JP Combo Continental/ Combo Compact question.

[MrFigg]

Anybody got them both? I just bought the Continental and was wondering if I'd be able to get that Farfisa sound by just slapping a bit of tube saturation on top of the Continental. I used up my trial for the Compact ages ago and can't remember if it's any good. Anyone offer an opinion? Thanks

[Gardinski]

I have both of them. They're both high quality instruments, as you'd expect from JP. In all honesty, I don't think I've ever used the Combo Compact for anything. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it, but it has a very distinct late 70s 'home organ' quality about it, which is great if that's what you're looking for. The only reason I haven't used it is that it sounds, well - I'd feel a bit churlish calling it 'cheesy and dated', because that's sort of the point of it. Obviously, the same is true of the Continental, but I've tended to use that a little more, for that instant 'Costello'/'Doors' fix.

I really just bought the Combo Compact for the sake of nostalgia because it looks and sounds very much like the old Conn Marlborough organ I learned my first chords on, way back when I was 9. (Wrote my very first song on that: 'The Man In the Iron Mask'. Four chords, and as much dark, gothic foreboding as a nine year old could muster...). I switched to guitar not too long after that, fell in love with it, and never really came back to keys until my late 30s, but the grounding I got on that cheesy old organ stood me in good stead for everything I've done since.

Anyway, I've just booted it up (the Combo Compact) to refresh my memory, and I have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised. It's rich and sonorous, and is capable of a lovely 'cutting' tone. All those lush, fruity harmonics that so captivated me as a kid... I really should dust it off and do something with it.

It does sound really authentic, to my ears. (I never played a Farfisa, so I couldn't comment as to how close it comes, but I don't think you'd be disappointed.) You could definitely whack out some decent 'Stranglers'-style riffs on it without sounding out of place, and with the right fx chain you've got the basis of endless psychedelic noodlings if you're feeling a bit Proggy.

Not sure if that helps, MrFigg... But if you've got any specific questions about it: (presets? specific voicings, etc), I'll do my best to answer.

[MrFigg]

I have both of them. They're both high quality instruments, as you'd expect from JP. In all honesty, I don't think I've ever used the Combo Compact for anything. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it, but it has a very distinct late 70s 'home organ' quality about it, which is great if that's what you're looking for. The only reason I haven't used it is that it sounds, well - I'd feel a bit churlish calling it 'cheesy and dated', because that's sort of the point of it. Obviously, the same is true of the Continental, but I've tended to use that a little more, for that instant 'Costello'/'Doors' fix.

I really just bought the Combo Compact for the sake of nostalgia because it looks and sounds very much like the old Conn Marlborough organ I learned my first chords on, way back when I was 9. (Wrote my very first song on that: 'The Man In the Iron Mask'. Four chords, and as much dark, gothic foreboding as a nine year old could muster...). I switched to guitar not too long after that, fell in love with it, and never really came back to keys until my late 30s, but the grounding I got on that cheesy old organ stood me in good stead for everything I've done since.

Anyway, I've just booted it up (the Combo Compact) to refresh my memory, and I have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised. It's rich and sonorous, and is capable of a lovely 'cutting' tone. All those lush, fruity harmonics that so captivated me as a kid... I really should dust it off and do something with it.

It does sound really authentic, to my ears. (I never played a Farfisa, so I couldn't comment as to how close it comes, but I don't think you'd be disappointed.) You could definitely whack out some decent 'Stranglers'-style riffs on it without sounding out of place, and with the right fx chain you've got the basis of endless psychedelic noodlings if you're feeling a bit Proggy.

Not sure if that helps, MrFigg... But if you've got any specific questions about it: (presets? specific voicings, etc), I'll do my best to answer.

Hej, thanks for a great answer. . I read the first half and was thinking “oh good, decision made. No need to buy it” and then I got to the second half hahaha. Yeah. To be honest it’s nostalgia that’s biting here too. Echoes is my favourite Pink Floyd song and I figured it’d be cool to play. Thing with the Farfisa is that it sounds very distorted and growly which bugs me a lot of the time. I’ve got the free Martinic VST but the JP is the deluxe version with a whole load of different voices. The Continental is a great all rounder and does everything from psych to ska. So hmmmm. I still don’t know. Maybe I’m fine with the Martinic and happy with the JP Continental. Sales are always a killer. Thanks again for answering. Much appreciated.

[Gardinski]

Happy to help/hinder.

re: Pink Floyd's 'Echoes'. Yeah, it's funny you should mention that. I was getting definite Rick Wright vibes as I was playing around with it, and was kicking myself for not having made that connection about 18 months ago.

A couple of months before the first Lockdown, (back when live performance was still a 'thing'), I was putting together a show in collaboration with a blind/partially sighted writers' group. An amazing bunch of guys, most of whom were of relatively advanced years. It was a theatre piece - a ghost story, but heavily auditory, for obvious reasons. I was looking for ways of creating a sort of dreamy/halcyon days kind of vibe, and this little plugin would have been been perfect.

One of the participants in the brainstorming sessions was a very dignified 78 yr old blind lady, and she got very excited by this idea. She seemed to have surprisingly in-depth knowledge of late 60s psychedelia. "Oooh yes... you could maybe do something like 'Grantchester Meadows' or something from 'Meddle'."

Turned out she'd travelled all over the country with Pink Floyd on their Ummagumma tour. "I suppose I was a bit of a groupie, really." - Not the sort of thing you'd expect to hear from so dignified a lady.

[MrFigg]

Happy to help/hinder.

re: Pink Floyd's 'Echoes'. Yeah, it's funny you should mention that. I was getting definite Rick Wright vibes as I was playing around with it, and was kicking myself for not having made that connection about 18 months ago.

A couple of months before the first Lockdown, (back when live performance was still a 'thing'), I was putting together a show in collaboration with a blind/partially sighted writers' group. An amazing bunch of guys, most of whom were of relatively advanced years. It was a theatre piece - a ghost story, but heavily auditory, for obvious reasons. I was looking for ways of creating a sort of dreamy/halcyon days kind of vibe, and this little plugin would have been been perfect.

One of the participants in the brainstorming sessions was a very dignified 78 yr old blind lady, and she got very excited by this idea. She seemed to have surprisingly in-depth knowledge of late 60s psychedelia. "Oooh yes... you could maybe do something like 'Grantchester Meadows' or something from 'Meddle'."

Turned out she'd travelled all over the country with Pink Floyd on their Ummagumma tour. "I suppose I was a bit of a groupie, really." - Not the sort of thing you'd expect to hear from so dignified a lady.

Well, here’s my question to you now. If you didn’t have it would you buy it?

[Gardinski]

Oooooh.... what a question!

Not sure. But then, I have just blown about 120 quid on Algoritm and DNA's 'Glacius' in the past couple of hours, and I'm eyeing up Brian's mad Inspiral thing.... so maybe my judgement isn't to be trusted.

How much is the Combo Compact? (It doesn't show the price for me unless I log out, and whenever I do that something goes hellishly wrong. Passwords & my brain are not a good combo.)

I'm guessing it can't be that expensive, because I don't think it was that high a price to start with, so yeah - I probably would, to be honest. It's a lot more fun than I remembered it being. But, as stated, my advice is never to be trusted.

Will you actually use it, though? That's the real question, surely. If it's just for tinkering with, then maybe not.

(I refuse to be held responsible either way... for anything... Ever.)

[Gardinski]

I have now logged out and checked the price.

Dude, it's fifteen quid!!! I've just spent that on a posh toilet plunger, and that's (probably) going to be a lot less fun!

Do it.

[MrFigg]

Oooooh.... what a question!

Not sure. But then, I have just blown about 120 quid on Algoritm and DNA's 'Glacius' in the past couple of hours, and I'm eyeing up Brian's mad Inspiral thing.... so maybe my judgement isn't to be trusted.

How much is the Combo Compact? (It doesn't show the price for me unless I log out, and whenever I do that something goes hellishly wrong. Passwords & my brain are not a good combo.)

I'm guessing it can't be that expensive, because I don't think it was that high a price to start with, so yeah - I probably would, to be honest. It's a lot more fun than I remembered it being. But, as stated, my advice is never to be trusted.

Will you actually use it, though? That's the real question, surely. If it's just for tinkering with, then maybe not.

(I refuse to be held responsible either way... for anything... Ever.)

Nah. Tinkering. But that’s mainly what I do with everything. It’s €17 so not a lot. I’d have bought it without thinking if it was €10. The Continental was €10. And of course you’re not responsible...ever.

[MrFigg]

...and yeah, only €17. But it’s all the other €17s on top of that which are the problem

[Gardinski]

...and yeah, only €17. But it’s all the other €17s on top of that which are the problem

Haha. Tell me about it! I'd vowed at the end of last year that I was going to have a year off from impulse-buying instruments. That was going to be my new year's resolution. Did really well for about three weeks. Then I spotted a pretty acoustic guitar, and thought 'what's the harm?'.... And then, whilst hunting for a suitable strap for it, my eye was drawn to a funky partial capo, (reversible, and only available direct from the guy who 'invented' it in the States)... and of course, a partial capo opens up a whole new world of crazy open tunings, which in turn requires a massive £50 book to get your head around it.

"OK. That's definitely it," I thought. "But hold on - what's this amazing new Electronic Wind Instrument thingy??? I bet that would work well with Reason. I kinda always wanted to learn the saxophone, so it would be a great investment. Educational too. Right?"

Next thing you know, I'm less than a month into the year, and I'm already down a grand and a bit.... Half of it on an instrument I don't even know how to play.

It's an addiction, I tell you.

[MrFigg]

...and yeah, only €17. But it’s all the other €17s on top of that which are the problem

Haha. Tell me about it! I'd vowed at the end of last year that I was going to have a year off from impulse-buying instruments. That was going to be my new year's resolution. Did really well for about three weeks. Then I spotted a pretty acoustic guitar, and thought 'what's the harm?'.... And then, whilst hunting for a suitable strap for it, my eye was drawn to a funky partial capo, (reversible, and only available direct from the guy who 'invented' it in the States)... and of course, a partial capo opens up a whole new world of crazy open tunings, which in turn requires a massive £50 book to get your head around it.

"OK. That's definitely it," I thought. "But hold on - what's this amazing new Electronic Wind Instrument thingy??? I bet that would work well with Reason. I kinda always wanted to learn the saxophone, so it would be a great investment. Educational too. Right?"

Next thing you know, I'm less than a month into the year, and I'm already down a grand and a bit.... Half of it on an instrument I don't even know how to play.

It's an addiction, I tell you.

Oh yes it is. I bought a sitar and a flute. Can’t play either. Hahaha

[Gardinski]

It's the only way to live.

[Gardinski]

If the flute is as tricky as it looks (I wouldn't know - I've never played one), then you'd probably really love the EWI. It's very intuitive, and EXTREMELY forgiving to the point where even a numpty like me can convince himself he's a stone's throw away from being Charlie Parker within a matter of weeks... and there's a choice of configurations (sax/flute/'valve' layout, and the EWI's own proprietary fingering system, which is brilliant. Kind of halfway between sax and flute (I think), but with loads of handy alternative fingerings which make it far easier to customise it to your tastes.)

Oh god - what am I doing? WHAT HELLISH PANDORA'S BOX HAVE WE OPENED?

[DaveyG]

And today RS have persuaded people to impulse-buy an R11 upgrade when they actually want R12!
Everyone expected 30% off stuff in the shop but they have actually got 30% off something that does not exist yet. That's selling for ya.

(Partial capo - just what every guitarist needed - more bloody chord shapes to learn.)

[Gardinski]

(Partial capo - just what every guitarist needed - more bloody chord shapes to learn.)

I know.... It's beautiful though. Such resonance.... It's like an instant Joni Mitchell machine.

[Gardinski]

... but less b*tchy than I imagine that would be.

[MrFigg]

And today RS have persuaded people to impulse-buy an R11 upgrade when they actually want R12!
Everyone expected 30% off stuff in the shop but they have actually got 30% off something that does not exist yet. That's selling for ya.

(Partial capo - just what every guitarist needed - more bloody chord shapes to learn.)

Right. Now I need a partial capo and I bought R11 even though I never wanted R11...just so I could get R12 for €70. License still hasn't arrived though.

[DaveyG]

And today RS have persuaded people to impulse-buy an R11 upgrade when they actually want R12!
Everyone expected 30% off stuff in the shop but they have actually got 30% off something that does not exist yet. That's selling for ya.

(Partial capo - just what every guitarist needed - more bloody chord shapes to learn.)

Right. Now I need a partial capo and I bought R11 even though I never wanted R11...just so I could get R12 for €70. License still hasn't arrived though.

You need to invent a partial capo for your sitar and then sell it and an instruction book for £50 to fund your terrible yet enjoyable habits.

[Gardinski]

Right. Now I need a partial capo ....

This is the book you'll be wanting, if you venture down this route. 600 pages of mad inspiration. You won't believe the sounds you get out of such a simple concept. For an inveterate Cohenesque fingerpicker like me, it's like growing a bunch of extra fingers.

Note of warning though: Harvey Reid's double-sided capo (three & four string) actually works out stupidly expensive if (as in my case) the unexpected import tax ends up doubling the price, (on top of the postage from the US). Not sure if the same would happen for you in Sweden, Mr F, but I suspect it would. So it's probably a lot cheaper to just buy two separate 3 & 4 string Shubb capos.

(There's a spidery 'universal capo' thing too, but that looks really fiddly and I'd be fearful of damaging the neck, cos it looks a bit barbaric).

[MrFigg]

Well...now I've got a Combo Compact. All good .

[Gardinski]

Well...now I've got a Combo Compact. All good .

...and an ever-growing shopping list.

Hope you're having fun with the Compact. Cheesy is the new cool.

[MrFigg]

Well...now I've got a Combo Compact. All good .

...and an ever-growing shopping list.

Hope you're having fun with the Compact. Cheesy is the new cool.

No regrets. On either of them. Can you explain for me though what those "percussion" buttons actually do?

[Gardinski]

Can you explain for me though what those "percussion" buttons actually do?

On the Combi Compact, the Percussion gives you a more staccato sound with an immediate decay. It's more noticeable on some voices than others, I guess. It's pretty clear on the Init patch. The three burgundy buttons (Percussion, Repeat and Long/Short) work in series (I think), so nothing happens with the last two unless you've got Percussion 'on'.

If you add 'repeat', it becomes a sort of stutter effect. Reminds me of the truly horrible 'Banjo' setting on my childhood organ. God, that thing used to give me migraines, especially through the crappy headphones I had. But I still obviously had to play with it every time I sat down, because I only had about 10 sounds to choose from, and when you're 9 it's COMPULSORY to go through them all at maximum volume, however horrible they sound. (Rapid panning effects still have a weird, nausea inducing effect on me if I'm wearing headphones, and I think it stems from that. Anyway, I digress.)

There's a dial above that section which determines whether the stuttering is 8ths or 16ths, etc., and long/short alters how staccato the staccato is.


On the Continental, it's a bit less straightforward. Some of the percussion buttons on that are either very subtle, or just aren't really that audible on certain patches, I guess. I think the third one (II) is probably the most noticeable, but it's a very different effect. Sounds more like a sort of high freq/resonance thingy to me. It's a bit weird, or perhaps just oddly named, but I assume that's how it was on the original Vox Continentals, and as JP is obviously committed to reproducing them faithfully, I guess he can't be blamed for the original design being a bit bizarre/incomprehensible.

[MrFigg]

Can you explain for me though what those "percussion" buttons actually do?

On the Combi Compact, the Percussion gives you a more staccato sound with an immediate decay. It's more noticeable on some voices than others, I guess. It's pretty clear on the Init patch. The three burgundy buttons (Percussion, Repeat and Long/Short) work in series (I think), so nothing happens with the last two unless you've got Percussion 'on'.

If you add 'repeat', it becomes a sort of stutter effect. Reminds me of the truly horrible 'Banjo' setting on my childhood organ. God, that thing used to give me migraines, especially through the crappy headphones I had. But I still obviously had to play with it every time I sat down, because I only had about 10 sounds to choose from, and when you're 9 it's COMPULSORY to go through them all at maximum volume, however horrible they sound. (Rapid panning effects still have a weird, nausea inducing effect on me if I'm wearing headphones, and I think it stems from that. Anyway, I digress.)

There's a dial above that section which determines whether the stuttering is 8ths or 16ths, etc., and long/short alters how staccato the staccato is.


On the Continental, it's a bit less straightforward. Some of the percussion buttons on that are either very subtle, or just aren't really that audible on certain patches, I guess. I think the third one (II) is probably the most noticeable, but it's a very different effect. Sounds more like a sort of high freq/resonance thingy to me. It's a bit weird, or perhaps just oddly named, but I assume that's how it was on the original Vox Continentals, and as JP is obviously committed to reproducing them faithfully, I guess he can't be blamed for the original design being a bit bizarre/incomprehensible.

Thanks again man. I went back and messed about about after I wrote the question and came up pretty much with what you wrote. I think the word “percussion” was confusing me. .

[Gardinski]

No regrets. On either of them.

I have to admit, I'm really chuffed that you reminded me of their existence. I'd sort of forgotten I had the Combo Compact, but I had a proper play with it early this evening (for probably the first time since the week I bought it in 2014/15), and it's actually a lot nicer than I thought. It's a surprisingly responsive little beast. I threw down some lovely, mad little patterns with it, and then mangled them into oblivion via Synchronous.

I think it helped that my playing has come on considerably since 2014, along with my general understanding of Reason and how to get the most out of things. Back then, I tended to just boot things up, have a fiddle, and if the presets didn't grab me, I'd move on to something else. Now I 'delve' more. It's a testament to JP's work that it can still provide an unexpected delight, even after being left to gather dust for 5 or 6 years.