which portable organ?????

[reg1985]

hello lgm family im new here and love the site all ready im a big organ fan its my favorite instrument.i dont own one yet but im going to get a portable organ so i can travel with it and bring it home to practice but the question is which one in your opinion is the best one for the money me personally i love the deep bass that b3 have so people have told me to go with the hammond xk1 because you can run the bass pedals on the keys and its not a roll over bass like most keyboards is what do yall think????

[RMS2003]

The first question would be, are you going to use a Leslie? If so, stick with the Hammond XK1 or XK3. They will provide the best raw organ tone to use thru a Leslie. If not, I would still consider the XK1 because I've heard some great things about it, with the improved Leslie simulator, chorus/vibrato, etc. If it's physical features you're looking for, you may like the XK3. I personally am not too crazy about the XK3's Leslie simulator. I use it on occasion in my own practice time when it's late at night or something. But the physical features really make up for that. You get 12 inverse preset keys, 3 sets of drawbars; upper, lower, and pedal. Vintage style C/V rotary knob, and it can easily be expanded by adding the XLK-3 lower manual board with the stand as well. Hope this helps ya out.

[reg1985]

thanks man people even told me that the roland vk8 and the nord is nice too

[docjohn]

i have a cx-3 korg;got a really cool sound,split point, drawbars etc.check it out

[RMS2003]

Hey reg. Sorry I was about to leave for church this morning when I posted that so I was in a hurry. I forgot to mention the nord electro 2 and vk8. I owned the VK-8 for over a year and the simulator is great sounding. I LOVE the chorus on the VK-8 too.

You might also consider the Nord C1, if you have the money for it.

[reg1985]

ok lets say you had 1,500 would you get the NORD,VK8 OR THE XK1

[adaria]

I'm not as advanced or technical as others giving you advice...
 i'm still learning how to work with it, but I loooooove my Vk-8 roland.
 (the variety of voice & instrumental effects in combination gets interesting)
I've had it for a year!

[RMS2003]

Reg, I'd have to say (although I'm really torn between the two) go with the nord Electro 2 over the VK8. Since the OS 3.0 came out, they've imrpoved the Leslie sim and piano patches. The piano's are usable now. I have a couple of MP3's I downloaded of the organ w/ internal simulator. I couldn't find any piano MP3's, but just from what I've read, they are great sounding.

Here's the 2 clips I was able to find.

http://www.learngospelmusic.com/media/displayimage.php?album=95&pos=0
http://www.learngospelmusic.com/media/displayimage.php?album=95&pos=4

[Mysteryman]

Reg, I'd have to say (although I'm really torn between the two) go with the nord Electro 2 over the VK8. Since the OS 3.0 came out, they've imrpoved the Leslie sim and piano patches. The piano's are usable now. I have a couple of MP3's I downloaded of the organ w/ internal simulator. I couldn't find any piano MP3's, but just from what I've read, they are great sounding.

Here's the 2 clips I was able to find.

http://www.learngospelmusic.com/media/displayimage.php?album=95&pos=0
http://www.learngospelmusic.com/media/displayimage.php?album=95&pos=4

Wow. This thing is crazy. Is that through a leslie of the actual simulator. It hums and whistles like the hammond. I cant stop listening to this thing. When it plays that jazz thing you hear that shaking noise leslies make. This sounds like the B4. They need to match this up with the xk3.

[lorenz_j]

I've never heard or played this organ preamp, but it claims to improve the sound of 'Hammond/organ like' keyboards  http://www.speakeasyvintagemusic.com/vintagetubepreamps.htm

[RMS2003]

Wow. This thing is crazy. Is that through a leslie of the actual simulator.

What you're hearing is the internal Leslie simulator. I don't know if you've ever heard of Ronnie Baker Brooks. He's plays and sings soul/blues type stuff. His keyboard player, Daryl Coutts, uses a nord Electro 2 for the organ. The guy makes that thing sound like the real deal. It's awesome. True, it does sound similar to B4, but the horn doesn't sound as pitchy with the NE2. That's one thing I've never liked about B4; the pitchy sound at tremolo speed.

I've never heard or played this organ preamp, but it claims to improve the sound of 'Hammond/organ like' keyboards  http://www.speakeasyvintagemusic.com/vintagetubepreamps.htm

Which preamp are you referring to? Steve makes several varieties. I assume you're probably talking about the Vintage Tube Preamp for Clonewheels. I own one and play the XK3 through it (which plays through the Leslie using a 6-pin output on the preamp). All I know is, don't even try to tell me my XK3 will never measure up to a real B3. I've never heard the XK3 through a Leslie without the preamp so I can't compare the two configs, but I have the sound I want. Check out this video of my organ configuration.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSshLy0Q2bM

Speakeasy also makes something called an Absolute Modeling Amp. This is not for users who are using a tube driven Leslie. If you're using something like a Motion Sound rotary amp, solid state Leslie (like the 760 or something similar), or a Leslie simulator, then this might interest you. This turns your solid state amp Leslie or Leslie simulator into a tube driven unit. It's rated at 10W, has tubes inside, and old style tube circuitry to create a really nice warm vacuum tube tone. If you already own the Speakeasy Vintage Tube Preamp, all you need is the AMA amp. If not, they also make the AMA with the vintage tube preamp built in. These are not cheap, but from the reviews I've read, I'd say you'll get your money's worth. Like all of Speakeasy products, these are not mass produced, they are hand built and tested before they're sent out to you. I own many of their products and absolutely love them. Check out the video, you'll see the products from Speakeasy that I use. Also check out my other videos where I'm playing the XK3 so you can hear the tone coming out of the Leslie.

God Bless

[Mysteryman]

Listening to the recording once again. It sounds like a recording of a miked leslie coming through a mix. Reminds me of listening to one through a monitor at church convention.

[RMS2003]

Listening to the recording once again. It sounds like a recording of a miked leslie coming through a mix. Reminds me of listening to one through a monitor at church convention.

I think Clavia has done their job very well then.