Hammond Clones

[Lemsky]

I'm an hammond lover and i'd like to know which is the best Hammond clones,'cause it's hard and expensive buy a REAL hammond.

A friend of mine told me the Korg BX3 Combo Organ is the best one

For years, if you wanted the sound of a real tone-wheel organ, there was only one instrument that could deliver — until the CX-3 was introduced in 2000. The CX-3 single manual, Combo Organ so accurately and faithfully re-created the classic sound, demand for a dual-manual grew. Now, 2 years later, Korg introduces the BX-3 dual manual, Combo Organ.

 

The original Korg CX-3 first went on sale in 1979 followed by its dual-manual sibling, the BX-3. Both went on to become favorites in their own right, and are still widely used. Now, using advanced DSP technology and painstaking attention to sound, touch, and style, they have been reborn and vastly improved upon.

 

Meticulous Re-Creation of the Tone-Wheel System

 

Korg's state-of-the-art DSP technology has made it possible to precisely re-create the unique sound that, until now, could only be produced by the real thing. Two different tone-wheel sounds are provided: "Vintage" and "Clean." The CX-3 and BX-3's amazing realism even extends to such details as allowing you to add the "leakage" noise generated by the tone-wheels, and the ability to adjust their overtone levels.

 

A few reviews:

 

Feature:

Korg did their home work on this one. The drawbars, CV knob(yes a knob)! are all in the correct places. Even the leslie switch is in the right spot.

 

Quality:

Well the bottom of this product is made of particle board and only the end pieces are real wood. Korg should have used real wood ,, but then again, that would have made it heavier.

 

Value:

Priceless if you don't like hiring roadies to move your B-3.

 

Desirability:

Those waterfall keys are the best.

 

Sound:

I have played Hammond Clones from Roland, Hammond, Voce, and even Nord. I have many hours of experiance with each of these. I can attest that the Korg Cx-and Bx-3s are the best hammond clones on the market. They are both miles ahead of the New Hammond xk-3 as well. There is a fatness to the sound and the drawbars work exactly like a B3. The leslie sim is also better than any toher that I've heard. I would reccmomend this product for anyone who is looking for that sound, but has thus far been unsuccessful.

 

Support:

Very good in this area.. Korg is the best.

 

 

Feature:

This organ needs some full size pedals. My friend used a small set of pedals by another company. The organ also needs two separate individual drawbars for the pedals.Then I'll stop using my Hammond.

 

Quality:

Product made well and is durable. My friend has it all over the place

 

Value:

value is unbelieveable for the price and its versatility and portability.

 

Desirability:

I would take one and demo it to a lot of my other friends churches and at some concerts.You can't beat getting a fat sound like this from a set up that is so portable.

 

Sound:

The sound of this organ is unbelieveable. The sound quality is rich and full like the real B-3. This organ allows you to get whatever sound you want. My friend who owns it also told me that you can program the drawbar settings. I played this organ outside at my friends place and he had it hooked up to a small leslie and a pa system it was rich and full and the internal leslie coming thru the pa speakers (15" woofers and horn) was as good as the leslie activated. Outside the sound was full like I was playing in a church .

 

Support:

haven't dealt with support

 

Overall:

To surpass this would be a different instrument I never heard of and probably woul not want.

[ginandcigarettes]

I'm an hammond lover and i'd like to know which is the best Hammond clones,'cause it's hard and expensive buy a REAL hammond.

A friend of mine told me the Korg BX3 Combo Organ is the best one

 

I have a Korg CX-3 (new) and it is very, very good. I've also owned a Nord Electro until I sold it to my bandmate (so I still get to use it at gigs). The electro is also very good.

 

I like the basic sound of the Korg as well as the layout of the controls. The 1' drawbar is a little shrill, but the Leslie sim is to die for. It's also pretty tweakable and just about every parameter is editable. Also, the CX3 has reverb, which the Nord doesn't have. The Korg's overdrive leaves a bit to be desired, though.

 

The Nord has better chorus/vibrato (at least to my ear it sounds more like the real deal) and it's lighter and cheaper. Plus, it's got killer Rhodes and Wurly sounds. The tradeoff is there is very little that is tweakable. If you think the Leslie takes too long to speed up, too bad; you're stuck with it. Still, the stock sound is pretty incredible, and you have to remember that nothing was tweakable on the B3, anyway. The layout of the controls is weird (the Leslie control is on the right side -- huh?) and the virtual drawbars confuse me (though others claim it takes only a little while to get used to it -- I want to grab the last white bar and pull it all the way out, not press a button that I have to check to see if it represents the right drawbar). One final note: in the Silverlake scene, the Nord appears to be the clonewheel of choice.

 

Overall, I enjoy playing the Korg more. I love actual drawbars and the layout of the controls. I've tweaked it enough such that it sounds like the B3 that I have in my head (I spent a few hours nailing the sound of Jay's B3 in "She's a Jar"). The key action is a little lighter and more B3-like. The Nord seems like a compromise between B3 action and action appropriate for electric pianos. All of this is just my opinion, though. (It's interesting to note that Mikal used to play a CX3 but now plays a Nord when he doesn't have his B3.)

 

One last thing, if you use pedals, neither one has that option.

 

You might also look at the new Hammond XK3 and XK1. Apparently, the XK3 is the new gold standard (it better be; it's the most expensive of the bunch) and the XK1 has the same engine in a compacted package. Also, apparently, Nord is coming out with a dual manual organ.

 

A couple of years ago, Keyboard magazine had a clonewheel shootout. See if you can track that down. Also, trawl around the clonewheel discussion group on Yahoo. There's a lot of good information there. Ultimately, you just have to try them all out and see which one is best for you.

 

Finally, you might consider just getting a Hammond. If you're into portability and reliability, then the clonewheels are the way to go; but if this is for playing around the house and you're into the vintage stuff, you could get an M3 for around $200 and a Leslie for maybe $600 (depending on the model). The M3 does not have all the features of a B3 (I think it doesn't have the scanner vibrato or foldback in the upper register -- but you can get foldback installed), but it has tonewheels, drawbars, and that preamp (it's rumored to be the organ used on Green Onions by Booker T and the MGs). All told, you'll come in at around $800 to $1000 depending on the Leslie, which is less than a new clonewheel.

 

I hope this helps.

[Lemsky]

I have a Korg CX-3 (new) and it is very, very good. I've also owned a Nord Electro until I sold it to my bandmate (so I still get to use it at gigs). The electro is also very good.

 

I like the basic sound of the Korg as well as the layout of the controls. The 1' drawbar is a little shrill, but the Leslie sim is to die for. It's also pretty tweakable and just about every parameter is editable. The overdrive leaves a bit to be desired. Also, the CX3 has reverb, which the Nord doesn't have.

 

The Nord has better chorus/vibrato (at least to my ear it sounds more like the real deal) and it's lighter and cheaper. Plus, it's got killer Rhodes and Wurly sounds. The tradeoff is there is very little that is tweakable. If you think the Leslie takes too long to speed up, too bad; you're stuck with it. Still, the stock sound is pretty incredible, and you have to remember that nothing was tweakable on the B3, anyway. The layout of the controls is weird (the Leslie control is on the right side -- huh?) and the virtual drawbars confuse me (though other claim it take only a little while to get used to it -- I want to grab the last white bar and pull it all the way out, not press a button that I have to check to see if it represents the right drawbar). One final note: in the Silverlake scene, the Nord appears to be the clonewheel of choice.

 

Overall, I enjoy playing the Korg more. I love actual drawbars and the layout of the controls. I've tweaked it enough such that it sounds like the B3 that I have in my head (I spent a few hours nailing the sound of Jay's B3 in "She's a Jar"). The key action is a little lighter and more B3-like. The Nord seems like a compromise between B3 action and action appropriate for electric pianos. All of this is just my opinion, though. (It's interesting to note that Mikal used to play a CX3 but now plays a Nord when he doesn't have his B3.)

 

One last thing, if you use pedals, neither one has that option.

 

You might also look at the new Hammond XK3 and XK1. Apparently, the XK3 is the new gold standard (it better be, it's the most expensive of the bunch) and the XK1 has the same engine in a compacted package. Also, apparently, Nord is coming out with a dual manual organ.

 

A couple of years ago, Keyboard magazine had a clonewheel shootout. See if you can track that down. Also, trawl around the conewheel discussion group on Yahoo. There's a lot of good information there. Ultimately, you just have to try them all out and see which one is best for you.

 

Finally, you might consider just getting a Hammond. If you're into portability and reliability, then the clonewheels are the way to go; but if this is for playing around the house and you're into the vintage stuff, you could get an M3 for around $200 and a Leslie for maybe $600 (depending on the model). The M3 does not have all the features of a B3 (I think it doesn't have the scanner vibrato or foldback in the upper register -- but you can get foldback installed), but it has tonewheels, drawbars, and that preamp (it's rumored to be the organ used on Green Onions by Booker T and the MGs). All told, you'll come in at around $800 to $1000 depending on the Leslie, which is less than a new clonewheel.

 

I hope this helps.

 

THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your time and help

 

 

lol @ the silverlake part

[ginandcigarettes]

THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your time and help

lol @ the silverlake part

 

No problem. I'm glad I could be of help. My mounting credit card debt is your gain!

 

RE: the Silverlake part: Yeah, I love and hate my own hipster-ism.