The Yamaha DGX-670: Hammond B3 Organ Sounds & Adjusting The "Leslie" Rotary Speed?

[Tony Trout]

Howdy, everyone!

I've seen the discussion of the Yamaha DGX-670 here in a couple of threads and I'm thinking very seriously about saving my money and buying TWO of them (one for the piano sounds and the drums and the other for organ sounds like the legendary Hammond B3 organ) and I have another question regarding that keyboard:

I know that it has those awesome Hammond B3 organ sounds with it...but, can the "Leslie" speaker effects speed be adjusted to slow down or speed up like on a real Hammond B3??

Any information is appreciated.

Thanks,
Tony Trout

 

[delaware dave]

I know that it has those awesome Hammond B3 organ sounds

Are we talking about the same keyboard? Frankly, the organ/leslie is borderline awful. Rather than spending money on a 2nd keyboard I would spend my money on a organ module that will get you infinitely better hammond/leslie tone. Here are three with decent pricing:

Roland VK8m
Viscount Legend EXP
Crumar Mojo desktop

They all can be purchased for the same price as the Yamaha and can be run via MIDI. The other advantage is portability. If you decide later to use another keyboard or upgrade your keyboard you can just midi the module to the new keyboard. My two cents, which is about all my advice on this forum is worth....

 

[Biggles]

A different tack to Dave’s suggestion but first.

Am I correct in presuming that you want to stack them and have one playing the piano and styles or just the drums and the other is for the organ?

If so then you you would probably be better served with a different second tier keyboard such as the Roland VR-09 or even a Yamaha SX700 Arranger or a Korg Pa700 arranger which has virtual drawbars and a better rotary effect than the SX and a different sound set which would give more options for you..

Such an arrangement would give you a better keybed that is more suited to organ and with the Roland you would have far better physical drawbars and rotary controls than you could have with a DGX or an arranger.

 

[b3maniac]

 

[Tony Trout]

Thanks for the advice and options. So...I'm assuming the answer to my original question is a big "NO".....correct?

 

[Biggles]

Yes its a No from me

Another alternate specifically for its drawbars if funds are limited

 

[anotherscott]

Thanks for the advice and options. So...I'm assuming the answer to my original question is a big "NO".....correct?

Actually, I believe the answer to your original question is YES... the manual does show that it has a rotary slow/fast switch control, and every Yamaha I've played that has a rotary toggle does that gradual speed up/slow down when you hit it.

That said, I agree with those who suggest not to buy a second DGX-670 for organ use, because for organ in particular, other boards can sound and feel better, and can give you actual organ controls (drawbars, percussion switches, etc.). The Roland VR09 Biggles mentioned is probably the best low-cost option, though it's still $1200 compared to $850 for the DGX. For less money, there's also the Numa Compact 2X that he also mentioned, which is also a cool board, which would still beat the DGX for organ, though I'd say it lags the Roland there. Or for even less money, Yamaha's own Reface YC is a fun little organ, if you're okay with mini-keys (and not having presets). It kind of serves different needs, but maybe it could work for you, too, video below.

Also picking up from Dave's thought about a separate module, while that doesn't give you the additional non-piano keys to play from (or the ability to play piano on one board while playing organ on the other, which is something you may have been thinking about as part of your idea of getting two DGX in the first place), if that idea works for you, another option is to get sounds from an app... Vb3m on an iPhone or many androids, B3x from an iPad. You don't get the hard controls of the modules, but it can be a very cost-effective way to go, since you probably already own a smartphone and maybe an iPad. Though for any of these options, while you can play them from the DGX, you will be hindered somewhat both by that board's piano-type action and also by the fact that the DGX is not designed for easy/flexible integration of external sounds over MIDI, which may complicate your ability to easily call up different organ sounds or to split those sounds with the internal sounds of the DGX. There can be ways to address these things, but it may take a bit more effort to figure out how to get the rig to do just what you want.

 

[PianoTone]

I did a video on setting up the rotary control on the DGX (it's a bit wonky but it works). But as Biggles said don't buy 2x DGX for that; the keybed is great for piano but not for organ. You'd be better off with any lighter action keybed with decent organ sounds (AND the controls you need; drawbars, rotary controls etc); Yamaha CK61 is a decent "low" cost option (about the price of the DGX but weighs 15 pounds - it has the Reface organ sounds in it). Anyway here is the video on using rotary with the DGX: