Yamaha Electone FS-70: "Leslie" Switch?

[Jesaiah]

Hello all,

I recently got a Yamaha Electone FS-70, the 3-manual home organ of the late 80s I guess. Good instrument!

It works pretty well set aside some contact problems and two motor faders not moving (that´s why I am looking for a service manual in the other thread).

However, I miss one thing. The organ sound one can produce with the pseudo-drawbars of this thing is really ok, and the "tremolo effect" it provides is not quite a Leslie, but it spices it up sufficiently.

The drawback is that there seems to be no footswitch for the tremolo effect, and I could not find a way to assign the change between "chorus" and "tremolo" to e.g. the knee lever.

So the question is: Given that the tremolo/chorus switch is just a simple non-latching button, would it be realistic to solder a parallel key to its contacts and use it as a footswitch?

Thank you for every reply

Jes

[Larrytow]

Hi Jes,

I can't say how easy that would be to add another switch to the tremolo / chorus switch, but it actually is not needed. What I do with my FX organs ( same series ) is to program two general pistons with identical settings, except that one has got the chorus speed, and the other has the tremolo speed. That way you just hook your thumb down for a piston press to change speeds. Perhaps not ideal for some types of playing, but it works well for me.

[Jesaiah]

Hey Larry,

at least that would be a useful workaround (though I think it is awkward to sacrifice 2 of 8 memory banks just for the purpose to change the leslie speed ... 8 is fairly little anyway...

[Jesaiah]

And, of course, THANK YOU.

Sorry for forgetting it in the first place ...

[Larrytow]

Jess,

I appreciate the thank you. I understand that my solution is not really what you were looking for, but due to the digital system in the FS series, adding a simple switch might be more trouble than it is worth. Don't know that - just a feeling.

I tend to play my FX organs in a more orchestral, cocktail lounge pop, or easy listening music style, but I have no real issue with devoting two pistons to that Hammondy sound. I mainly use them for Booker T songs ( Time Is Tight, etc. ), but also go to those for solos in others.

That leaves 6 other pistons available for other setups, and those are usually used for the beginning sections of songs. From there I do a lot of panel setting changes as needed through the song. I guess I am pretty comfortable playing the panel settings live, on the fly like that. Perhaps that is because that is how I was taught to play on older instruments, where one did not have lots of memories to take advantage of. As you get to know the FS / FX series control panel better ( and that will take some considerable time playing with things ), you will find that making panel registration changes on the fly is quite doable. That series of Electones is really the last one where pretty much everything is changeable in real time, without having to delve into a menu screen.

The one thing I will say about trying to play Hammond style on an FS / FX is that it is not easily done. There are no physical drawbars to play with after all ( the little switches are no good for that ), so you cant play it in a normal Hammond style.

What an Electone like yours can do, it does Very well, so appreciate it for what it is. It is not a Hammond, and trying to make it be one is kinda counter productive in my opinion.

[Jesaiah]

Having carefulle read the manual, the following solution might be applicable, too:
One can assign the sustain function for the lower manual to the footswitch. Thus, the left hand would be free for the second to switch the tremolo speed. Not ideal, but could just work.