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B

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#2 ·
I can never go past a Rhodes, but it's not an area I've explored in depth either. I worked in a vintage keyboard after school when I was a teenager- copy, binding and archiving manuals and keeping everything of display clean. It was a cool gig- the owner and other employees were all retired musicians from the 70', 80's and early 90's and had done some cool stuff and played with some great people.
 
Oric Muso

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#4 ·
I quite liked the Wurly electric pianos. Nice straight forward design. I liked the Rhodes but could never afford one.
Tonewheel organs are pretty amazing beasts.

Do a search for the places that rent these out and some sell them too. There aren't too many that deal in the vintage keyboards in UK. Some of the new synths are so good they can emulate the old sounds very well - or you can use samples to get a very close to the original.
 
MartinMusicMan

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#5 ·
I love vintage keyboards -- Rhodes, Wurllies, the mighty Hammond B3 organ w/ Leslie cab. Problem is, they all are hard to maintain and to transport. The solution is the Nord keyboards. They have the best emulations of those vintage keys, including very decent B3 w/ Leslie.
 
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Kritavi

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#7 ·
Remember those little Rhodes bass units? They were kind of interesting. I loved the Rhodes, the Wurlitzer and the brand that Sun Ra was using way back when whose name I can't recollect. Such distinct sounds. I loved seeing Chick Corea back when he was playing just a Rhodes in the Bill Connor edition of RTF.
 
Michael Ward

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Discussion Starter · #8 ·
Crumar..I think Sun Ra played

I much prefer the original keyboards myself to modern keys and plug ins. They just sound better to me the real thing.

The little Rhodes bass units as used by Ray Manzarek from the Doors are great. I love combo organs..Vox. Farfisa and the Gibson 101. Here's a good site.

http://therisingstorm.net/classic-gear-combo-organs/
 
RootyTootoot

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HornForHire

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#15 ·
Yep, I've still got a Fender Rhodes 73.
I would love to own a Wurlitzer, a Hammond (B3), a real Mini Moog...

But I have to agree that Nord makes good emulations.
 
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Michael Ward

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Discussion Starter · #16 ·
Yes I work with plug ins all day everyday but I also work with a bloke who has a room full of analogue synths. Moogs and many rare pieces. A nice Wurli 200. I really notice the difference...it's huge! Like using tape to record.

I worked with Paul Carrack ( Ace " How Long", Mike and the Mechanics ect) a few years ago . He had a B3 in his studio and wrote everything on it and just the vibe makes you write differently...it also helped that Mike Macdonald had sat in the same stool and played it too!
My wish list..A blue or red Wurlitzer 200 and a Gibson 101 combo organ...I like the silver top Rhodes and the blue top RMI electro piano too.
 
MartinMusicMan

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#17 ·
I had a Wurlitzer back in the early 70's. I have no idea what happened to it. I think they were considered cheezy crap back then and I probably left it behind when I got divorced. But I loved the sound of that thing. I used to pretend I was Ray Charles. And though I love the emulations of vintage keys in my Nord, nothing ever really sounds like an old Wurli -- you can feel that vibrato and the keys striking the reeds. And the distortion "bark" when you play hard is perfect for R&B. A thing of beauty. But then the reeds go out of tune so easily that the Nord, while a pale substitute, is so much easier to deal with. And at 17 lbs., is so much easier to transport -- and it includes a Rhodes, a B3 & Leslie, a clavinet, and an acoustic piano. :)
 
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Michael Ward

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Discussion Starter · #18 ·
I collected the Vox Conti from beautiful York yesterday...Jorvic ( Viking capital of Danish Yorkshire back in the day)
It has plastic keys not wood and at first I was worried that is was the less desirable Italian produced Vox but it has the UK/US style cross legs and claret and white drawbars( All the Italian ones have a different style cross support and black and white drawerbars...these could have been changed of course but not the cross support without leaving evidence.

The Vox is apart from the electrics pretty much original and unrestored. Its very clean inside and organised. Sparked up straight away and sounds phenominal. Great " click" on the keys which have a lovely action according to my friend who accompanied me and has a huge vintage keyboard collection.
After digging about a bit I'm certain it's model 6 here. A late one 1967 ( my favourite year)

http://www.combo-organ.com/Vox/index.htm

In the new year I'll investigate it's cosmetic restoration but I'm very happy with this combo organ.
 
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