B3T Hammond Organ - Jiggery Pokery

[Namahs Amrak]

This device has been out for a while now, what are people's impression? I would like an instrument that can recreate the late 1960's rock sound, such as Steppenwolf, Uriah Heep, Vanilla Fudge and Deep Purple. Not too impressed with the Hammond sounds I already have in the Abbey Road ReFill, which I believe is a C2.

 

[motuscott]

I haven't tried that one. Selig has a B3 refill which I do have and is why I haven't tried JP's.

[JiggeryPokery]

You really have to just try it for yourself and see how you feel.

I added a lot hard rock/Deep Purple/Jon Lord-esque presets with a serious amounts of overdrive. The important point to note is that keyboard players do ride the drawbars a lot, so drawbar settings are only ever a starting point.

[motuscott]

Fun Fact:
I once took so many pills I slept through a Deep Purple concert in some east coast city that had a naval base (it's all kind of blurry, thinking Norfolk, Va).
Early seventies. Not sure if Jon Lord was involved. Space Truckin' for like thirty minutes, that's all I remember.
Racking up them posts Y'all.

EDIT Norfolk not Richmond

[dconana]

I can't give a very scientific answer, but to me it sounds very real and very present. There are a ton of great presets to be going on with, definitely worth a try. I think its excellent, I just enjoy playing the instrument, looking forward to using it on tracks when the time comes.

[Ostermilk]

This device has been out for a while now, what are people's impression? I would like an instrument that can recreate the late 1960's rock sound, such as Steppenwolf, Uriah Heep, Vanilla Fudge and Deep Purple. Not too impressed with the Hammond sounds I already have in the Abbey Road ReFill, which I believe is a C2.

 

I'm really digging it, well all 3 of Jiggery's prime RE organs in fact.

Once you've got the essential controls under remote control and stuff like expression commited to automation then you really start to get into how flexible and playable they are.  I can't see you'll have too much trouble getting adjacent to those sounds you mention with the B3.

Vintage organ purists may pull them apart for not being exact replicas but then they'd be missing out on the fact that these RE's are immensly playable and fun in their own right.

Recommended, but of course try before you buy.

[dvdrtldg]

How does it compare to Revival for the B3 sound?

[Shokstar]

in the right hands is it gold worth. A friend is playing the B3 each time we met to make music. try it, you will not regret it!

[JiggeryPokery]

If you have selig B3+Leslie, or my old B3 Tonewheels ReFill, you'll find B3T far more pleasurable and easier to play and jam with. The IDT rotary is very good and I tried to make it as adjustable as I could, particularly the ability to turn off rotation per speaker, or just use one speaker rotaries, but I don't suggest it's the be-all-and-end-all, or comparable to the best Leslie emulations available out there: I could only provide what I was given in the IDT system.

If you do have selig's system, nothing is stopping you from also using B3T providing the real-life B3 sound with his excellent Leslie combinator, which has its own advantages and disadvantages: Thor's chorus works well here, but it's reverb-free, so you need to add a lot of space, or there's PH's Rotor. selig complained about that being rather flat across the frequency range. I can't point to specifics like he can, but I agree it's not perfect either. But frankly, anyone who loves organs and Leslie will have Rotor as even with its flaws and strange omissions (like only allowing for a dual speaker system), it's the only RE Leslie effect available.

No two B3/Leslie combos ever sounded exactly the same, so do mix and match.

Revival sounds ok as a B3, but for me it sucks all the instant joy out of using an organ with its myriad of fiddly and mostly unnecessary controls, and non-adjustable rotary. It's a synth, not an organ. Revival is a good example of someone thinking outside the box, but sometimes there are good reasons we have boxes and keep stuff in them!

[PinkSlime]

so when is the space organ coming up in the shop?

[mbfrancis]

I have the B3T, Selig's Refill, and Rotor, and for my stuff I have been mostly using Rotor presets, which to me sound best, and fullest.  I tried what JP suggests, running the B3T through the Selig Leslie, but it didn't sound great to me (maybe I needed reverb).  The sounds I like best from the B3T are the simplest (e.g., Fugue presets), I just haven't had need of them yet.

Using all these and comparing them to tracks played by a real organist has definitely convinced me that the organ is a completely different instrument, and you really need to know what you're doing with the drawbars and multiple manuals to nail the sound.  So that would apply with any virtual instrument.

[inmatus]

I love organs

Why not make a package of your organs RE for a nice price and I buy..

[selig]

I have the B3T, Selig's Refill, and Rotor, and for my stuff I have been mostly using Rotor presets, which to me sound best, and fullest.

That's the same reason I DON'T like Rotor - there's no real Leslie that has nearly that "fullness" and that flat of a frequency response. While it's totally unrealistic sounding, I would also add that one doesn't necessarily always need or want to evoke the original instrument and the same feelings it creates.