hi , just joined and i'm hopin i can get some good suggestions on what type of keyboard i should be watchin for .. i'm basicly lookin for somethin that wiill do a good organ type of tone b3 i guess .. close will do .. and perhaps a good electric piano .. i'd also like to hook it up to a regular guitar amp .. i've been playin guitar for almost 50 years so i have a few amps i could use .. a nice little 15 inch speaker fender excelsior would be good enough in my livin room ..i'm not really lookin to gig with it or need it to do drums or anything special .. just some good keyboard tones .. it don't need it to mow my lawn or wash my socks or anything cause some of these keyboards can get quite involved .. i saw a roland vr-09 on youtube that really interested me but its about 900 bucks and that might be a little over my budget ..i'm hopin i can find somethin used that would be a decent comparison ( probably not better ) but comparable anyway and it don't break the bank .. used would be fine .. i know there's a lot out there and it kinda overwhelms me so gettin it from guys who know would help a lot .. maybe i can upload a file of that roland vr-09 .. nope .. i'll have to work on that .. well anything at all that you can tell me would be a big help .. thanks a bunch .. frenchy
your best suggestions please
- Thread starter frenchy
- Start date
happyrat1
Destroyer of Eardrums!!!
First off, guitar amps are no good for keyboards. Too much distortion and wrong frequency range.
Bass amps and Keyboard amps are OK.
Secondly, you mention $900 is over budget.
How much is the budget?
Thirdly when you say "good" B3 organs exactly how good do you want them? Again total budget limits what's available to you.
How many keys do you need? 61? 76? 88?
Weighted hammer action or non hammer action synth style?
Get back to us with a little more info.
Gary
Bass amps and Keyboard amps are OK.
Secondly, you mention $900 is over budget.
How much is the budget?
Thirdly when you say "good" B3 organs exactly how good do you want them? Again total budget limits what's available to you.
How many keys do you need? 61? 76? 88?
Weighted hammer action or non hammer action synth style?
Get back to us with a little more info.
Gary
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Rayblewit
Love Music / Love Life
Why the emphasis on b3?
Please correct me if l am wrong, but does the b3 sound relate exclusively to the hammond organs and Leslie speakers?
Can we get that kind of sound with our small elecronic 61 key psr's etc. . . ?
Please correct me if l am wrong, but does the b3 sound relate exclusively to the hammond organs and Leslie speakers?
Can we get that kind of sound with our small elecronic 61 key psr's etc. . . ?
happyrat1
Destroyer of Eardrums!!!
The Hammond B3 has a classic sound from Soul, R&B, Gospel, Rock and Blues styles of American vintage music.
Purists get really worked up over quality B3 sounds trying to cover classics by the Doors, Pink Floyd, ELP, The Temptations, James Brown, etc...
For some players they are willing to spend thousands to get the "pure leslie and drawbar sounds" of the old Hammond Tonewheel Organs.
Pretty much every keyboard out there, made in the past 30 years has some sort of organ sound or emulation but depending on how tweakable and "authentic" they sound, some of them wouldn't receive a second glance from a real organ freak.
Again if he doesn't want to spend too much money he could buy a lower end Casio like a WK-7600 or XW-P1 and get some passable organs but a real organ fanatic would not give these a second glance.
Gary
Purists get really worked up over quality B3 sounds trying to cover classics by the Doors, Pink Floyd, ELP, The Temptations, James Brown, etc...
For some players they are willing to spend thousands to get the "pure leslie and drawbar sounds" of the old Hammond Tonewheel Organs.
Pretty much every keyboard out there, made in the past 30 years has some sort of organ sound or emulation but depending on how tweakable and "authentic" they sound, some of them wouldn't receive a second glance from a real organ freak.
Again if he doesn't want to spend too much money he could buy a lower end Casio like a WK-7600 or XW-P1 and get some passable organs but a real organ fanatic would not give these a second glance.
Gary
happyrat1
Destroyer of Eardrums!!!
BTW, re the original question, I'm wondering if he'd be OK with a 49 or 61 key MIDI controller and soft synths.
Much cheaper, obsolesense proof, and infinitely expandable.
Not my first choice for a stage rig, but he's already stated he doesn't plan to gig with it anyway.
Gary
Much cheaper, obsolesense proof, and infinitely expandable.
Not my first choice for a stage rig, but he's already stated he doesn't plan to gig with it anyway.
Gary
If you can find that VR-09 second hand it should come in at way under $900 and I reckon you'll be happy enough with the organs and EP's. With an under $900 budget you won't get absolutely top-notch organ sounds, but the VR-09 is about as good as it gets at that lower end of the scale, plus it has organ drawbars.
hi gary thanks for gettin back to me .. as far as an amp for the keyboard the fender excelsior is supposed to be an amp that can double as a keyboard amp .. probably not the one for giggin tho cause its only about 13 watts but it does have a 15 inch speaker and its pretty heavy duty .. if that don't work then i also have an ampeg bass amp i could use ( i play bass sometimes too ) in fact i've used the excelsior for bass a few times when i wanna keep it down to a dull roar .. as far as my budget goes i'd like to get somethin for free but we both know that ain't gonna happen ( altho i do see some of them older types on craigs list from time to time where they just want you to haul it away .. but then again i have no idea what to be lookin for .. or not lookin for .. so what to spend ?? i really don't know .. thats why i'm here .. tryin to get some good info as to why i do or don't want one model or another and of course price is always a consideration .. 61 keys would work .. i think i'm lookin for somethin with a good tone tho .. like i said a good organ kinda tone ..and an electric piano .. i mentioned the roland vr-09 cause i really liked that and that would be perfect if it wasn't close to a grand .. but i'm thinkin roland has some older models that are similar and thats where you guys come in .. or even korg or yamaha or any other affordable brand you can think of .. i'm not really lookin for a synth so much unless it can do the type of tones i mentioned ..i'm not lookin to do electronic type music .. more americana ..blues , rock country gospel bluegrass folk all rolled into one more or less .. kinda like the band .. or wilco .. i do have a few guitar pedals i'd like to try to get that leslie tone .. a tech 21 roto chior and a line 6 rotary pedal that has about 6 different combinations .. might sound good ?? or not .. plus i have a line 6 roto machine and a behringer copy of that same pedal . ( i think i like the behringer better actually how it would sound with a keyboard is anybodies guess tho ) and i also have an electro harmonix b9 pedal that can actually make my guitar sound like an organ but .. well its still a guitar so its a bit limited .. as far as weighted keys or not i'm not sure .. why would i want them .. or not ?? i suppose if it sounds good i'll get used to how the keys feel either way ?? to be honest i'm not tryin to be liberachi here .. just get some good keyboard tones dickin around here at home .. maybe do some home recordin .. not tryin to reinvent the wheel or anything .. does all this help ?? i'm pretty much a blank slate here.... almost ..thanks again ... frenchy ..
happyrat1
Destroyer of Eardrums!!!
Sounds to me like you'd need to get your feet wet.
Weighted keys are really only necessary if you're learning to play proper piano styles. Organs and synths both have unweighted keys and are technically quicker to play.
I'd suggest not blowing your wad up front.
Look around on craigslist and ebay for something like a used Casio WK-6500 or WK-7500 or CTK-6200 or CTK-7200 or a used Yamaha PSR-E433 or PSR-E333 for under $200 - $300 to start with.
Even these come with a lot of bells and whistles but they are among the best bang for the buck in beginner keyboards.
Using these for 6 months to a year will help crystallize exactly what you are looking for in a keyboard and allow you to upgrade without losing too much money in the process.
Any of these makes for a decent starter keyboard and will offer enough challenge to keep you going for a year or two before you start to feel the need for raw power and ultimate sounds.
Gary
Weighted keys are really only necessary if you're learning to play proper piano styles. Organs and synths both have unweighted keys and are technically quicker to play.
I'd suggest not blowing your wad up front.
Look around on craigslist and ebay for something like a used Casio WK-6500 or WK-7500 or CTK-6200 or CTK-7200 or a used Yamaha PSR-E433 or PSR-E333 for under $200 - $300 to start with.
Even these come with a lot of bells and whistles but they are among the best bang for the buck in beginner keyboards.
Using these for 6 months to a year will help crystallize exactly what you are looking for in a keyboard and allow you to upgrade without losing too much money in the process.
Any of these makes for a decent starter keyboard and will offer enough challenge to keep you going for a year or two before you start to feel the need for raw power and ultimate sounds.
Gary