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Best Keyboard for Clav?


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II really liked the Nord Clav & action in my Stage2 Compact.
Good to hear - I'm a little disappointed with the Nord Clav (I have a NS2C as well), it's too polite for my taste. Without release samples, it doesn't spit and bark like the real thing

 

Cheers, Mike.

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Scott, doesn't the Artis7 have the TP-8O?
No, TP9/P. AFAIK, Kurzweil has never used the 8O (a waterfall action).

 

 

Sorry, it's a TP8/Piano, no "O".....my bad. But not TP9 I don't believe.....

Yes, you're right, thanks for the correction. TP8/P is what's in the Artis7 and a number of other Kurzweil semi-weighteds. The TP9/P is what's in the Numa Compact series... the 8 is better. I updated the earlier posts.

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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For garden variety clavs I prefer Roland clav patches over Nord, Yamaha , Korg or Kurzweil...I guess Yamaha/Nord would take 2nd and 3rd . garden variety, not Boutique gear... I'm sure I have missed more than a few of all those Mfg's clav patches, so take it for what it's worth but to just pick up and go, Roland for me ... they tend to respond well to my playing and sit in mixes the best for me ! I am also by no means a Clav expert ....nor have I ever owned a real vintage Clavinet in my days though I have played them!

 CP-50, YC 73,  FP-80, PX5-S, NE-5d61, Kurzweil SP6, XK-3, CX-3, Hammond XK-3, Yamaha YUX Upright, '66 B3/Leslie 145/122

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Mojo 61 clavs have one the the better keyboard to sound connection available around ( as good as Ep and Tonewheel engines)

 

I think I already expressed this, but in case I didn't, yeah, I don't think you can do much better than the Mojo 61 for clav emulation. The problem is you don't have immediate knobby controls over all the settings. The Crumar Seven gives you that, but the Fatar TP100 keyboard is kind of the opposite of the action you'd want. My wrists hurt just thinking about it.

 

I love the idea of being in a playing situation where I can play as much clav as I want. That's what it would take for me to justify owning a Vibanet and carrying it around. But by definition that's probably going to a jam bandy type gig where I have at least equal creative input. More likely it would have to be Lachy Doly thingy where I'm the band leader and can call the shots. I've had those situations in the past but it's not likely I'll have one again soon.

 

Speaking as someone who doesn't have my own keyboard tech and can't fix stuff myself, I can't imagine gigging with a vintage clavinet. I'd think the maintenance would be prohibitive. That's just my guess. I assume there's maintenance needed even for a Vibanet, just to keep it in tune? I dunno. My days of playing a real clav were 30+ years ago.

Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro

Home: Vintage Vibe 64

 

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the Fatar TP100 keyboard is kind of the opposite of the action you'd want.
I cracked a wry smile reading that. Imagine a post "I need the worst keyboard for clavinet - and also organ. What can you recommend?". We have a clear winner.

 

Cheers, Mike.

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Listening to a lot of playing on youtube I am finding the Mojo 61 to be quite attractive. Nobody near me seems to carry these so the keyboard feel will be the difficult part to determine (though users including several of you above praise the feel).

 

I think I am moving away from some of the heavier actions and am dialing my choices down with frontrunners at the moment probably being the Mojo, Continental, or SK. Oddly the new old stock and used SK2's don't seem to be going for that much less than a new SKx.

 

To clarify on an earlier question, this playing would be just on my own for my own enjoyment. If I get decent I might add clav parts to some compositions (in Cubase). I wouldn't play live for the foreseeable future.

 

Thank you again to everyone for the great help you've been.

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These Vibanets look awesome. Someone suggested one of these when I asked about clavs on this bulletin board maybe 10 or more years ago. (Talk about taking too long with a decision.) It was hard to find the price on the site, or how to buy one, but it seems like they are $6K.
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The real thing is a pain in the ***.

 

PS - Well it could be really cool to have one if it stayed home. I see the whole world through gigging eyes.

"It doesn't have to be difficult to be cool" - Mitch Towne

 

"A great musician can bring tears to your eyes!!!

So can a auto Mechanic." - Stokes Hunt

 

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The real thing is a pain in the ***.

 

PS - Well it could be really cool to have one if it stayed home.

 

Agree, Ed. My E7(with VV pre amp installed) lives on top of my Hammond A 100. They live at home with me, as does my Kawai acoustic piano. Very few bands gig with these types of keyboards anymore.

:nopity:
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I'm hearing a lot of praise for the Mojo61, but I'm kind of surprised. I think it's great, but Crumar have given it almost no attention and it has virtually no controls. I'm woefully ignorant about real Clavs, but every Softsynth I've played has settings for different pickups, I'm assuming they have upper/lower pickups that can be mixed? The Mojo has nothing like that. Globally, the keyboard has amp sim, overdrive gain, and 3-band EQ, but beyond that, the Clav model has no independent controls. The Wurli and Rhodes models can be tweaked in the App, but there's no page for the Clav (or the Acoustic Piano). Crumar made statements early on suggesting they saw these two models as nice bonuses, but it's been clear that they don't see them as priorities. That said, the Clav is funky and quite playable. The Keybed is fantastic.

 

...and you get arguably the best Hammond model on the market with it.

Puck Funk! :)

 

Equipment: Laptop running lots of nerdy software, some keyboards, noise makersâ¦yada yada yadaâ¦maybe a cat?

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I'm hearing a lot of praise for the Mojo61, but I'm kind of surprised. I think it's great, but Crumar have given it almost no attention and it has virtually no controls. I'm woefully ignorant about real Clavs, but every Softsynth I've played has settings for different pickups, I'm assuming they have upper/lower pickups that can be mixed? The Mojo has nothing like that.

 

Mojo 61 does have a full set of clavinet pickup selectors, tone switches, and the mute slider. However they are only accessible from external interfaces like iPad or the hardware editor.

Moe

---

 

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Mojo 61 does have a full set of clavinet pickup selectors, tone switches, and the mute slider. However they are only accessible from external interfaces like iPad or the hardware editor.

 

IT DOES?! I swear I've looked all the way through the app, and when I go to the "E Pianos" page, all it shows are panes for Rhodes and Wurli. Is this a new addition, or am I just crazy? (Latter could always be the case). If it's as you say, this could be very easily rectified with a $50 midi control surface. As I'm pretty sure all options from the App can be set by Continuous Controllers.

Puck Funk! :)

 

Equipment: Laptop running lots of nerdy software, some keyboards, noise makersâ¦yada yada yadaâ¦maybe a cat?

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If it's as you say, this could be very easily rectified with a $50 midi control surface. As I'm pretty sure all options from the App can be set by Continuous Controllers.

Yes, you can see him adjusting the various clav parameters in real time using a Korg NanoKontrol on this video, starting at about 6:20

 

[video:youtube]

 

though since all standard clav controls were simply the 6 rockers and one slider, it would be nice if you had the option to use the drawbars that are already there. Those drawbars already have different functions for the different organs, why not a set of clav funcions too?

Maybe this is the best place for a shameless plug! Our now not-so-new new video at https://youtu.be/3ZRC3b4p4EI is a 40 minute adaptation of T. S. Eliot's "Prufrock" - check it out! And hopefully I'll have something new here this year. ;-)

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I'm thinking about selling my Nord Electro 4 SW73. I'm no expert, but I really like the clav with the expression pedal assigned to act as the wha pedal. So to the OP, feel free to PM me. I use it 2-3 times a gig, and people really dig it, I dig it.
Hammond B-2, Leslie 122, Hammond Sk1 73, Korg BX3 2001, Leslie 900, Motion Sound Pro 3, Polytone Taurus Elite, Roland RD300 old one, Roland VK7, Fender Rhodes Mark V with Roland JC90
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The real thing is a pain in the ***.

 

PS - Well it could be really cool to have one if it stayed home.

 

Agree, Ed. My E7(with VV pre amp installed) lives on top of my Hammond A 100. They live at home with me, as does my Kawai acoustic piano. Very few bands gig with these types of keyboards anymore.

*Meekly raises hand* I've gigged with one. Not out on The Road or anything, but a solid handful of times a year, at venues that you'd laugh at, and without nearly as many issues as you might imagine. I have a D6, and it's definitely a pain in the ass to move -- it's a heavy, fragile SOB -- but man, is it a treat to play. Ain't nothing like the real thing.

 

You do have to tune it, but mine at least stays in pretty well, and while the number of strings makes tuning a little tedious, leaving the frontplate off makes it easy to adjust on the fly with a flathead screwdriver. I've never had to retune during a gig or anything, though the stabby nature of the parts I play on it probably obscure potential tuning issues. I will say that I've broken two strings in the upper register in the six years I've had the thing and have been taking it out, and after a valiant attempt to restring it, I just said "screw it, I don't play up there very often anyway".

 

Of course, the end of this story is predictable: post-Covid, I won't be taking it out nearly as often. I never say never, but I have a home studio now where my D6 also sits nicely on top of a Hammond, and it took me the first month of quarantine just to feel like I was recharged from gig burnout... so I'll generally be traveling a little lighter if things ever go back to normal.

Samuel B. Lupowitz

Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado.

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I have a D6, and it's definitely a pain in the ass to move -- it's a heavy, fragile SOB -- but man, is it a treat to play. Ain't nothing like the real thing.

 

You are preaching to the choir young man. Put a VV pre amp in your D6 and it will kick ass times 10. :cool:

:nopity:
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Although I own an Electro 5 73, I tend to favor my Kronos with the Purgatory Creek Clavinet sample sets. The release noise is spot on and really adds to the overall vibe.

�Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here!�

J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
I have a D6 and yes, it was a pain in the ass to move it. That metal plate on the bottom not only weighs a ton, but it makes it feel lopsided when carrying it as well. MIne held its tuning pretty well. As others have said, there is nothing that can match the fun of playing it through a wah and a couple other pedals into a tube amp. You can get some cool sounds by running it through a echo pedal, opening up the lid, and strumming the strings.
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  • 2 years later...

It's probably not the best keybed for it, but I have the Purgatory Creek clavs (along with rhodes and wurlis among others) on my Modx7 and it sounds great to me.  Now, if only I could play clav worth a darn :) 

Actually I have no idea what a real clavinet keyboard is like, whether it has the high trigger point like an organ one etc.  The Modx7 is quite light and shallow and for a synth keyboard works pretty well for organ.

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16 hours ago, ClosetComposer said:

(I am rsw, who started the thread, I guess with a different login.)

 

Well, it took a lot longer than expected, thanks mainly to covid and its many unfortunate consequences, but I have finally just pulled the trigger (two years after starting this topic) on a mint Hammond SK2. 

 

Congrats on the SK2. I had an SK1 and remember its clav sound to be standout, something that sadly has not been replicated on the SK Pro I own now, even with its multiple pickup settings.

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2 hours ago, Stokely said:


Actually I have no idea what a real clavinet keyboard is like, whether it has the high trigger point like an organ one etc.  The Modx7 is quite light and shallow and for a synth keyboard works pretty well for organ.

 

You would cry if you played a real one. It's a thing of beauty. Very short throw, and extremely touch responsive. It takes an effort NOT to play funky on one.

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Moe

---

 

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Nord probably is one of the few boards that give you the filter and pickup options, although the latest Nord Electros (5&6?) are missing one of the filters.  Still, real time adjustment is cool; that's what I like about the Gemini module integrated with my midi controllers, I've programmed the sliders to control all of the switches (including the damper) in real time.

57 Hammond B3; 69 Hammond L100P; 68 Leslie 122; Kurzweil Forte7 & PC3; M-Audio Code 61; Voce V5+; Neo Vent; EV ELX112P; GSI Gemini & Burn

Delaware Dave

Exit93band

 

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