Rhodes/B3 Keyboards reccomendations

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kybdplr

New member
I've just joined a classic rock/Grateful Dead cover band and am looking for a new keyboard from Roland or Korg preferably that has great Rhodes and organ sounds. I currently have a Korg X3 and a Roland JV880 that were great when I was in pop bands. I dont care about on board effects or bells and whisles just great pianos and organs. This would be for live performance only.

Should I get the Keyboards of the 60's & 70's expander for the JV880 or look for a good stage piano/midi controller. Roland RD170? Most keyboards are geared to pop and new rock. Any suggestion on a New board with Old sounds.

Thanks
James
 
For pretty darn authentic organ stuff, I'd check out the Korg CX3:
http://www.korg.com/gear/info.asp?a_prod_no=CX3&category_id=1

I don't own one, but have played a friend's that he uses in a band. Great tone wheel stuff, percussive effects. Two sets of nine drawbars...good stuff. This would easily cover your organ needs. If you're looking for an all-in-one type thing, that would be tough. I don't know one keyboard that can really nail all emulations well. I own a Yamaha S80 with a PLG150-PF plug-in boards (pianos, electric pianos and DX) and the plug-in board has some very, very nice electric key emulations - Rhodes type stuff from the 70's, 80's and even some nice 60's key stuff. Really nice pianos too. I generally use the stock stuff in the S80 - pretty nice pianos - especially for cutting through live sounds. In the organ department though, well, the S80 IMO falls pretty short.

Roland also has a VK-8M organ module which sounds pretty nice. Demo'd one at a local key shop. Nice little unit with 8 drawbars and amp & speaker modeling.

I also just listened to the samples of the Nord Electro that fldrummer mentioned. The samples sound pretty good to my ears. I'd prefer to play one live to really judge sounds and playabilty, but the samples DID sound good. Seems like that one could cover your piano and organ needs.
 
I guess sound quality is subjective among different players. Thing is, the two models you suggest sound better don't have the authentic control the CX3 does, and I haven't seen them being played live either. Personally, I found the CX3 highly controllable and playable - and pretty darn good as far as authentic vintage sound. I don't even own one and don't have a problem recommending it. If you know how to use drawbars and the other elements of organs and digital authentic organ boards, you can get some pretty killer sounds on the good ones (Korg CX3 for example). If you want to press a button and play, well.

Recommending a Casio to play live, hmm, couldn't do it. Not that all Casios sound bad or anything, I just don't recall any of them being road worthy.

To each his own.



James: I'd listen to the demos of the Roland VK-8M on the Roland US Web site. Nice little box with wood sides that you could add to your current gear. This little box produces some nice sounds and control.
 
I have patches for my Kurzweil K2600 that sound VERY close to a rhodes. They would fool most people.

I actually had a Mark V in Montreal - I left it with my brother. One of these days I'll ask for it back :)
 
fraserhutch said:
I have patches for my Kurzweil K2600 that sound VERY close to a rhodes. They would fool most people.

I actually had a Mark V in Montreal - I left it with my brother. One of these days I'll ask for it back :)
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've heard some nice Rhodes/Electric piano stuff on Kurzweil gear too. I own a Rhodes Stage 73 Mark II and still love playing it. Have an old phaser pedal I run it though occasionally. Also own a Hammond A100 (pretty much a B3 with built-in speaker system). Love the old stuff - but don't care to lug it around and I just won't!
 
You might check out the Roland VR-760. It is pretty much geared for what you need (Rhodes samples, organs, real drawbars, waterfall keys, etc.). I like the VK Rolands better than the CX Korgs (although they're OK too).
 
I am in the market for a new keyboard. I own a Kurzweil effects box, (KSP8)but don't know much about their keyboards.
 
If you want a high-end synth/sampler, you owe it to yourself to check out a Kurzweil K2x00.

I love them so much I have both K2500 and a K2600, and they are my workhorses.


My $0.02.
 
I need it first for gigs and second for recording. At gigs I am the keyboard and guitar player. I need good piano, organ, strings and brass sounds. The brass has to sound real. I need good electric piano sounds including the Rhodes. I need to be able to switch to those different sounds rather quickly. Some times I play keyboards on back to back songs. I might be playing an organ on song 1 and then song 2 I might need a Rhodes sound.
 
Might look into the Yamaha MOTIFS as well. They relatively new ES series (ES 6,7 and 8) are very nice boards. Very good Rhodes sounds as well as very convincing piano sounds. Stock organs aren't bad at all, but there is a B3 voice library available that has some damn good organ voices for a good price. I think prices for the Yamaha and Kurzweil boards are in a similar range.

If I were you, I'd head to a local music store and check some stuff out. Not sure what is by you, but I'd always recommend playing before buying. Both Yamaha and Kurzweil have some nice sound selections, I'm just partial to Yamaha - good quality, road worthy equipment.
 
I use a Hammond XK2 and it gets great B3 tones. The Leslie simulation is very good, and certainly enough for live work.

I do a lot of MIDI work through the Hammond using Nano boxes. I use the NanoSynth for horns and special effects, and the NanoPiano for piano stuff. My NanoBass has a wide variety of usable bass tones.

The Hammond keyboard will split into as many as 4 midi zones.
 
If you can find a used Yamaha EX5 or EX7 or EX5R on ebay or somewhere else, it has the absolute best Rhodes patches you will ever hear.

It has a unique technology only found on that board called FDSP that makes playing the Rhodes patches feel so realistic and responsive that you actually think you're playing a 73 suitcase.

The organs are also really great. If you find someone who has the 10-disk bonus pack Yamaha sent out for the millennium there is an organ disk with about 60 organ patches that absolutely rock. And www.ex5tech.com has tons of users who program EX5 patches to emulate other synths.
 
u would be on point if u were to,get the ,.keys ,of the 60,s and 70.s for your jv880,.it has a hugevariety of rhodes ,wurlies ,and b3,.patches,.u wont be dissapointed.
 
Thanks Super and everyone for the great thread

James...

Can you tell more about the Sounds of the 60's & 70's expander for the JV880? Olot of usable sounds. Way different from the piano's and organs in the JV880 I hope. Will that expander work in a JV90? My buddy is loaning it to me for a summer to use as my master board....76 keys and with the 60's and 70's board sounds like my inexpensive ticket....However Im still interested in those yamaha ex boards......

Thanks again
KybdPlr
 
I'd probably recommend a Kurzweil K2661.

:)

I own a Roland Fantom S and love the thing but it doesn't do organs all that great. There are some decent electric keyboard sounds especially if you get into the expansion boards.

The Nord Electro 2 sort of sounds like a guitar amp emulator but instead of some fake imitation of a Marshall you get fake imitation of a Rhodes. Considering how much they want I think the Kurzweil gives you so much more. You might also look at a used K2500. Be careful as they have a lot of model designations and feature differences.
 
yeah ,the 60.s and 70,s board,.should work with yer ,jv 90 ,as well,....oh and on the ,.topic of that nord lead synth,.i heard one on the tonightshow ,.a group was playin,.i was sure it was a real wurlitzer,.until they showed the red , nord keyboard,. i was shocked,.iwant one of those,.soon....peace
 
superdee said:
yeah ,the 60.s and 70,s board,.should work with yer ,jv 90 ,as well,....oh and on the ,.topic of that nord lead synth,.i heard one on the tonightshow ,.a group was playin,.i was sure it was a real wurlitzer,.until they showed the red , nord keyboard,. i was shocked,.iwant one of those,.soon....peace
Click to expand...


To make your text much more readable, try not to use a period (.) immediately following a comma (,).


The Nord Electro is pretty nice, though.
 
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