Hammond B-3

The Hammond B3 is a dual leveled keyboard organ that each has four and a half octaves. It also has two octaves of bass pedals. It is a pretty standard looking organ, with pretty standard options and draw bars that is taken after the classic Hammond B3 organ. It also has vibrato options and presets with the black keys on the left so you can get a variety of organ sounds between these presets and the draw bars. The organ is fully polyphonic.


UTILIZATION

The general configuration of the B3 is standard and is easy to use if you have any experience with operating an organ. If you don't have any experience, it is easy to follow and you should be able to figure it out pretty quickly. The presets make it easy to choose between a bunch of different organ sounds, but the draw bars and vibrato effects also come in handy to create your own sounds and especially if you don't have a Leslie cabinet to use this with. I don't have a manual for the Hammond A100 organ, but it is pretty easy to use and figure out that I never need one.


SOUNDS

The Hammond B3 is great for all types of music, but I have used it mostly in rock and pop. While it doesn't have the same quality as a C3, it sounds good and is a good substitute for these organs if you can't spend thousands of dollars on these top end organs, like most of us. The feel of the A100 is smooth and is definitely has an acceptable expressiveness to it. While I always try to use a B3 when recording.


OVERALL OPINION

I've been using the Hammond B3 for a few years here and there for studio use and it has always produced good results for me. It is easy to use and has a great sound to it. As I stated before, this won't compare to another version, but is an acceptable substitute especially considering the price difference. The B3 is a great choice for the player who wants a real organ at a reasonable price.

The Hammond B3 is the organ. When you think of the organ, you think of the B3. It is the holy grail of organ and cannot be matched. It has 2 levels of keyboards, bass pedals, a ton of draw bars and presets with the black keys. You can a variety of different organ sounds from the B3, ranging from the classic leslie sound to a more subtle sounding.

UTILIZATION

The B3 has a pretty simple layout. There are two keyboards so you can have two different sounds going at once and there are separate draw bars for each of them. It is easy to get a good sound on the B3 using the black keys on the left that have presets for different organ sounds. There is also the leslie switch for use with a leslie cabinet. I've never seen a manual for the B3, but it has a much copied design to it and has become almost the standard set of controls for the modern organ.

SOUNDS

The sound of the B3 suits a number of different musical styles that I play, including blues, rock, and folk. You can find the B3 in almost any genre as it seems everybody can't get enough of it, and for good reason. I love everything about the tones this organ produces, and it is an extremely fun instrument to play. It has a great feel to it and you always feel good while playing it because the sound is so brilliant. While some modern day organs can replicate the B3 sound pretty well, ain't nothing like the real thing.

OVERALL OPINION

I first used a B3 five years ago and have used it extensively on a number of projects. While I can't afford to own one, like most, whenever I need to record organ for a serious project I always arrange to have one for recording. For some reason I can't live without using a real B3 whenever I feel I need an organ part. It has a beautiful, expressive tone that has become ubiquitous in modern music and has a staple in music history as the holy grail of organs.