Best home organ for strings

[joner4567]

Had a clavinova years ago then a PSR9000 ..then a Orla 9000 grande ...then a Tyros5.
Maybe it's my age now but I only ever seem to want to play strings mainly with free play chords in the left hand and not much rhythm.
Sold my Tyros5 because it seemed too robotic and false in playing strings ,no matter any settings.
I am without any organ or keyboard now and was wondering if experts here might help me to look in the right way.

I think will be going back to a Organ again as I never used much of the facilities on a keyboard and I do miss the feeling of being in control of a big monster!
Thanks

[auronoxe]

HI Joner, I know what you mean. I also switched back from a huge keyboard to an organ 10 years ago. An organ just gives another feeling when sitting in front of it and playing it ;-)

I own a Technics GA3 and Roland At500. Both are available as used organs only. Both have nice and warm strings. The GA3 also has more string sounds that resemble 1980‘s organs, while the Roland mainly has sampled real sounds and some Synth-Strings. If you are looking for „real life strings“ the ATxxx are a good choice for a reasonable price.

I don‘t know about current organs from Boehm, Wersi, Ringway however...

[seamaster]

I do miss the feeling of being in control of a big monster!

There's no answer to that.

[abacus]

It would help if we knew what type of strings you are looking for and how much you are prepared to pay for an instrument.

Bill

[joner4567]

It would help if we knew what type of strings you are looking for and how much you are prepared to pay for an instrument.

Bill

Hi Bill,
Probably a second hand one , up to £3k.
Mantovani ,James Last ,the smoother type, where i can play and dream as well .
Thanks

[andyg]

I'd definitely recommend Roland, especially later ones like the AT800 and AT900. 1) you have a lot of high quality sounds 2) with a few exceptions (where the same sample has been used and then edited to produce a different timbre) you can play mix and match and produce all sorts of ensembles, large and small.

One combination that immediately springs to mind on the AT900 is Mood Strings plus Dolce Quartet - very, er, moody! And they will do all the Last and Mantovani sounds with no problem. You can hear some of these sounds if you go to my website and go to Downloads, then scroll down to the Audio Files and find the Roland Organs section.

[abacus]

You will be lucky to get a Roland 00 series model for 3K, but there are other models in the range which while having less voices have the same sound engine, however they are limited in features and flexibility, (As are Orla & Ringway) but still cracking instruments all the same.
Ringway, Wersi OAS & Bohm Overture models (The ones with the Opera sound engine) also have good strings and can be picked up quite cheaply these days, (Just make sure everything is working before going for any instrument) Wersi and Bohm can also be updated to the latest models (At a cost) if more finances become available and you like them.

Bill

[andyg]

80SL and 90SL prices have tumbled, and have most of the strings of the 00 series, but not the very best ones, like Mood Strings. Again, careful blending of strings (which you should probably do on most instruments to get the best from them) will bring very pleasing results.

[Larrytow]

If you are looking for the most realistic sounding strings in an actual organ, I can't offer much advice, as most of my regularly played organs are vintage ( old to some people ! ). That means I have no experience with the newer, better, sound engines.

If early digital strings are something you might like though, in my opinion pretty much nothing beats a large Yamaha FX series console. The FX-20 or FX-10 has really nice voices for the type of music under consideration. And it has lots of chorus and slow trem options to animate the sounds. They also have a killer built in sound system, and that makes a big difference. Of course, they are large and Very Heavy instruments, but they have to be because of the quality built into them. I have seen them offered for pretty reasonable prices as well - a lot of times because of the effort involved in moving one.

I love all that EZ Listening music, and I play in that style quite a bit on my FXs.

[bnelson218]

I think will be going back to a Organ again as I never used much of the facilities on a keyboard and I do miss the feeling of being in control of a big monster!
Thanks

OMG, I know exactly what you're talking about. I sat down to the Wurlitzer pipe organ at the DTOC once: 4 manuals, 30-some ranks. Good God, what a feeling. For a while on the road I used a Thomas Electra that had 2 Leslies and a mains cabinet. It was also like sitting on top of a rocket. :) Plus, I just enjoy the 'mechanics' of playing an organ with all four limbs in motion.