FA Series Hammond tones revisited

[Devnor]

I'm a Jupiter 80 owner but I have been thrust into a keyboard position in a band that uses quite a bit of Hammond sounds a la the Benmont Tench variety. Instead of lugging my Hammond XK3c I'm looking at a FA-06 that is nice and lightweight. So looking for opinions on these kinds of sounds. Not too distorted but still dirty at time. I already know I could use a ventilator but I'd rather carry/setup as few pieces as possible. tks

[Skijumptoes]

The biggest issue with the FA is the lack of direct drawbar control, you can do it with the jog wheel, bar by bar, but not ideal for playing live in my opinion.

I think they sound pretty good on the FA, but, they're not show stompingly good.. with some additional FX they can be. I've put mine through an old rotary cabinet in the past and it sounded really lively, on it's own however, the rotary emulation is good.. but it's not REALLY good, likewise the organs lack oomph in the lower notes... This can be brought back a bit with the onboard EQ and compressor, but something is lacking when you do that, and it doesn't feel 'airy' enough for my liking.

It's so hard to really give an opinion, because, in my experience, once in a mix.. be that studio or live, the FA really does sound rather good.... On it's own, particularly with the organs/rotary mix you can be a bit over-critical with it.

Have you seen this video? May help you:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWno_8kJw4k

That's interesting as 'woody' creates a studio set and combines two tonewheel patches to give him decent upper and lower sounds.

[Gatorjohn]

There's also this one to use the assignable knobs to adjust the draw bars. Granted, it's only 6 of them but do you really adjust all of them during a gig?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0uHrQtf95s0

[LivingEdge]

...Instead of lugging my Hammond XK3c...

Even the FA-08 is lighter than 50 lbs. You can set up multiple organs using a studio set and cursor between them in addition to the S1/S2 switches and other assignable controls. Of course there are other uses as well.

The sounds are good. I would imagine there is a lot more hardware available that's geared more towards authentic vintage organ sound than Roland, but the sounds are good as would be the Integra sounds with a midi controller to really travel light.

Not to mention twice the polyphony and twice the expansion slots.


Hammond XK3c keeps coming up as one of the best!


Edit: From searching found also the following... -- Nord C2D (21 lbs) or the Electro 4D (15 lbs), but don't expect the feel of a Hammond when playing them.

[0kk0p3kk4]

JP-80 organs without distortion sound fuller than on FA, maybe because of the better AD/DA-parts but nevertheless they are good on FA. On the distorted ones like some sounds from these "C3 Rock 1-6" the FA is a clear winner, since JP-80 dont have the same kind of a cool distortion (for my taste that is). It resembles to me the vk8 distortion. Nice.

[fa06roland]

I am an FA06 owner and was somewhat disappointed that the organ capability of this keyboard. I found out after my purchase that It did not come with the B3/C3 chorus and vibrato effects, this "clonewheel" technology was put in the VR-09 instead, with working drawbars for the authentic "B3 Hammond" emulation capability. If you want an organ replication, the FA06 will mimic slow and fast rotor vibrato to some degree. I do also own a Hammond SK2 and Mini-Vent for organ, the classic tonewheel B3 is very good with the SK2 although electronic. Don't get me wrong, the FA06 gets a very high grade in my keyboard setup however the organ section gets only a "C" with me, the VR-09 gets the job done if you are looking for a really good B3 Hammond reproduction. Cheers !

[Devnor]

Thanks all. I don't care about drawbar control and don't need CV in this gig.

Are the tones in C3 Rock 1-6 coming from the SN tonewheel organ or PCM?

[0kk0p3kk4]

TW

[Skijumptoes]

For the organs, the following presets are from the supernatural (SN-A) engine (i.e. tonewheel emulation)

B3 Jazz 1 -> B3 Jazz 7
Full D
Bossa
C3 Rock 1 -> C3 Rock 6
Pure Wheel 1 -> Pure Wheel 3
Nostalgie 1 -> Nostalgie 4

So there's a nice selection there to start with, and obviously you can layer and effect them as you wish.

[Gatorjohn]

There's also 70+ organ tones in the keys exp from axial.

[tomkitel]

The FA06/08 Hammond tones sound really good beyond factory presets. Proof can be heard here:

https://youtu.be/ht9R3udud_4

Have fun!

tom

[0kk0p3kk4]

true!

Or maybe he is using some nord via midi :P (just kidding :D)

[Devnor]

That was a nice video. I'm guessing he was controlling the leslie effect with the switches near the pitch bend lever? I'm pretty much sold on the FA06 at this point. I have a few other questions but I'll start another thread for those. Thanks all!

[Skijumptoes]

In the mix the FA sounds very good, in fact shockingly so, i've recorded drums, bass and electric pianos (From the FA) into a mix for a test, and you can almost smell the cigar smoke - it sounds superb.

And yes leslie fast/slow is operated with S1 button above the pitch bend - you can set the fast and slow/brake speeds in the MFX menu (This is an effect thats laid over the preset, so fully customisable), i.e. as here:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPtWdDDNN64