Wersi Scala GS700

[johnb2713]

Over the years I've had several organs - Wersi Helios (DIY build), Yamaha EL70, HS8, AR80, AR100 etc, I moved from organs to keyboards - Tyros 5 and then Genos. I was kind of disappointed with Genos in places, the quality of the organ voices particularly. I sold my Genos about 6 weeks ago with the idea of giving up playing altogether, the downside is there are times when I'd like to go and sit down and play for a few minutes. In the back of my mind I have wanted a Wersi Scala for some time but I know nothing about them, I now have the opportunity to buy one but I don't know what to expect.

Do any of you nice people on here have a scala or have had a scala? If so, can I have your thoughts please.

J

[Hugh-AR]

John,

I'm sure you will have listened to this organ being played on YouTube.

Villamartin an WERSI Scala GS700

If an advert appears, click the X in the top right hand corner of the rectangle to remove it.

I can't think of anyone who would have come across this organ .. most of our Members are Keyboard players. George Turner has a Wersi OAX1 keyboard and I am always very impressed by the STYLES he has. They are very different to the ones produced by Yamaha, and listening to him is like a breath of fresh air.

Here's another YouTube video of this organ. When you listen to this you will see (hear) what I mean about the STYLES;

FEELINGS - Played live on Wersi Scala GS700

If an advert appears, click the X in the top right hand corner of the rectangle to remove it.

Andy Gilbert is a Member of our Forum, and he has a Music School.

Do a right-click to open this up in a New Tab.
http://www.andrew-gilbert.com/

I have sent him an email asking him if he knows anything about this organ. And you can contact him directly by email from his website.

Sorry I can't be of more help!

Hugh

[andyg]

Hugh's asked me to comment on the Scala. I'm afraid that I can't really help that much. I've not played one of the more recent models, but those Wersis I have played, I have found pretty awkward to get around. That was in the days before the humongous touch screens they now have, and I'm sure that makes a big difference. They are incredibly flexible instruments and I guess that's one reason why they are a bit complex to drive. As far as sounds go, they're as good as anything else in this digital age. But I'd back my Roland AT900P against it for some groups sounds, notably theatre and classical organs and strings.

I am a bit surprised that you didn't get on with the Genos's organ sounds. Too late for yourself, but for the benefit of others, they are all in there, from Hammond, to Wersi and Lowrey in the electronic genre. And if you start mixing and matching you can recreate vintage organs like Gulbransen, Thomas and Baldwin. If you ditch the 'Real Rotor' tremolo and go back to the superior 'Dual Rotor Bright', then tweak the parameters, you get a superb Leslie effect. Theatre and Classical sounds are a tad limited out of the box, but play around and you can extend that considerably. Alas, it isn't all there out of the box and many owners never get to discover what's there. Indeed, a lot of owners stick to OTS and Playlists for all their sounds. Easy to do, but missing out on a lot. I wean my students off that very quickly! Tony White at Bonners did a quick Youtube video on getting to some of those sounds. I was going to do it but our schedules didn't allow!

Back to Wersi and the trouble with having no physical dealerships in the UK means that you can't just go and try one. You might find a Wersi users group with a member near to you who will no doubt be delighted to show you their Scala. Other than that, to 'try before you buy' might mean a short holiday in Germany.

[johnb2713]

Hi Andy,
Thank you for your detailed reply.

The Genos was a constant frustration, some of the voices absolutely stunning and then others a massive disappointment. Some of the organ voices seemed to have a distortion in them, almost a mix of white noise / hiss which really annoyed me. Other organ voices I found annoying that I couldnt put them through the Leslie speaker and toggle between fast and slow because (i assume) theyd been sampled with the leslie speaker. So in a fit of frustration, I advertised it and it was gone.

Back in the 70's I built a Helios from kit and later added some of my own memory functions to it, lovely sounds, I couldnt make it sound like Klaus though LOL. I enjoyed some of clips you shared, I have also followed and coversed with David Dunlap who I find amazing.

When the advert appears, click the X in the top right hand corner of the rectangle to remove it.

When the advert appears, click the X in the top right hand corner of the rectangle to remove it.

Thank you again for your reply, I'll keep you updated.

John

[johnb2713]

I contacted the dealer on Monday this week to place a deposit on the Wersi Scala only to find it had been sold - noooooooo. The good news was they were getting another one in that was even more upgraded - YESSSSS so I have placed my deposit and await it coming into the shop.

In the meantime I have been soaking up everything Wersi on the net and made an amazing discovery Brett Wales, I can't believe I've never heard of him, wow, what a player.