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Post by Time Lord on Mar 9, 2008 18:58:08 GMT -5
I remember the heyday of the combo organ in the 60's as a young boy. Some people hate the sound of a transistor organ and you often hear it referred to as "cheesy" or "crappy". But for me, I always loved how they sounded with electric guitars. There are so many great songs that owe the entire vibe to these instruments! I am mainly a drummer, but I remember lusting for a Yamaha YC-45D in the very early 70's. Never could afford one. So when did you first fall in love with the sound and why? We would love to have you share your story.
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Post by spacepatrollerlase on Mar 10, 2008 16:57:14 GMT -5
I fell in love with organs in 1966 with RED RUBBER BALL. At that point the "combo" or more correctly "portabel" or "stage" organ came into my awareness. It was immediate love. the look was sooo art deco and futuristic, a big thing with me. The "cheezy" sound to me was slick and fast. like a rocketship or star drive. Being as I was one of the original "space cadets" of the early 1950's and have never quit (the standing joke is that a 50's cowboy asked a space cadet "when do you guys graduate from the Academy?" Actually space Patrol was far less about the Academy than Tom Corbett which got more press and media play. The space guy said "when a gunslinger hangs up his guns". Read: Never) this whole gestalt just blew my jets and me into the next galaxy. And it carried over to synthesizers which are the natural follow-on to combo organs.
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!
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Post by plateauphase on Mar 10, 2008 18:48:37 GMT -5
I started out life as a bass player. Played in a bunch of bands in Montreal in the 80s, pretty much stopped by the early 90s. One band I was in had a keyboardist with a Vox and a Howard that just buzzsawed through the mix. I loved the music we did...
Andy, in the 90s, I switched to guitar; played blues ["mamma let that boy play some rock and roll; jazz is just to crazy, he'll play it when he's old; he's too young for the blues, he's still inside his first pair of shoes..."] mostly. When I came down to the US for graduate school, I got a psych/garage band together briefly, and a political post-punk outfit together longer. I got an organ for the former, and kept playing it in the latter. I'd always played some keyboards -- piano lessons and all -- but the organ was something special. Power and subtlety all at once. New that I loved that d**n thing.
I'm on my second now, and resisting the urge to become a collector like Senhor California and B;air Buscareno.
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Post by Time Lord on Mar 10, 2008 20:48:32 GMT -5
I'm on my second now, and resisting the urge to become a collector like Senhor California and B;air Buscareno. Oh, just give in. You know your going to eventually.
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Post by fleshtonejm on Mar 11, 2008 7:12:52 GMT -5
As far as I'm concerned, I always fidlled with instruments, whatever they were when I was in a room and there was one sitting in there. Never had any lesson or anything, it just felt sort of natural to try them... Then, in the early 90's while working in London, I bumped into the continental in a second hand music shop in Notting Hill Gate. I was heavily into 60's garage bands so the instrument was familiar but never had a chance to actually "play" one, or even "see" one! It was cheap, it was in working order, it was appealling, I had the cash saved, I didn't think twice!
Since then, I found a nice 1960's italian guitar (Wandré) on a car boot sale and tried to play it but it's a lot more difficult for me for some reason...
Well, my playing is very "basic": I play with one hand only and shake a tambourine with the other... I'm paying hommage to heroes Jeff Connolly, leader of Boston band LYRES and Peter Zaremba, frontman of Brooklyn band The FLESHTONES...
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Post by plateauphase on Mar 11, 2008 9:58:19 GMT -5
Oh, just give in. You know your going to eventually. Not until I have more space! My shopping list, in order of priority would probably look something like this: Yamaha YC-20 Farfisa Compact Farfisa VIP-345 Vox Continental Gibson G101
All would be players and would be held to my basic instrument-owning rule -- If I don't play it seriously for a year [record with it, gig with it, rehearse with it], I sell it. Such was the fate of my Rickenbacker 4003s, 1973 Fender Telecaster Deluxe and may other instruments.
I will not be a collector.
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blair
New Member
Posts: 98
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Post by blair on Mar 16, 2008 16:05:10 GMT -5
Oh, just give in. You know your going to eventually. Not until I have more space! My shopping list, in order of priority would probably look something like this: Yamaha YC-20 Farfisa Compact Farfisa VIP-345 Vox Continental Gibson G101
All would be players and would be held to my basic instrument-owning rule -- If I don't play it seriously for a year [record with it, gig with it, rehearse with it], I sell it. Such was the fate of my Rickenbacker 4003s, 1973 Fender Telecaster Deluxe and may other instruments.
I will not be a collector.
I'm not a collector; I'm an accumulator. ;D I'm happy to let organs go if I don't like them for some reason. In another thread, I mentioned at least 8 organs I've said goodbye to at one point or another. (And I know there are others, including a couple parts organs, as well as a Compact Duo.) When I look at the list of things I've said goodbye to at one point or another, what strikes me most is that a large portion of them are double-manual organs. I'm just not a fan of them. If I think over all the keyboards I've got right now, there might only be 1-2 double-manual organs in that group! (The one that immediately jumps to mind is a Yamaha YC-25D, simply 'cuz I love the Yamaha combos.) Of course, part of me also wishes I had the Gibson G201 and the Cordovox O642 again. They had some very interesting features.
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Post by stjerky on Apr 9, 2008 2:50:55 GMT -5
I'm not a collector; I'm an accumulator. ;D Orgone Accumulator?
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Post by Time Lord on Apr 9, 2008 8:34:00 GMT -5
I'm not a collector; I'm an accumulator. ;D Orgone Accumulator? Ja. The Accumulator. He vill be Baak!
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Post by gibsonkal on Apr 21, 2008 22:24:40 GMT -5
Why? I saw a photo in the World Book Encyclopedia (1968 year book) of the Beatles in the studio around 1967 with this mysterious keyboard on"Z" stands with reverse B/W keys...-that was the start of the quest for me, and a few years later that Super Continental was in my possession.
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Post by wildkippy on Aug 24, 2008 18:43:27 GMT -5
i've been playing piano for a couple of years in grade school before the british invasion came & mike smith's vox continental. i said "what tha'?" so i had to have one & start a band. they were too expensive so i settled for a doric which today i wish i still had to add to my keyboard collection. now i gots my vox continental but no doric. i love combo organs & electric pianos more than all the modern stuff that's out there now, which i also have. I can't wait to play my 1st gig with my vox & my wurly 145b & my hohner pianet N & my hohner clavinet II.
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blair
New Member
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Post by blair on Aug 28, 2008 10:56:07 GMT -5
I think what got me into these things in the first place was hanging out on the mid-80s garage scene in NYC. The Fuzztones and Vipers used Vox Continentals. The Mosquitos used a Farfisa Combo Compact. I think The Cheepskates were using a Farfisa Professional. And, of course, I'd see The Chesterfield Kings and Lyres a fair amount, as well, both of whom used Continentals.
I was in college in Rochester and got to know the C. Kings...By the time I left, they were phasing the organ out of their sound and (bassist) Andy Babiuk offered to sell their Continental (with road case) to me for $400. That was way more than I could afford at the time, so I said no. The same was true with The Mosquitos' organ player, who offered to sell me his Combo Compact (for the same $400) in '87 (as the band was done). Sometime in early '88, I think, I bought my first combo - a Farfisa Combo Compact Deluxe - for $200. Within a year or so, I bought my first Vox Continental (for $200). And that was the beginning of my first run of buying combos...
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Franz
New Member
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Post by Franz on Sept 18, 2008 14:27:26 GMT -5
As a listener, I'll admit it was early Floyd & Doors that I dug.
As a player however, I found that when I was playing synths and stuff, I kept stopping playing to program, and fiddle with the knobs (which sure is fun).
But then I inherited my Mini, and fell in love with its sheer simplicity, immediacy, and bad ass aggressive tone. And because there's just a few tabs, I can't fiddle...I just play play play.
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Post by jono on Nov 11, 2008 4:12:12 GMT -5
Well i fell in love with the combo organ because of that retro scene of the mid 90s,a long came mike flowers pops wonder wall ,well i was hooked so id desided to ring around and found a legless yamaha yc10,its back where it came from for a service ,it might be back to morrow
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j70
New Member
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Post by j70 on Apr 14, 2009 15:47:05 GMT -5
The answer :
The Animals version of HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN when I was very young ..
Always loved the sound of organs ( Classical , Hammond etc ) since then , but particularily the VOX combo organ sound as used on that track .
Cheers ...
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