Organ Keyboard (Hammond) Help and Tips Needed

chris45

To echo some previous comments I play rhythm guitar and “classic keys” in a 70s cover / originals band:
If you can change the drawbars in real-time and ramp up/down the Leslie, then you can get a very authentic vibe with quite minimal keyboard skills
For music where the organ is more prominent, the construction of the physical keyboard is important and it is quite a bit easier to get the classic smear / glissando effect on a organ waterfall keyboard rather than a modern synth type; but they are usually quite a bit pricier.

PAL

I was like you I played guitar and liked the Hammond sound. I had a friend I used to play with and he used a Hammond C3
  this was some years ago. He told me not to mess about and buy a Hammond SK-1 63 note model as it was the only thing he found that sounded like his original Hammond so I did and it was really good I then got a bit fed up because I needed  to
plug the Hammond into an amp and that became a bit of a chore ! So I don't use my Hammond now it's in the cupboard but
I wanted something with speakers built in so bought a Roland Go keyboard ( The red one ) and the reason is the touch pad
turns on the leslie and it speeds up and slows down as well. It's really good for the price. It will never match the Hammond
but it's a great introduction instrument for of a lot of money. Hope this helps.
Check this out.... 

Dominic

Hi Joshku
Aside from the immediate sound a lot of Hammond ,especially B3 is about technique /feel .....like any instrument but it's full of cliche Glissando type slides and staccato stabs etc
Watch some Billy Preston ....in later life he was considered a Hammond Maestro
The sound is about more than just rotary speakers with drum and tweeter......real B3 s deteriorated quickly and a big deal is the 'leakage',delay and Keyclick that is part of the sound that became what we associate with Hammond .....basically a 'worn and damaged organ' ......they also overpowered the speakers easily producing an overdrive distortion that is part of the blues /rock Hammond sound ,also found in Soul /Funk.
Very few ,except top end keyboards can produce this.....to get close you have to look at Nord Stage 2 keyboards upwards etc
BUT.......
there is a fantastic device called a Ferrofish 4000 which works with any midi enabled keyboard in the same way a stompbox works for guitar...they have about  12 drawbars and you can moderate the sound in real time.......they also have numerous controls to shape sound like decay ,gain keyclick, worn-out drum motor emulation etc etc 
watch some of the videos about them......not just the Andertons one.....they are about £380 new but will turn any keyboard into a Hammond.
If you are really interested I have one I would sell for £200 .......I had 2 of them .....this one only ever had about 3 hours use in my home studio.........watch the vids and you decide

Josh_Cosku

Hi @Dominic

Thank you for your detailed response. I will check and will drop a pm.

Creed_Clicks

I was told I'd go blind if I played with my organ every day.

ALR

I love the sound of these instruments and I've been trying to justify the purchase of one for years. I've come incredibly close to getting a Nord Electro a few times, but I've resisted so far. Now I'm saving up to buy one - by selling all the other gear I don't use to fund it. I've got just under a grand at the moment. I've also told myself I need to have enough material written to be able to use one on. I love the sound of electric pianos and clavinet so it would be perfect for me (as long as I can fulfill my criteria!).

I've seen Nord Electros for as little as £650 on reverb for an older version, if you're willing to go and pick one up. Do that and if you find it's not for you then I would imagine you could probably move it on for little to no loss (or even a profit if you're lucky). I'm fairly sure they all have the drawbars on them. Of course, being the fool for gear that I am, I may well get a new Electro 6...

Good luck and let us know how you get on!