Mother Keyboard Oberheim Mc3000, Anyone used or owned one? Options

[Jaysee]

I'm slowly piecing together a studio, albeit my purchases being in a peculiar order. I have an old imac 400Mhz which I hope to 'retire to emailing duties' etc and replace with a G5 at some point soon. Last week I went crazy and bought the NI Komplete deal, + Digital Performer 4, + the Garritan personal orcbestra.
Now I'm after a controller kbd, and the big Oberheims have caught my eye. (ie MC1000, 2000, and most impressive of the bunch the MC3000 with no fewer than 8 cc pedal inputs for a start!) Lots of pedals etc would give me some control back as my lefthand was paralysed following a stroke. I can hear some of you thinking "What the hell does he want with a big cumbersome 88 note weighted action beast like that when he could be more sensible and buy one of the new light mini keyboards like the Ozone or the Eridol series!' (which are equally, if not better specified as controllers centerpiece of a midistudio, including additional stuff like onboard mic preamp interfaces built in.
I used to play a lot of piano when I was younger and there's nothing quite the same as a hammer action touch; a 'semi' weighted velocity sensitive one doesnt hit the spot with me I'm afraid. The Oberheims seem pretty good value too, as I recall their gear used to cost a fortune when I was playing around in bands years ago.
So if anyone out there has any good/bad opinions/cautionary tales or experience of owning or playing these Oberheim mother keyboard controllers I'd be interested to read them! Thanks, Jaysee.

[shaneaproduction...]

I've owned an MC3000 for about 4 years and love it. I used to have quite the extensive MIDI rig, and the MC ran everything fine. Since I am a pro piano player, I wanted something at home that felt like a real keyboard. No other keyboard has the action/response like this one. It feels more like a piano than anything out there (you can also program its "feel"). I used it with a variety of modules, etc. I love all the pedal inputs. I've used them for volume, tremelo, channel change, and a bunch of other things. I highly recommend this keyboard. I played everything and have not found a keyboard that matches its feel. You will have to get a module with piano sounds since the MC3000 has no internal sounds (that's the only drag). If you are looking for an inexpensive but great sounding piano module, check out the Edirol site. A used minigrand by oberheim also works great. I actually used that combination (minigrand/MC3000) to record the piano for major independent film. (you can hear several of the piano tracks at my website: http://go.berkleemusic.com/shane


If you have trouble finding one online let me know. I am planning on selling mine (I am going to buy a real grand piano with MIDI for my studio). I also have a custom manufactured ATA case for it (with extra handles and wheels to make it easier to carry).

If you have additional questions about the MC, let me know. It has been the foundation of my studio.

Have a great day,

Shane