Nord Stage 3 - hammond B3 Sound

[analogika]

Overall the Stage series gets the job done better as an all in one than others in a live situation; is my experience. The organ could have a little deeper menu and selection.
The Stage has the least features of any organ clone in the lineup.The A100 in the Electro2 manual explains in detail the bass boost from the internal AO39 tone cab amp in an A100.
I prefer my signal from the bass boosted 5 pin outlet,allows me more clean gain with perc before breakup set at 6688 etc. instead of a B3 8888! Not everyone has a B3 as a favorite!
I'll take all the dynamic range I can get after turning the air cap in the doghouse up a half turn or so.......thanks.
Oh yeah,the Nord Stage organ....where was I? It will get it done and never provide a satisfactory tactile experience like a C2D or A100 will.

Probably.

It's still a hell of a player though.

(and yes: service manual adjustment and then a half-turn of the trimpot beyond is where it gets nice and crunchy. )

The A100 I had (it was destroyed in a fire) sounded completely different from my '68 B3 — but in the opposite way you describe: she was a screamer. Thinner, less ballsy sound but a piercing rock screech if you wanted it. Went perfectly with the 145 I had for her (same fire, sadly).

The B3 is a lady — big, ballsy, very funky, with a good crunch of eggshell. For some reason, she matches best with a 760 with the gain turned up slightly beyond healthy. She's okay with a 122 or a 147, but the 760…mmm.

Every one of these machines is a personality.

[analogika]

The Stage 3 organs are fine,I use them.Menu could be larger,selection could include the A100 that is most certainly in the Electro2 model and the Stage EX.
It's right there in the appendix of the owners manual,on page 9.I prefer it's sound to the Stage 3 B3's.

Egads, you're right.

I was sure he told me it was his C3 when I talked to him; maybe I'm misremembering, or he was actually telling me that they were using it for the next generation of modelling (the Nord Electro 2 was already out by this time; I was about to buy one).

Thanks for the correction.

[LeftyBass68]

There is a Hammond A102 sitting below this Stage 3 Compact.It's my practice Hammond.Right off the AO28 preamp into the mixer.Nothing else in the signal path.
Not a signal taken from the 5 pin 'bass boosted' organ outlet,just alligator clipped 1/4" shielded cable right into the mixer in the channel beside the Nord Stage 3C organ.
To get 'identical' tone on the Stage 3 I must run the organ first through the amp/EQ section with the bass dimed and the drive set to 2,at 888000000.
Saying a Nord Stage is right off a B3? Must have been a less robust B3 than this direct from preamp A102.A different organ than the one in older Nords.
I've run this same test with the Electro2 and StageEX. Where' did the 'balls' go Nord? Or do modern sound designers actually play a B3?
Have you compared the expression on a B3 to a Yamaha FC7? Maybe a Nord into an AO28 with the expression pedal? It's as easy as an rca cable away......

[Schorsch]

Hey guys, I need some advice from those of you who are well experienced Hammond and also Nord players. I am trying to get my Stage 3 close to that forceful, crunchy and biting Hammond sound which is known by for example Deep Purple, but can’t get it even close.

What I am looking for is the sound which you can hear for example at the very beginning of these videos:





Can anyone let me know how close a Stage 3 can get to this, and what needs to be done in detail to get it there like settings, additional equipment etc. (no external original Leslie speakers)?

[LeftyBass68]

When close has to be good enough? I run the Stage 3 B3 through the EQ panel mid dials both at 11:30 treble at 12 o'clock bass at full ,drive at 9 0'clock.
Send this 'almost' signal to a Boss Space Echo pedal for further saturation/clean boost into a Ventilator mono in stereo out.Output of Space Echo is 3 o'clock,almost dimed.
Barely lights up the overload on the Vent which has drive set at 2:30 all others at 12 o'clock,just like my favorite '63 A100. Compared to the A100/Leslie of the tube type? Good luck with that.

A Marshall guitar amp and a ring modulator will help you with the dry non Leslie sound too.

[Jo Osantos1]

@LeftyBass68 i will try your settings and give a reply here...

[Jo Osantos1]

When close has to be good enough? I run the Stage 3 B3 through the EQ panel mid dials both at 11:30 treble at 12 o'clock bass at full ,drive at 9 0'clock.
Send this 'almost' signal to a Boss Space Echo pedal for further saturation/clean boost into a Ventilator mono in stereo out.Output of Space Echo is 3 o'clock,almost dimed.
Barely lights up the overload on the Vent which has drive set at 2:30 all others at 12 o'clock,just like my favorite '63 A100. Compared to the A100/Leslie of the tube type? Good luck with that.

A Marshall guitar amp and a ring modulator will help you with the dry non Leslie sound too.

I will try your setting and give a reply here...

[gdermody]

Happy new NORD GRAND owner here..
I recently upgraded from my NORD ELECTRO 4 to the NORD GRAND, and I am very pleased with the PIANO ACTION.

I have searched the NORD GRAND Sample Library, and I have successfully DOWNLOADED and INSTALLED for example the CATHEDRAL ORGAN_3 nsmp3.
However even though I have successfully downloaded and installed ORGAN_HMD_ORCHESTRATION_BR_3.0.nsmp3, it never shows up in my SampLIb Menu.
It has a TAG of 'UnUsed' like a lot of other SampLibs, but some of them show up.

However, not having a Hammond B3 Leslie SampLib is very disconcereting....
What do I have to do to get a working SampLib nsmp3 for the B3/Leslie like I had on my NORD ELECTRO 4?
I need to have something approximating the Hammond B3 Leslie for my gigs..

I see a reference to 'S3 B3' like this "When close has to be good enough? I run the Stage 3 B3 through the EQ panel mid dials both at 11:30 treble at 12 o'clock bass at full ,drive at 9 0'clock."
What is this 'B3' being referenced? Is this only for NORD Stage 3 Keyboards?

I also suspect a Full Memory issue given the messages that it needed 3mb to download any more SampLIbs..
I currently have 237 SampLibs, with a Memory Use of 510.1MB with 0.6MB free .
Is RAM an issue?

Thanks

[kbmatson]

However, not having a Hammond B3 Leslie SampLib is very disconcereting....

Well - not to sound mean - but you bought the wrong keyboard if Hammond was important to you. At this point, if you want to keep the Grand AND have Hammond from it - might look at a module like the Ferofish B4000+ for a few hundred dollars - sounds really good.

I see a reference to 'S3 B3' like this "When close has to be good enough? I run the Stage 3 B3 through the EQ panel mid dials both at 11:30 treble at 12 o'clock bass at full ,drive at 9 0'clock."
What is this 'B3' being referenced? Is this only for NORD Stage 3 Keyboards?

Yes - it is referencing the Hammond engine on the S3

[WannitBBBad]

...I also suspect a Full Memory issue given the messages that it needed 3mb to download any more SampLIbs..
I currently have 237 SampLibs, with a Memory Use of 510.1MB with 0.6MB free .
Is RAM an issue?
Thanks

I believe so. Similar to the other Nords with sample memory, you'll need to find samples that won't be of use to you and then delete them to make space for new samples. In Sound Manager I usually sort the samples by size and delete the largest ones first that I don't need. Good luck with your new Nord!