Options 60’s bands had for live keys besides heavy/impractical or flutey/tinkly/carnival vibe ?

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misterdontmove

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The predecessor of the Wurlitzer 200A was the 720A that came out in the mid 60s. I had the same tone bar although it was an upright in a wood casing and 140 lbs. my M3 is about 250 lbs and I believe a non cut B3 is about 450 lbs.

I’m surprised nobody has mentioned Ray Manzarek and his Farfisa. I never heard anyone complaining about his sound.
Those aren't "keyboards"! That's FURNITURE!
 

Harmonic

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Keyboards were heavy back then. Speakers were heavy, amps were heavy, guitars were heavy. Even the music was heavy.
 

clydethecat

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I’m surprised nobody has mentioned Ray Manzarek and his Farfisa. I never heard anyone complaining about his sound.

He played a Vox Continental and a Gibson G-101, as well as the Rhodes Piano Bass.

2.webp


Ray_Manzarek_1968.jpg
b86dfd697dd18ac119b0c74c9a06a93e.jpg
 

rarebreed

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AFAIK Farfisa and Vox Continental were the only combo keyboards available until the Korg CX-3 came out in the 1979, and it was just an organ, albeit a much better organ that what was previously available. Most early bands around here carried a B3. We carried a C3.
Don't know who they were actually made by, but Baldwin offered a couple of "combo" organs back in the 60's. First band I was in back then had one.
 

CoolBlueGlow

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Original question was "options 60's bands had for keyboards"

My partial list - in no sacred order - of keyboards potentially available to 1960's musicians.


Fender Rhodes tine piano
Fender Rhodes Piano bass
Fender Contempo Organ
Wurlitzer tine piano (i.e. 200A, but also other models before that)
Hammond tone wheel organ with Leslie speaker (i.e. stereotypical B-3, but also other models)
Farfisa Compact
Farfisa Compact duo
Farfisa Mini compact
Vox Continental
Lowrey G-101 (marketed by Gibson)
Lowrey T1 and T2
Howard Combo (Baldwin)
Vox Jaguar
Ekosonic Cheetah (really)
Moog (yes, Moog produced synths beginning in 1965) Was used by The Doors, The Beach Boys, The Monkees, and others before 1970
(honorable mention) Minimoog (developed in the very late 1960's but technically not released until 1970


There may be others I missed. This is the best I can do on one cup of coffee.

:)
 

2HBStrat

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Original question was "options 60's bands had for keyboards"

My partial list - in no sacred order - of keyboards potentially available to 1960's musicians.

Fender Rhodes tine piano
Fender Rhodes Piano bass
Fender Contempo Organ
Wurlitzer tine piano (i.e. 200A, but also other models before that)
Hammond tone wheel organ with Leslie speaker (i.e. stereotypical B-3, but also other models)
Farfisa Compact
Farfisa Compact duo
Farfisa Mini compact
Vox Continental
Lowrey G-101 (marketed by Gibson)
Lowrey T1 and T2
Howard Combo (Baldwin)
Vox Jaguar
Ekosonic Cheetah (really)
Moog (yes, Moog produced synths beginning in 1965) Was used by The Doors, The Beach Boys, The Monkees, and others before 1970
(honorable mention) Minimoog (developed in the very late 1960's but technically not released until 1970


There may be others I missed. This is the best I can do on one cup of coffee.

:)
Good list. Still, a far cry from the great sounding "do-it-all" keyboards that we have today, like the Nord Electro, and others.
 

39martind18

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Never played keys, but I found a Leslie cab in a pawnshop for cheap- just the cab, rotor drum and motor. I put an Altec 12" speaker in it, wired in a sewing machine foot control to control the speed, and ran the speaker off of my amp's extension speaker. While heavy and space filling, that rig sounded really good. When I went to an MTI Auto Orchestra in the mid 70s that had a drone organ sound, which I ran through a Boss Chorus pedal- it gave the sound a nice Leslie effect. At that point, the Leslie cab went bye-bye.
 

AAT65

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Original question was "options 60's bands had for keyboards"

My partial list - in no sacred order - of keyboards potentially available to 1960's musicians.

Fender Rhodes tine piano
Fender Rhodes Piano bass
Fender Contempo Organ
Wurlitzer tine piano (i.e. 200A, but also other models before that)
Hammond tone wheel organ with Leslie speaker (i.e. stereotypical B-3, but also other models)
Farfisa Compact
Farfisa Compact duo
Farfisa Mini compact
Vox Continental
Lowrey G-101 (marketed by Gibson)
Lowrey T1 and T2
Howard Combo (Baldwin)
Vox Jaguar
Ekosonic Cheetah (really)
Moog (yes, Moog produced synths beginning in 1965) Was used by The Doors, The Beach Boys, The Monkees, and others before 1970
(honorable mention) Minimoog (developed in the very late 1960's but technically not released until 1970


There may be others I missed. This is the best I can do on one cup of coffee.

:)
And the Clavioline. Not sure how many there were, but that’s the synth-y sound on Baby You’re A Rich Man (played at half-speed by Lennon, I believe). It has a knee-operated volume control iirc…
 

tomkatf

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Run your Vox/Farfisa/whatever through a Fuzz box/preamp/overdrive...



or a B3 and an overdriven preamp/master volume amp... (actually being Jon Lord helps)

 
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Maguchi

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The Fender Rhodes Mark I model came out in 1965. But it took awhile to catch on. Fender Rhodes were seen in some bands in the late '60s but were seen much more common in the early and mid '70s. Mine's from somewhere between 1974 to 1978.

Rhodes 73.jpg
 
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