plus!