Hammond newbie looking to buy. Need advice!

[BlueSpirits]

Hi there!,

 

I am a lifetime lover of the Hammond B-3 sound, but I myself have never owned an organ. I am a guitar player(mostly jazz) who also plays a bit of piano.

I am seriously looking into getting an organ for my home studio, and I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice.

I'm looking for something portable, and I would like the ability to have two manuals eventually, as well as add a pedalboard.

I've been trying to do some research on Hammond's site, and it seems like the X-k5 is what I'm looking for, in that it can have two manuals and I can attach a pedalboard? Also, it has a larger range of drawbars compared the cheaper Xk-1c.

I'm looking for something with the closest sound to the B-3 as possible, but in a modern, portable package.

Sorry if this is such a newbie question, but what would I be looking at, as far as required purchases? An X-k5(assuming I start with just one manual), a separate pedalboard, a Leslie(or two) and some kind of stand and all the necessary cables?

 

Thanks for any advice!

[Chuck Nessa]

You need to communicate with Jim Alfredson, owner of this place.

[Jim Alfredson]

The XK5 is the king of digital Hammond emulations right now. And the price reflects that. It's very expensive. But it sounds like the real deal and is 1/5th the weight. It can be purchased as a single manual or double manual like the B3. The 25 note pedal board and expression pedal are separate items. You can also get a Leslie but the internal digital Leslie sounds very good.

Another option is the double manual Hammond SKX which is smaller, lighter, and made more for the stage with other, non-organ sounds like piano, electric piano, strings, etc. The new SK Pro was just announced (I have a bunch of videos about it on my YouTube channel) but so far they only have single manual versions available. I'm sure they'll do a double manual sometime in the future but I don't know when that will be.

Other manufacturers make Hammond clones, like Viscount (called the Legend), Crumar (the Mojo), Nord (the C2), and MAG. Everyone has a different opinion on how closely they emulate the real thing. I prefer the Hammond stuff, like the XK5. 

The nice thing about the XK5 is that it is modular, so you could start with the single manual, add the second manual later, then the bass pedals, then the Leslie, etc.

[BlueSpirits]

Thank you very much for your thoughtful and informative reply. I will take everything you wrote into consideration! Now I'm really intrigued about the SK series, both the SKX and the SK Pro. I will go check out your videos on YouTube.

I really do like the modular aspect of the XK5, since I would never be able to afford everything at once, haha! And it looks so beautiful, as well.

What a great site you have here, and also keep up the great playing, Jim!

 

 

[chewy-chew-chew-bean-benitez]

If you dont need to go pro and want a setup youre in luck.  Wait youre in Canada: dont what the general organ culture is like north of crazytown, but if you have the mobility and a hundred or so bux here you can walk away w/ a M3 & Leslie speaker combo at *various* times of late.  As long as you can move it and have space for it your sit.  While youre at it, get a *baldwin* my guy: aboustely astonishing organ if you ever come across an early baldowin check out LES STRAND who recorded two albums on fantasy on baldwin (the third was hammond).