Amen to that, Mat. I have seen the full convex 2 1/2 octaves for $1500 on Ebay. I guess I really lucked out when I bought that Hammond organ last year for $500. The pedalboard alone is more than worth it. I'm getting closer to hacking it apart for my virtual pipe organ. I have decided to remove the stops and add pistons and 2 more keyboards. I don't need the rhythm portion on top either...especially since not all of the controls are working as intended. AND with the Native Instruments B4 software that I have, I swear it sounds like my mom's old B3.
I finally took delivery of my custom-built desktop computer for music apps only. No internet, antivirus, (no conflicts of drivers) and it is a speed demon. It has 2 internal HDDs: 1 is 500 GB for OS and apps, 1 is 750 GB for sample libraries to stream to the other disk, and yet another external 1 TB for whatever I may need in the future.
I FINALLY got GS3 Orchestra up and running last night after going a little crazy getting the audion card (M-Audio Delta 1010LT that I found on Ebay for $180USD that has 2 sets of breakout cables: 1 set for digital surround sound and 1 set of analogue 8 in/8 out :
http://www.thenerds.net/M_AUDIO.M_AUDIO_Delta_1010LT_Sound_Card.99005075200.html that are fully programable and one day I'll add 1 or 2 more for the ultimate in sound for the VPO.
Mat, the giga piano sounds on the GS3 are phenominal! It also comes with gigapulse pro for convalution and once I was able to being to figure it out, the sound is awesoome and that is only using desktop speakers with a subwoofer ($100USD) on one output and using the aux in of a cheapo all-in-one stereo with small speakers I bought back in Florida for use outside (now I'm glad I didn't sell them).
As I was telling Robin when she was over, after I get the next card installed (whenever) I will attach our "real" stereo with pre-amp, etc. since we really don't need or even use (much) our surround sound in the living room. Then when I crank that baby up, I'll be rattling the walls and windows.
But along with the GS3 came Art Vista grand piano, Boesendorfer 290 and I already had Synthology Ivory and Pianoteq. So the Axiom works great for the piano sounds/temperament and the extra keyboards make an ok VPO for now.
I guess I'll be robbing Peter to pay Paul and eventually wind up with a couple of really nice instruments that cost only a fraction of what the "real deal" would have been. Otherwise I never would have been able to afford anything that would make me happy. But my office is turning into a studio and is a complete mess. But at least it's a fun mess... and a frustrating one until I learn to master all the programs I have accumulated. I'm such a hog when it comes to software, but I keep finding programs that are better and better.
Look forward to hearing how your quest turns out. Maybe you should check with local piano and organ moving companies to see if they have any old organs sitting around gathering dust. When I got the Hammond, that moving company would have gladly given me 3 painos and 3 organs for free, just to get rid of them. Then you would have your pedalboard. I read on one forum where someone got a free pedalboard, bought a cheap casio keyboard, took it apart and used the contacts to make the pedalboard midi-capable and the whole thing cost less than $100! You just have to do a little soldering.
Up for a crafty hobby?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P89-zpeVtcQ[/youtube]