I have a Mini Compact and I've tried to match some of the sounds I've heard on certain records (Pink Floyd, Country Joe & The Fish) and I can get close but it's not exact. I was always under the impression that Farfisas all had the same electronics as far as tone generation and that the only differences between models were the extra features and the different stops and tone combinations. Is this true or did each model actually have its own particular sound?
Do all Farfisa organs "sound" the same?
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- Rated: 25 ↑
Sep 15, 2008 3:55 p.m. audiodrome:
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Sep 15, 2008 5:52 p.m. FrequentFlyer909:
Hey, Audiodrome,
The Mini-Compact is, sonically, essentially similar to the Compact Combo (used by early Floyd, CJ+Fish, etc.) -- it has fewer sounds/features/keys than the Combo, but what is there compares to the Combo. So if you're wanting to go to Floyd and Fish worlds, it'll get you in the neighborhood. What you're not getting may be studio processing, or it may be a feature that Combo has that the Mini lacks.
Other model lines that Farfisa made -- the VIP, Professional, and the FAST series -- cannot, cannot, cannot be relied on to sound like a Compact Combo, because they pretty much don't. The FAST series sound like old Atari game music, the VIP line is good, and the Professionals are reportedly top-notch (Sly Stone used one). But different from the Compact Combo.
Don't get too jazzed up over the Compact Duo, if you ever get a chance to acquire one -- the 2nd keyboard is very limited in its sounds, and the organ has a proprietary power supply thing that you absolutely must have in order for it to work... and if it craps out on you, well, you're ever so screwed.
Full disclosure: former owner of a Compact Combo, a VIP 233, and a FAST 3 (green and gray -- totally fab looking, totally crap sounding). When it comes to combo organs, I stick to Vox Continentals nowadays.
Paul/FF909
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Sep 15, 2008 6:16 p.m. fieldhdj:
I recently "recovered" this Farfisa Pianorgan from a garage sale. Not one of the more sought after models, but fun to play with.
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Sep 15, 2008 7:39 p.m. audiodrome:
I absolutely love my Mini Compact! Cosmetically, it's in very fine condition and it sounds fantastic! With the knee lever control, I can get a lot of those early "swelly" Pink Floyd organ sounds. Here are a couple shots of my Farfisa (at home and in the studio):
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Sep 15, 2008 7:41 p.m. FrequentFlyer909:
Hey, Doug,
If the price was right (and I'm guessing it was), that was a nifty pickup!
Paul/FF909
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Sep 15, 2008 7:44 p.m. FrequentFlyer909:
OK, Audiodrome,
I'll bite. What's the keyboard to the right of the Mini?
Paul/FF909
PS: Darned nice Mini, oo. If you ever decide it's surplus, let me know!
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Sep 15, 2008 7:47 p.m. audiodrome:
I love that cool sound it makes when you turn it off with the keys held down. It sounds like it's taking off into outer space!
The keyboard to the right of the Farfisa is a Fender Rhodes Mark I Stage 73. I wish it was a Wurlitzer 200!
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Sep 15, 2008 8:55 p.m. dubkitty:
I gigged with some folks once who used a Farfisa Professional, and it didn't sound anything like the 60s combo organ sound...it had a big electric organ sound, not unlike a Hammond sans Leslie but not quite as full.
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Sep 15, 2008 10:51 p.m. Nobody:
I am SO disappointed not to find a report in here from Proteus.
Yet.
After I came all that way into this thread just knowing I'd find Proteusitousness.
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Sep 16, 2008 10:31 a.m. fieldhdj:
FrequentFlyer909 said: If the price was right (and I'm guessing it was), that was a nifty pickup!
$35.00 I probably could have gotten it for even less, but I was in a hurry and couldn't stay to haggle. It has a sticky key or two, and requires some minor repairs, but we're having fun with it already.
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Sep 27, 2008 10:01 a.m. MarkW:
$35
Holy Crap
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Sep 27, 2008 7:45 p.m. BillyZoom:
There were the Mini Compact, Combo Compact, Combo Compact Deluxe, and Compact Duo. The fancier models had more tone choices. They all have similar tone generators. The later models like the Fast, VIP, and Professional suck.
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Sep 27, 2008 8:20 p.m. cielski:
I had a Mini back in the early sixties. I still think of it as the Calliope from Hell. Got rid of it and a few other things to get a Hammond, and never looked back. At least I could move the Farfisa by myself.
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Sep 27, 2008 9:19 p.m. BillyZoom:
The Mini is cool because it's so small, but it still has the cool tone. I've had a bunch of Farfisas. I still have a Compact Duo, but that's not much more portable than my Hammond. It stays in the studio between the Hammond and the Wurlitzer, next to the two Leslies.
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Sep 27, 2008 11:48 p.m. Proteus:
In high school, I played in a band with several guys, only one of whom had gear we considered sufficient to gig with. (That guy wasn't me, and he was too cool to play with us at all gigs.)
When we had "important enough" gigs (invariably school dances), we'd drive 40 miles in my buddy's '49 Dodge (we called it the Staff Car) to rent Marshall stacks, smoke pots, strobe lights, and a Farfisa at a humble residence on the near east side of Columbus, OH. (Which will mean something to people who know the area.)
I mostly played the Farfisa through the Marshall. I wish recordings survived.
We had a gig at a dance after the football game one Friday, and left from school at 3:00 in the Staff Car on our rental mission. On I-70 near Columbus the Dodge was suddenly fatally low on oil. The floorboard got hot, the smoke was prodigious, we lost velocity, and the engine eventually seized up.
We coasted to the berm and I walked to an exit to call a cousin who lived on the east side, presuming on his father to pick us up, drive us to the humble rental place, and take us back to school in time to exploit our magnificence at the all important dance.
This all seems incredible to me now. But in fact this is what happened. When we stopped back at the Staff Car to pick up the owner, he was stretched out asleep in the back seat in a state of perfect "what-me-worry" grace. This was beyond incredible to my cousin's father, and I think his amusement must have been what carried him through the rest of his mission of mercy.
I'm sure the Farfisa cut like a chainsaw through the Marshall at the gig, which ended promptly at 11:30 pm when the chaperoning teacher, who never did like me, literally pulled the plug on the band (before the explosive climax of our 20-minute last jam) and brought up the house lights.
No doubt to the relief of everyone.
I have a Wurli 200, a Rhodes Stage 73, a number of digital boards, and some passable Hammond emulators, but I've never had a hankering for a Farfisa, despite appreciating its role in early Floyd.
Great stuff...I still prefer the fat Hammond tone.
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Sep 27, 2008 11:48 p.m. Proteus:
But wait.
Is that a Farfisa in In-a-Gadda-da-Vida, baby? And in early Doors?
Hmmm...
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Sep 28, 2008 6:33 a.m. Bernw:
The Farfisa's I remember in the early to mid 60's were very unmistakably audibly Farfisas. I decided on a Vox Continental because it didn't sound unmistakably like a Vox - if you get my drift. I took it to Germany with the band in 1965 to do the clubs out there. It gave me good service, but my Echolette amp did not have the power or the speaker to handle it at higer volumes without it distorting. But I always had a soft spot for a Farfisa.
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Sep 28, 2008 6:59 a.m. MarkW:
The Farfisa's were "affordable" potables like the Vox Jaguar. I had a Jaguar for a while and for a very short time a Farfisa (I do not remember the model) The Jaguar got many of the tones of the Continental for a much smaller price tag, but the Continental was a more complicated and I believe better made organ.
We ran the Jag through our Twin. It pumped out some nice sounds.
Later on...Man those Leslies and B3's were bears to move around!
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Sep 28, 2008 10:05 a.m. BillyZoom:
Ray used a Gibson organ on the early Doors stuff. He later had a chopped B3. The early Continentals had the tone generator circuit encased in a red ceramic lump, making them unserviceable. The later ones are easy to work on. Farfisas are also easy to work on, once you've done a few. I've probably rebuilt a few hundred over the years. BTW, I have parts and manuals for Vox, Farfisa, Wurlitzer, Hammond, etc. I don't think there are many people left who still service farfisas.
