Replace Nord Electro & Studiologic Sledge with 1 keyboard - which one?

[hairymonster]

Hi Peeps,

I have a Nord Electro 3 and a Studiologic Sledge 2 synth.

I play in a blues/rock band and do 90% of my playing on the Nord, which has superb organ sounds and reasonable piano sounds.

The synth is OK - must say I was seduced by all the controls on it - but rather limited for when I need a brass sound or strings or something. It seems to have 990 spaceship sounds which is great if you're into electronic music, but not many usable sounds.

I am thinking of replacing the Sledge with a Roland keyboard - maybe V-combo or something, but then I thought about replacing both keyboards with a more versatile keyboard which has decent organ emulator, decent piano sounds AND a selection of strings, brass, clav, wurly, pads and more, where crucially I can SPLIT the keyboard.

Yes, I'd love a Nord Stage, but that is beyond me financially. I was thinking about a workstation or rather an adaptable keyboard with the functionality I need. Pref 5 or 6 octaves, with pedal options for sustain and Leslie effects on the organs, as per the Nord Electro.

Ideally, I'd trade both keyboards for one that does everything. What do you think might fit the bill? Something from an established brand like Roland, Yamaha, Korg or similar.

 

[happyrat1]

Maybe a Numa Compact 2x?

 

[jmemcse]

A Roland VR-730 may work for you. It's better for splits than an 09, and has everything you need to work. Weak point is grand piano type stuff, but I've played Locomotive Breath on a 730 and it went over just dandy.

 

[delaware dave]

Kurzweil PC4-7

 

[anotherscott]

I am thinking of replacing the Sledge with a Roland keyboard - maybe V-combo or something, but then I thought about replacing both keyboards with a more versatile keyboard which has decent organ emulator, decent piano sounds AND a selection of strings, brass, clav, wurly, pads and more, where crucially I can SPLIT the keyboard...Pref 5 or 6 octaves, with pedal options for sustain and Leslie effects on the organs, as per the Nord Electro.

In mentioning "organ emulator, decent piano sounds AND a selection of strings, brass, clav, wurly, pads and more," something not specifically listed there is anything that might be "Sledge-specific" in your current setup, any other Sledge functionality you don't want to lose. So, to narrow down the other possibilities, which (if any) of these Sledge functions do you also want the replacement board to have?
... VA synthesis
... at least some amount of front-panel control for filter and envelope parameters
... pitch and mod controls
... aftertouch

The V-Combo you were thinking about as a Sledge replacement, could actually be a replacement for the pair, as jmemcse said. It actually does have all those Sledge functions I mentioned above, except aftertouch (though deeper VA editing requires an external editor). I agree with him that the VR-730 would be preferable to the VR09, not just for having more keys (for splits and otherwise) but also for better feeling keys... my understanding is that the keys would be similar to what you have on your Nord (assuming your Electro 3 is not the HP model). And I agree with him that the piano sound is probably somewhere you will notice it not being as good as the Nord (maybe clav and possibly EP as well, at least depending on what specific clav and EP sounds you're after). Also, the split functionality is limited... you don't have independent effects for the two sounds, and you can't pan the sounds to separate outputs, which matters for some people. Here's how the effects assignment works, from the manual:

If you’re playing two sounds (split or dual) (p. 28), the settings will determine which sound is affected. When using Dual: The same effects will apply to both sounds.

When using Split: The effects will be applied only to the upper part (except for reverb). However if you’ve assigned organ sound to the lower part, the same effects will apply to all parts.

As for the other boards mentioned, I'd say the Roland beats both the Numa and the Kurz for organ; I'd take Kurz over the Numa or Roland for pianos/EPs; Kurz allows you to load custom samples which both your Nord and Sledge let you do but the Roland and Numa cannot; Numa and Kurz both have aftertouch which Roland does not; Numa and Kurz both have more MIDI controller functionality than the Roland or your current boards (in case you wanted to get some sounds from an external device). If you care about lead synth sounds, it's worth noting that the Numa does not have mono/portamento functions. For most of the sounds you're talking about, Kurz probably sounds best, and it's also by far the most flexible board, though it does not give you the kind of dedicated controls and operational simplicity you're used to (but you did say you were open to a workstation-style board). In terms of actions, for playing piano expressively from a non-hammer board, I think the Kurz is probably strongest and the Numa weakest. While all can give you pedal control of Rotary and Sustain you mentioned, neither the Roland nor Numa let you dedicate a pedal to each, you'd have to use the same pedal and set it to do what you want on any particular patch.

Some other possibilities with different trade-offs: Yamaha YC61/YC73, Hammond SK Pro (61 or 73), Korg Nautilus.

 

[jmemcse]

Anotherscott: Great post. You got me thinking about keybeds. I own a Nord Stage 4 with the waterfall keybed. It is semi-weighted. The VR-730 is waterfall too, but it has synth action. The key geometry on the 730 is way better than the 09. A VR-09 keybed takes some getting used to. But for B3 purposes I prefer the VR-730 to my Nord. I can shred songs like Smokin and Green Eyed Lady on a 730 - not so easy on the Nord.

 

[hairymonster]

Thanks for all the input folks.

Anotherscott - good info there. I suspect I'm going to go down the 2 keyboard solution, as I don't want one big 6/7 octave keyboard - I would rather have 2 smaller keyboards, then I don't need to split the keyboard. There's nothing specific I need on the Sledge - it's great fun for messing about with at home, and I confess I was seduced by all those knobs and the ability to make lots of cool sounds, but in a live setting for trad blues/rock, it's a bit superfluous to requirements.

I will keep the Nord, as I love it and love the organ sounds. That's one thing I shall never part with after 12 years of ownership. The Sledge sold yesterday, so i have some cash and am now looking for a fairly simple keyboard with a good selection of usable patches i.e. decent organ emulator, decent piano sounds AND a selection of strings, brass, clav, wurly, pads and more. I like some control over the ADSR envelope, and pitch/mod controls. Not that bothered about aftertouch.

I have seen a reasonably-priced VR-09 which I think may be the answer. I understand it has a good organ emulator, and that effectively I'm doubling up on my organ emulators (!) but I love the Hammond B3 clones and am v happy to mess about with 2 different such beasts.

Or I could just get something simpler which just has a load of good patches on it. But for £400 I think a VR-09 is hard to beat. Any other thoughts?

What's the difference between the keybeds on the Roland and my Nord? My Nord has std keybed, NOT weighted keys.

 

[anotherscott]

What's the difference between the keybeds on the Roland {VR-09} and my Nord? My Nord has std keybed, NOT weighted keys.

Nord is semi-weighted waterfall shaped, VR-09 is unweighted diving-board shaped. But if the Nord will continue to be your primary piano/organ board with the Roland mostly for other sounds, I don't think it much matters.

A cool thing about the VR is all the other sounds and functionality you can get out of it via the freeware editor at https://v-combo.webspace.rocks/editor-vr09-730

For an alternative, the closest competitor to the VR is probably Yamaha CK61. But I doubt you'd find one at that VR-09 price.

 

[Soryt]

Yamaha YC 61

 

[hairymonster]

Just to follow this up - I found a Roland VR-09 at a decent price and pounced - I'm v happy with it.

 

[jmemcse]

I like that the VR-09 is lightweight and you can setup quick and it handles anything you ask of it. Great board Very reliable in the field, too.
I was using two of them in one band I was in.
Congrats on a good pick