Hammond Organs (B3/C3/etc) drawbar question

[Alexbt]

Why does the B3 have 4 sets of drawbars?
I would assume that is two sets of drawbars per keyboard.

In early (and a few recent) B3 clones, only one set of drawbars per keyboard is provided. Are you lacking anything this way?

I'm planning on buying a B3 clone or an actual Hammond (though probably not a B3, but a similar one with one set of drawbars per keyboard).

Also, anyone know of any really good prices? I can't afford to spend thousands of dollars (really only a few hundred) but I really need that sound.

 

[bgavin]

My old C3 had two sets of drawbars for each manual. Total of 4 drawbar sets.

My current Hammond is the XK-2 model, which is about 500 pounds lighter. The leslie simulator is very good, especially for live work. To my ears, it sounds like my old C3. The overdrive knob adds a huge amount of grind, simlar to overdriving an old tube Leslie.

The tradeoff for lighter weight is the loss of the 2nd manual, and the versatility it offers. I'll take the lighter weight. On the plus side, the XK-2 offers up to 4 MIDI zones on the keyboard. I use it to drive NanoPiano and NanoSynth boxes. The XK-2 has velocity sensitive keys, etc. A very nice MIDI implementation.

I'd like a 2nd XK-2 above the first one, so I can use it for Hammond, and keep the first one entirely for MIDI (horns, brass, piano, sitar, strings, etc) for live work.

 

[Alexbt]

Well, having owned a C3, could you tell me-- what does the extra set of drawbars per manual do?

 

[bgavin]

The full size Hammonds (B, C, others) had an octave's worth of black keys at the left end of each manual. These were preset keys that could be hard wired (literally) to a specific drawbar setting.

The highest two (if I remember right) controlled each of the two drawbar groups. With the tap of a black key, you could switch between either of the two drawbar groups for that manual, or the hardwired presets. The lower manual operated the same way. Very versatile.

My current Hammond XK2 allows for the same thing, but the presets are created and stored electronically. If the keep alive battery dies, the settings revert back to factory standard.

I also understand I can set presets to control MIDI programs. I use two Nano boxes (Piano + Synth) for MIDI tones that I cannot get from the Hammond. The XK2 will split into 4 separate MIDI zones, so each section of the keyboard can control a different MIDI channel.