Electro 6D for Funk / Hammond B3 Sounds

[salton_see]

I don't own an Electro but I'm considering one. I'm playing in a funk group at mostly use the following sounds, in approximate order of frequency.

Rhodes Electric Piano
Clavinet
Hammond B3 Organ
Brass
Acoustic Piano
Juno 80s synth

I'm hoping to incorporate Juno-type patches for synth funk songs in the future. I also use a Bass Station II for synth base an leads, so I'm not particularly worried about replicating monosynth sounds.

I currently use a 88 key Casio Privia PX 5s, which is good for EP, Clavinet, and Acoustic piano, but less capable at the Hammond sound and I don't like the brass (I don't think brass is going to sound great out of any keyboard, but more options would be welcomed). It's fully weighted, so not ideal playing for Organ or Clav, and -- crucially is heavy and long to haul around.

I know this is a Nord forum, but based on my research the Electro seems like an ideal candidate. I'm very curious about the Crumar Mojo 61 as well, but the polysynth duties are pushing me to the electro. My questions are:

1. Including external patch sellers, can I handle the list above?
2. I really want to learn organ technique. I know the keybed is not as light as hammond clones, but I'm assuming it's close enough for a beginner? With settings and drawbars can I. achieve this sort of percussive organ sound?:
3. Anything I need to know 61 versus 73? I'm leaning towards 61 for costs and ease of hauling. If I can set custom split points and optionally throw a midi controller through part of the range I think I'll have enough flexibility.

[Gambold]

>If I can set custom split points<

Not on the Electro. The Nord Electro offers 6 preset split points (C3, F3, C4, F4, C5, F5) for a single split. Don't ask why. No-one knows.

>I currently use a 88 key Casio Privia PX 5s, which is good for EP, Clavinet, and Acoustic piano,<

The Electro is way better than anything Casio ever even thought of, so if its between the Electro 61 and 73, buy the most you can afford. If you get the 73 you have a main keyboard...the 61 is more a top of the rack model.

All the sounds are way better than Casio's (EP, Clavinet and esp acoustic pianos, which are Nord's specialty.)

[cphollis]

I'm pretty sure you'll be happy with the Electro 6 sounds -- most people are -- until you start to want a Stage.

The pianos, organs and samples are identical on both (and very good), but you can do much more with them on the Stage -- more layers and splits, wider range of FX, etc. And having a "real" synth on board (vs.sampled synth) is useful for funk ...

As far as that organ sound, I know I can get pretty close to it on the NS4, but I haven't tried on the Electro 6.

Organ technique really requires an unweighted keybed, and piano technique really needs a weighted board. Some of us use a weighted controller underneath a NS4 Compact. I've done some funk and being able to go back and forth between a weighted and unweighted keybed is very useful -- EP and clav need some keybed weight, organ/horns/synth parts play better on the unweighted one. The wheel, stick and pedal support on the Stage gives you a lot of options for for modulating sounds.

[salton_see]

Not on the Electro. The Nord Electro offers 6 preset split points (C3, F3, C4, F4, C5, F5) for a single split. Don't ask why. No-one knows.

so if its between the Electro 61 and 73, buy the most you can afford. If you get the 73 you have a main keyboard...the 61 is more a top of the rack model.

Thanks for the clarification. 6 will be plenty, and advice on 73 keys is well taken!

[Gambold]

The eternal question with Nord buyers is which action to get. If organ is your main jam, you will want the waterfall keys. But of course those aren't the best for acoustic or electric pianos. If you are principally a piano player who dabbles with organ, you'll want the hammer action keyboards.

The Stage Compact has waterfall keys, but unless you need the built-in synthesizer, to create sounds that you can't find in the sample library, or you are dying for a flywheel, there is not much reason to spend the extra money on it - it's $2600 MORE than an Electro 73, which is kind of ridiculous.

Nord's prices are moving past lunar orbit now - you may also want to look at used instruments. Current models will not be heavily discounted and they sell quickly, but if you are willing to drop back a model (like the Electro 5) you can save a lot, and have pretty much all the functionality of the 6. It's worth noting that a fairly significant amount of users have felt that Nord took a step backwards with their organ engines on the Electro 6. Indeed, there are many users on this board who swear by their old Nord boards.

Here's an example of a used one for sale:

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/keyboar ... lgQAvD_BwE

[Gambold]

>I'm very curious about the Crumar Mojo 61<

I owned one for about two years. It is a very different animal. The acoustic and EP sounds were limited and generally terrible, esp the acoustic. The Mojo is a Hammond clone with those pianos thrown on for marketing purposes. Do not buy one with the expectation that it can provide decent pianos to you. Your Casio is miles ahead in that regard.

The organ engines were great, way better than the ones on the Electro 4 or 6, and the controls more reflective of what you'd see on an actual Hammond. I finally sold it not because I didn't like it, but because I am not principally an organ player.

The Mojo had an almost impossible to use computer interface that required you to put your laptop onto the same IP network as the one built-in to the keyboard. The GUI for that "software" was early 1990s in appearance and functionality, although you could make any adjustments to anything you wanted.
There was no sound library from which to load new sounds. It has MIDI but I didn't use that.

[salton_see]

The eternal question with Nord buyers is which action to get. If organ is your main jam, you will want the waterfall keys. But of course those aren't the best for acoustic or electric pianos. If you are principally a piano player who dabbles with organ, you'll want the hammer action keyboards.

The Stage Compact has waterfall keys, but unless you need the built-in synthesizer, to create sounds that you can't find in the sample library, or you are dying for a flywheel, there is not much reason to spend the extra money on it - it's $2600 MORE than an Electro 73, which is kind of ridiculous.

Nord's prices are moving past lunar orbit now - you may also want to look at used instruments. Current models will not be heavily discounted and they sell quickly, but if you are willing to drop back a model (like the Electro 5) you can save a lot, and have pretty much all the functionality of the 6. It's worth noting that a fairly significant amount of users have felt that Nord took a step backwards with their organ engines on the Electro 6. Indeed, there are many users on this board who swear by their old Nord boards.

Here's an example of a used one for sale:

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/keyboar ... lgQAvD_BwE

I get there's not a huge difference between 5d and 6d? 5d maybe have a better organ, while the 6d has more sample space, can play three sound engines simultaneously? Anything else huge?

[maxpiano]

The eternal question with Nord buyers is which action to get. If organ is your main jam, you will want the waterfall keys. But of course those aren't the best for acoustic or electric pianos. If you are principally a piano player who dabbles with organ, you'll want the hammer action keyboards.

The Stage Compact has waterfall keys, but unless you need the built-in synthesizer, to create sounds that you can't find in the sample library, or you are dying for a flywheel, there is not much reason to spend the extra money on it - it's $2600 MORE than an Electro 73, which is kind of ridiculous.

Nord's prices are moving past lunar orbit now - you may also want to look at used instruments. Current models will not be heavily discounted and they sell quickly, but if you are willing to drop back a model (like the Electro 5) you can save a lot, and have pretty much all the functionality of the 6. It's worth noting that a fairly significant amount of users have felt that Nord took a step backwards with their organ engines on the Electro 6. Indeed, there are many users on this board who swear by their old Nord boards.

Here's an example of a used one for sale:

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/keyboar ... lgQAvD_BwE

I get there's not a huge difference between 5d and 6d? 5d maybe have a better organ, while the 6d has more sample space, can play three sound engines simultaneously? Anything else huge?

The NE6 has also the Seamless Transition between Programs which the NE5 hasn't and that can help a lot to overcome the limitations in terms of sound sections available when you need to use 2 or more programs per song/parts, switching between them with no break in sound (but if instead you play 1 Program per song, you won't use it).

The NE6 has also. newer Piano section (doubled polyphony and the Piano Filters feature), doubled Sample Synth memory and 1 additional Pipe Organ.

For a full specs comparison see https://www.nordkeyboards.com/compare/? ... s=60%2C180

[salton_see]

I ended up getting a 73 key Electro 6D for $2000, used. Everything I've check so far seems to work -- all the keys and every knob I've touched. Anything in particular prone to failure that I should double check?