House Organ Suggestions

[blackgospelradio]

I'm looking to buy an organ for my house. I don't have a lot of room, but I need something comparable to what's at church (B-3) (drawbars, full set of pedals, leslie switch, etc.). What do you suggest and how much should I expect to pay? Thank you in advance for your help.

[ee_guy]

I feel badly that no one has responded to your question.  If you haven't looked yet, look at the post "Organs" (2 posts below yours) and the "Why are organs so expensive" post.  Both posts contain a good discussion of Hammonds, price, and so forth.

If I had to recommend an organ with your critera, I would say try to find an A-100 series with a Leslie.  Sircold seems very happy with the one he found - and I'll bet it's a great organ!

[4hisglory]

I meant to respond to this one a bit ago. Sorry.  Welcome blackgospelradio to the LGM Website.  Like ee_guy said the Hammond A-100 Series are great.  Dependinging on where you live, you can get them anywhere from $2000  - $4000.

[blackgospelradio]

Thank you everyone for your responses. I will look into Hammond A-100's.

I know that there is no organ that sounds like a Hammond, but do the organ companies have organs that "sound" similar to the hammond but are less expensive (must have pedals & drawbars). I'm looking for a "practice organ" and not neccessarily one for performance. Does everybody that plays the organ have a Hammond @ home!

[ee_guy]

The only real alternative to a  B or C Hammond (my opinion - your opinion may differ and I may be wrong!) is the Korg BX3.  But then it doesn't have pedals.  So you could get a full MIDI pedal board from Speakeasy Music.  The problem with this is that you will spend as much or more for this rig than for a good used A-100 and Leslie.

You might find a used Lowrey or Thomas, etc, for a low price that would have built-in speakers and full pedals.  This could be a very affordable alternative.

In the early 1970's my mother had a Gulbranson (Rialto model I think).  Full pedals, drawbar section and built-in Leslie.  Nice organ.

A different alternative might be an older Hammond.  It might have the ratchet-type drawbars, no percussion, and no scanner (or some combination of this stuff), but these organs are servicable and could be an inexpensive practice instrument.  You would still need a Leslie with these.  Possible models:  A, B, BC, BV, B2, C, C2, D, or E.  Before buying an old instrument,  I would always inspect it and play it before purchasing.  (And know a reputable local service guy.)

I hope this helps.

[4hisglory]

I'm no organ specialist but Roland makes a keyboard the Roland Vk-7 that "sounds" like a hammond.  It has the drawbars and everything and its portable (I think)

[ee_guy]

The Korg BX3 and the Roland VK77 are competitors.  2 61 key manuals, drawbars,  built-in Leslie simulators, sound like Hammonds.  Both have "waterfall" keys, but the Korg keys have little piano like "lips" on them.  Very strange, but  doesn't hurt the playing much.

The Roland features a pedal board - not full, but spinet like.  Both the Korg and the Roland are about $3,000.  I have played both and like the sound and feel of the Korg much better than the Roland.  Both are fine instruments that you could use either at home or professionally.

There is also an Italian organ or line of organs that are Hammond-like, is it Wersi?  Perhaps someone on the board is familiar with these instruments and could tell us about them.

[dingster1]

You guys didn't mention the Hammond XK2:(. Its in the same class as the Roland VK8/88 and Korg line. Also, anybody thought about getting the new Diversi organ (aka Voce Key 5)? If you haven't already, check out the site at diversiorgan.com. Its pretty darn close to da real deal

[Dooley]

I got the chance to play the DIVERSI and it is the real deal.  If you were just listening, there is no real difference in the sound.  It has a different feel, but it sounds great.  I think they will run about $10,000 or so.

[ee_guy]

The Hammond XK2 is a single manual organ.  And although it sounds really good and plays well (quick waterfall keys), the VK77 and BX3 (Korg) are 2 manual instruments.  I think that in general, if you are an "organist", you want 2 manuals and full pedals (except for my classical friends who seem to want lots of manuals, AGO pedals, and lots of pipes).   The XK2 is on sale now, it's a good buy and is nice to play.

The Voce unit (Roland makes a similar unit) is a MIDI unit.  So, you would be using a MIDI keyboard to control it.  One of the "things" about a Hammond, are the "waterfall" keys.  Almost every modern synth I've seen has "divingboard" keys and if they don't, they have weighted piano keys; which kind of defeats the "organ thing".  Ya' just can't do a rightous palm wipe on divingboard keys or a piano.  On the subject of MIDI modules, the EMU B3 module sounds great, but is almost impossible to control in live performance.  But for a studio could be a wise choice for Hammond emulation.

Hammondman mentioned the Native Instruments B4 in a recent post.  This instrument is a PC simulation of a tricked-out B3 (down to the wooden cabinet).  It sounds just great!  (And is fun to watch.)  You can drive this software from your MIDI keyboard thru your PC's sound card's MIDI input.  You can download the demo version (which doesn't need a MIDI keyboard - runs MIDI files) from:

http://www.native-instruments.com/index.php?b4demo_us

Speaking of the palm wipe...  One of the absolute joys of Hammonding is doing a 2 hand palm wipe, full organ, kicking in the Leslie, staying on the low keys for a while (let it throb!), bringing up the volume and ending up with in a major triad in the top octave (optional root in LH 2 octaves lower)...with the other muscians pumping out something solid underneath you.  I get excited just thinking about it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ee_guy]

I apologize to dingster1.  I thought he was referring to the Voce V5, which is a MIDI module.  The Voce Key5 is a B3-type instrument that uses the the V5 as its sound engine.