Nord Stage 3 - hammond B3 Sound

[ReneP]

Is there any way to change it? otherwise I'm considering on selling it the new organ is really bad compared to old one.

[Jo Osantos1]

I dunno people ... I was "perplexed" by the S3 organ at first, but after tweaking it a good bit ... and yes it does need it .... and it growing on me ... and particularly after hearing it recorded in live/band setting ... I think it sounds fantastic - much better than the other clones i hear from time to time ... especially and ironically the Hammond brand clones.

Could you share your settings with me then?

[kbmatson]

I dunno people ... I was "perplexed" by the S3 organ at first, but after tweaking it a good bit ... and yes it does need it .... and it growing on me ... and particularly after hearing it recorded in live/band setting ... I think it sounds fantastic - much better than the other clones i hear from time to time ... especially and ironically the Hammond brand clones.

Could you share your settings with me then?

OK - finally back with keyboard set up here .... let's see. I should qualify that I'm a rock/blues organ player and go for a grittier/raw sound. This likely would not be the best for jazz, etc.

My reference drawbar setting is 888808003 .... but I use for anything including 888000000 and all out and anything in between.
Percussion: typically on/fast/soft/third - but will vary dep. on song
chorus off or C3 usually - I love it with C3!

Type: vintage 2
Click: high
trigger: high
rotary: 122 close
Bass/Horn: 40/60 (more horn)
Rotary speed: Normal
Acc: Normal
Horn speed: normal
Acc: SLOW

Rotary Drive: 3.5 but will vary from song to song
Compressor: 8 w/ Fast Attack
Reverb: Stage 1 level:2.8

Amp Sim/EQ Section:
----------------------
Amp sim: off/clean
Treble: 6.5
Mid: Freq: 635 level: -3
Drive: 0
Bass: 10.5

[Plasma Face]

I dunno people ... I was "perplexed" by the S3 organ at first, but after tweaking it a good bit ... and yes it does need it .... and it growing on me ... and particularly after hearing it recorded in live/band setting ... I think it sounds fantastic - much better than the other clones i hear from time to time ... especially and ironically the Hammond brand clones.

Could you share your settings with me then?

OK - finally back with keyboard set up here .... let's see. I should qualify that I'm a rock/blues organ player and go for a grittier/raw sound. This likely would not be the best for jazz, etc.

My reference drawbar setting is 888808003 .... but I use for anything including 888000000 and all out and anything in between.
Percussion: typically on/fast/soft/third - but will vary dep. on song
chorus off or C3 usually - I love it with C3!

Type: vintage 2
Click: high
trigger: high
rotary: 122 close
Bass/Horn: 40/60 (more horn)
Rotary speed: Normal
Acc: Normal
Horn speed: normal
Acc: SLOW

Rotary Drive: 3.5 but will vary from song to song
Compressor: 8 w/ Fast Attack
Reverb: Stage 1 level:2.8

Amp Sim/EQ Section:
----------------------
Amp sim: off/clean
Treble: 6.5
Mid: Freq: 635 level: -3
Drive: 0
Bass: 10.5

I award you the Organ medal of honor. This sound is sooooo much better then the stock one. Actually inspires creativity. I'll have to investigate the Neo Ventilator (how do you have the nord set when you have the Neo hooked up, do you turn off rotary speaker?)

[florence]

yes same for me, thanks for these settings, only changed click from high to normal... but very inspiring, my fingers started immediately 'With A Little Help From My Friends'

[kbmatson]

I award you the Organ medal of honor. This sound is sooooo much better then the stock one. Actually inspires creativity. I'll have to investigate the Neo Ventilator (how do you have the nord set when you have the Neo hooked up, do you turn off rotary speaker?)

Glad it's working for you. I do not use a Ventilator. I looked into it, but frankly, there were many people saying it is not that much better than built in sim to make it worth it, so I decided not to. I know some will contradict this and swear by it, so I had to decide based on what I hear coming out of my keyboard in the setting I'm in, and it sounds good enough for me to skip paying hundreds of dollars and having something else to set up and worry about.

[LeftyBass68]

Glad you don't yet need a Neo Ventilator.
Hope you won't need the medical kind as well? 'The Donald' claims is available to everyone down there,that we all know that just isn't true.
Truth and politics just don't mix well.

Don't know what model Hammond preamp has those settings you describe? They are all different for sure.
Your suggestions will get one closer to the real deal for those that don't have a B3 handy to compare.
I applaud your post,can't hand out any medals though.My Stage 3's are third to sixth in line for overall playing satisfaction.
I just keep tweaking until the Stage3 organs are almost indistinguishable from the house A102,the '63 A100,the '60 A100 or the '53 B2.
At lower volumes the Hammonds still have a warmer tone than the Nord.Most likely the doghouse variable air gap cap that Nord claims to have modeled but never really nailed.
The bass to treble expression curve on the Electro2 was the closest Nord ever got to that function.Still have mine ahead of the '3'.
No Yamaha FC7 is going to get it where it needs to be.My next project is a portable AO28 preamp with expression pedal.If that doesn't nail it I'm screwed.
Almost easier to put the A100 in the van.....

As for my latest Neo Vent,it was under 200US,paid 200CA which is about 155 US as of today.Watched CL every day for five years and was the first to arrive after seller received 30 calls.
Yes, the demand is there.IMO the Nord 122 simulator is inferior to a Neo Vent,that way Nord can release a better one later once all our wallets are back open? You had your chance Nord.
Ten years and counting for Nord to remake their lame attempt,claiming an 'improved' sim can keep up with the Neo Vent? I rate the sim an A-,good enough for ensemble,soloed tells the truth.
The farther out front in the mix the more obvious the simulation.How many of you actually have the real deal to compare right there in front of you?

Stay healthy everyone! Hope all is well out there with my music colleagues!

[gegurbal]

I had a Nord Electro 5D. Hammond sounds great for it. I replaced it for a Stage 3. Now I am struggling to make it sound as NE5. Low frequencies on Stage 3 are too poor.
Any tip to make it sound better is very welcome.

[LeftyBass68]

OS 2.52 still in this Stage 3 for now.The B3 is bad enough as is.....wouldn't want them to move the goalposts anymore.

Only workaround that doesn't totally *iss me off is to route the B3 to the amp sim,set drive to about 10 o'clock and bass +4 through NO amp.Leave those alone....just add drive and bass.
This matches the tone of my '70 preamp in this '62 A102.Close as I can get it.
Closest thing right out of the box was the E2-61 15 years ago.

Has anyone at Nord played an actual real Hammond B3 and Leslie recently? Likely not.

[analogika]

I had a Nord Electro 5D. Hammond sounds great for it. I replaced it for a Stage 3. Now I am struggling to make it sound as NE5. Low frequencies on Stage 3 are too poor.
Any tip to make it sound better is very welcome.

Have you changed the rotor / horn balance in the Sound settings to give it more rotor? That did the trick for me.