A list of rigs with onboard clav pickup modeling?

[Spider Spence]

HI folks,

Longtime lurker here! I play mostly funk and soul, with a ton of clav & Hammond..

I recently sold my Electro 3 to upgrade to something that splits. Currently have the DMC-122/Gemini combo, which is awesome, but may be a bit too heavy and impractical for every gig, as so much of its on-the-fly editing is done in the online editor. However, I didn't want to go with an Electro 5 or 6 because I love playing the clav, and I want to have onboard modeling for the clav pickups and the bril/treb/med/soft switches. Gotta play me some Outa Space.

I'd like to get something for smaller gigs. Are there any other keyboards in the 73-key, waterfall-keys, funk-oriented range that have on-the-fly clav pickup modeling, and that split? I don't think the Hammond SK1 has clav pickup emulation, and I haven't been all that impressed with their clav sounds. The Mojo 61 has the clav emulation, because it has the same engine as the DMC-122/Gemini, but it doesn't split. The Korg Vox splits, but I haven't seen any reviews that discussed the clav modeling.

 

[delaware dave]

Not sure why you purchased the DMC122 controller since you could have just purhchased the Gemini module itself rather than the DMC w/ the Gemini. I purchased the Gemini tabletop and this allows me to use any controller I want. I use a Kurzweil PC3 which has 9 sliders. For the Clav I assigned the brilliant, treb, med and soft switches to be controlled by the 1st 4 sliders, working the same direction as the switches. for C,D,B and A pickups I assigned sliders 5 and 6. Slider 5 controls the D and C switch and slider 6 controls the B and A switch. For the Mute slider on the far right I assigned slider 9. Since the Gemini attributes can be assigned to any CC#, you could also pick up a midi drawbar unit like a Voce or the D9U unit that Crumar sells and assign the Clav switches to be controlled by them. Any controller that you like can then be used. Not sure I helped you but that is how I arranged the solution.

 

[Spider Spence]

Not sure why you purchased the DMC122 controller since you could have just purhchased the Gemini module itself rather than the DMC w/ the Gemini.

The DMC can have all the same assignations you mentioned, and it's a blast to play because it has 20 drawbars. Absolutely perfect for Hammond. And I don't want to plug things in onstage if I can help it. It's enough of a pain to set up stand, pedals, amp and rig.

So far the DMC has two features that lead me to believe I will not gig with it quite as much as I would like. It's heavy, and there's no on-the-fly save feature, although I am pretty new to it, so there may be a way to save presets I haven't discovered yet without opening the Gemini editor on my phone.

I'm not quite sure my point came across above. I love the DMC-122/Gemini combo. Don't want the desktop module. But the "Swiss Army Knife" models mentioned above--the Electro, the KorgVox, the SK1, the Mojo 61--are also good to have on-hand. I'd like to have one of those as a second rig. I'd like it to have clav pickup emulation and split.

 

[anotherscott]

I don't think the Hammond SK1 has clav pickup emulation

Yes, it has all 4 pickup settings, but doesn't have the EQ rocker switch variations,

The Korg Vox splits, but I haven't seen any reviews that discussed the clav modeling.

The Vox does not split (except for dual-manual organ emulation). Like the Hammond, i has the 4 pickup settings, but not the rest.

Best bet is probably the Nord Electro 6, which has all 4 pickup settings and most (but not all) the EQ rocker variations. Clav feels nicely snappy to play on it, because of the low release point.

Purgatory Creek has great clav packages for Kronos and Forte...

Clavinet D6 – Forte – Purgatory Creek Soundware

www.purgatorycreek.com

https://shop.korg.com/Kronos/EXS-42

...but there's no 7x key waterfall options. The Forte 7 and Kronos LS might have decent feeling actions for clav, though. Both also have 9-drawbar organ emulations, which are pretty good, esp. if you put them through a Ventilator. But these boards aren't going to solve your "DMC is too heavy" problem. PC also just came out with a version for the lightweight MODX7, but the emulation isn't as complete, the MODX7 doesn't have a high quality clonewheel engine, and again, the keys aren't waterfall.

 

[Spider Spence]

Ah, grats. I didn't know the Electro 6 had the pickup setting. I knew that the rocker variations could be achieved via the EQ on the Electro. Can you elaborate?

 

[anotherscott]

The Electro 6 uses the same clav samples as they've had since the Electro 3, all 4 pickup positions are sampled, the download includes 4 selectable sample sets. https://www.nordkeyboards.com/sound-libraries/nord-piano-library/hohner-clavinet-d6 Then there is an EQ button in the Piano section that lets you rotate among a number of EQ settings. Not all of the clav possibilities are covered there, but you do get a selection.