Organs

Parent Category for all the different Console and Combo Organs that Farfisa made.

Farfisa Royal Artist Piano

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The Royal Artist Piano is a reed based organ. It has a fan. When you hold down a note or chord button, that makes a space for the air to flow over a reed to make the sound. The reed banks for the keyboard and button sections are those from an accordion, and the fan simply provides the air in lieu of bellows.

It is an acoustic instrument. It has no electronic parts. There are no outputs, or ways to connect it to an amp. If you want to record this, you must use a microphone. Now the stinker is, that fan makes a lot of noise, which as you know isn’t very good for recording instruments. So, the Farfisa Royal Artist Piano, she is not so good for the gigging musician, and thus not worth too terribly much.

Farfisa VIP-500 Combo Organ

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Thanks to Zoran Stajic for the info and pictures! Zoran says this model is a lot like the VIP400, but the Piano Sounds are different. Possibly the addition of some of the goodies from the Pro Piano???

Thanks to Eric, who posted this comment on the old site: Great Farfisa; much more versatile than Compacts. Sort of like a Compact with many more additional sounds and features. Used by Sun Ra (see Space is the Place video). One feature I particularly like is the percussion/ repeat. Sounds sort of like a square wave LFO, but with more attack (plus control over the attack). Also has “synthaslalom” which is a little like portamento on an analog synth. This feature can also be controlled in terms of time and range of the portamento. Unlike portemento, this effect seems to only go up, elevating the note till it reaches the note of the key. Also has very cool reed/ string like drawbar that sounds like a strings preset analog synth. The other effect in this section is “piano”, which sounds vaguely like a dark electric piano tone. Incredible Bass section for lower quarter of first row of keys. drawbars for very round/ super bassy square wave “bass” and a reedier, fuzzy tone also (think: bass sounds on Suicide’s first album) All in all a very expressive and versatile keyboard capable of the 60s psyche farfisa sound as well as some basic (but well done) 70s analog synth sounds. This was a very professional, and expensive keyboard in it’s day. I believe I saw an mid 70s advertisement for $1800!!! More than a MiniMoog. Cool keyboard.

Farfisa Professional Piano

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Take a look at this awesome electronic piano from Farfisa. It’s just like, if not better than a Wurlitzer Electronic Piano, or a Fender Rhodes, no, not really!

It is full of 70s cheese, and will smell a little like that when you pick one up. I wonder then is tolex edible? The sound is not one you really want, unless you want to bring back AM Gold, but it is a very cool instrument by design. Instead of having 12 oscillators that have dividers one them to make the lower register notes, the Pro Piano has an oscillator for every not on the keyboard! It’s very cool looking, I’ll have to post a picture of the array of analog circuitry someday.

With one of the envelope settings you can kind of make it sound like a Farfisa Matador or one of the cheaper VIP organs, but not really.

Farfisa Compact Combo Organ

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This is THE Farfisa spoken about when someone mentions Farfisas! It was introduced in the late Sixties and made a splash on the scene immediately. Boasting loud colors, a rough sound, and a price the touring musician could afford, The Compact Combo quickly became one of the prominent combo organs of the late Sixties. The biggest reason why this organ sounded so different from the other organs of its day was from the Multi-Tone Booster. The Farfisa Multi-Tone Booster gave the organs a rougher, dirtier sound, what many called the Farfisa bite.

Keyboard:
1 Tier, 61 Key C to C
Lowest Octave Split for Bass
Features:
Vibrato Light/Heavy, Slow/Fast
Reverb On/Off, Short/Long
Booster 16′, 8′, 4′
Multi-Tone Booster
Knee Booster
Sounds:
Bass 16′
Strings 16′, 8′, 4′
Flute 8′, 4′
Oboe 8′
Trumpet 8′
Piccolo 4′

Compaction! Farfisa Compact Electronic Organs

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They Swing… Where The Action Is

The live instruments with compact portability for today’s young action groups!

Today’s action groups swing to a modern sound with a driving beat. The FARFISA Compact Electronic Organs match the go-go tempo of their arrangements.

Easy to play, Farfisa Compacts have the sound and the excitement you’ve been looking for!

The exclusive Tone Booster knee-lever produces an attack sound that puts teeth in an arrangement and power in a combo! The easy portability of the Compact Electronic Organs makes them perfect for the active musician because they can go anywhere.

Each Compact organ folds into its own rugged, self-contained carrying case covered with heavy, colorful vinyl. Handsome and lightweight, the Compact cases resist mars, scratches and wear.

Farfisa Compaction Poster

Farfisa Cromwell Organ

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Check out the one and only (no, seriously, there is probably just one of these) Farfisa Cromwell. Or is it the Farfisa Foyer like it says in the last picture? In an incredible engineering feat, someone took a Mini Compact Deluxe and mounted it into a wood console with 2 – 10″ Speakers, and a sweet built in volume pedal. In addition to the Multi-Tone Booster, it looks like someone snuck in an extra tab for a Chorus effect!

Farfisa Super Piano Electronic Piano

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Here’s another mysteriously awesome oddball from Farfisa that no one knows about. The Super Piano looks like a Professional Piano built into a modern styled Teak wood console. The guy sent me these pictures many years ago knew absolutely nothing about it after picking it up at an estate sale.

The Farfisa Pro Piano is a very unique instrument compared to other combo organs and electric pianos. Similar to Farfisa combo organs, the Professional Piano has electronic oscillators, but instead of having only 12 and using electronic dividers to create the multiple octaves on the keyboard, the Farfisa Pianos have an oscillator for every single key on the keyboard! Pretty cool right? To bad they don’t sound as good as a Wurliters or Fender Rhodes electric pianos…