Vintage Electric Organ

Red Alert

i'm thinking of getting myself a vintage electronic (like a Hammond B200, X-5 or the like, with or without its accompanying Leslie speaker). does anyone know even if there are any of these organs (or similar) around the place?

it really does have to be analogue as i study digital and hence don't care very much for it in my off time. also the sound's more authentic. i really do want a dual-manual organ so i'm already discounting any single ones from the list.

i see these often on e-bay but given the fact that most of them would have electronics over 20 years old i really would like to test it personally, hence why i'm closing off that avenue. this is all with the expectation that i'd buy it some time in june or july, so i'm just doing a bit of research at the minute.

has anyone any advice on getting one of these things and what to watch out for?

HusseinSarhan

Red Alert wrote:

i'm thinking of getting myself a vintage electronic (like a Hammond B200, X-5 or the like, with or without its accompanying Leslie speaker). does anyone know even if there are any of these organs (or similar) around the place?

it really does have to be analogue as i study digital and hence don't care very much for it in my off time. also the sound's more authentic. i really do want a dual-manual organ so i'm already discounting any single ones from the list.

i see these often on e-bay but given the fact that most of them would have electronics over 20 years old i really would like to test it personally, hence why i'm closing off that avenue. this is all with the expectation that i'd buy it some time in june or july, so i'm just doing a bit of research at the minute.

has anyone any advice on getting one of these things and what to watch out for?

There are some really excellent hardware controllers and software packages out there. I don't think I could tell the difference at all. B5's are massive really and expensive to ship. Think of the money, time, agony you are saving by getting a pro controller and plug-in. These things do not sound as "digital"as they did years ago. Get a computer based software package. The great thing is, you can have your really nice B5 sound and then at the flick of a switch get a proper, really authentic Rhodes sound instantly. Lots of pro players are taking this route, studios too. Makes sense really. Get a friend to do a double blind test with some samples off say, the Native Instruments homepage A/B'd with some real Hammond clips. It's really close.

I know it's not the same experience though....but it's a great alternative.

jimi_t

vintagesynth.com -> classified - has a few on sale from UK buyers - one "Viscount Imperial" Combo up for sale with a leslie cabinet at the moment.

robbie1876

The good old buy and sell is a treasure chest of classic organs. Look out for ads like

"Electric organ for sale. Nice wooden finish. Complete with fancy speaker and ornaments from the pound shop. €50 ono"

Mostly its junk, but occastionally the biddy on the phone has a Hammond B5 or similar without knowing what the hell she is selling. A mate of mine picked up a perfect Vox Continental out of the buy and sell for €50.

Robbie

Red Alert

Well i'm going to try tricking around with some MIDI anyway once I can offload my non-midi (can you believe it!) capable PSR83.

I'd almost forgotten buy and sell! With the number of convents and the like closing nowadays I often wonder will organs start appearing much more readily... I saw/played a real gem of a T100 variant in a convent in the UK. (The nuns didn't mind me blasting it for a while either!) It had the built-in Leslie and all, worked perfectly and was in top-notch condition.

Thanks!

EDIT: just looking through vintage synth now - looks like i've got my afternoon time-wasting sorted!

Savman

Them old organs can get very boring after a while, unless you're big into vintage they're not really worth the extra size & maintenance.

I hate saying it, but the digital stuff is getting closer and closer these days...