Clavia Nord Electro 2 73

I received this keyboard from Armadillo (Nord's USA distributor) in November 2004, with the latest software (I don't know what version). I haven't even looked at the Hammond presets, because I'm completely oriented towards using drawbars in real time, and these work well, although they are buttons instead of drawbars.

The other sounds- clav, wurly, rhodes- are killer, and are easily edited. The pianos don't kill me, although there is apparently an amazing grand piano sample that can be downloaded; I just don't care enough to check it out right now.

The manual? Well, I haven't used it, which lets you know that the electro 2 is pretty simple regardless.

The action is good for organ and clav, and I've gotten used to it for the Electric pianos, etc.

The effects are great- overdrive, flange, chorus, tremolo, and completely easy to use. The sound is very tube-ish. Midi? Well, I use this live without any other sound modules or anything, so I don't really know about that. I got this as a live substitute for my real B3 in a situation that makes dragging the big beast along impossible.

The pianos just seem like they're there just in case. This is really about Organ and Electric Pianos and Clavinet. The flexibility on the Clav settings is remarkable. The Rhodes and Wurlitzer are the best- you will not find better samples short of the real thing. The Leslie is fantastic- I am a purist- I HATE fake Hammonds and I LOATHE fake Leslies- forget everything else- the Roland, the Hammond XB, the Voce- this is the only thing on the market that really sounds great, especially in a live setting.

The drawbars are manipulated via in and out buttons, something I initially viewed as a concession, but am totally okay with.

The FX for the electric pianos are great as well, and the clavinet features are astounding.

The 'bark' of stabbing the keys is all there with the Wurly and RHodes sounds, and of course, velocity DOESN'T work with the organ, which it shouldn't.

I bought this piece specifically for a club tour with Buddy Miller, a roots artist who, like me, hates anything fake. We have both been blown away by the sound of this piece. I run it through a Peavey Classic 50/212 guitar amp, and it sounds great. We had no problems on our tour.

Armadillo, who distribute Nord in the USA, have been great to work with. So far, I haven't needed any assistance, but I have been in communication with them, and they've answered emails and phone calls.

I have an endorsement situation with Nord, which means I don't pay list price. But if something were to happen, I would definitely by another electro 2/73.

I've been playing professionally for 30 years. I own a Hammond B3 and a Leslie 122. I have played every fake Hammond out there, including the Hammond XB2. I recently toured Europe using an old Korg organ with a Leslie- we got used to it, but it didn't replace the real thing. The electro 2 really has satisfied me sonically speaking. Sure, I miss the wood and cabinetry of my real Hammond, but given the limitations of touring, I am really satisfied with the electro 2.

I chose this based on a recent comparitive editorial in Keyboard Magazine, in which the electro won the shoot out. I trusted the article and bought the electro without playing it. I listened to samples on the internet and made up my mind based on those factors. It was a leap of faith which I'm glad I made.

This is a great keyboard for vintage fans like myself. I don't have racks of samplers and synths anymore (just a lot of plug-ins, etc). My prized instruments are guitars, amps, drums, and the Hammond. This keyboard has truly replaced the Wurlitzers and Rhodes that I used to miss, and while I'll never sell my Hammond, I'm finally happy to have something that comes super close to replicating the sound.

Very intuitive and easy to use. Almost every parameter can be changed very easily in real-time. Some, however, has to be changed by using the shift button and some not very userfriendly codes on the display, but we're talking about changing velocity-curves, pedal polarity or amount of key-click (organ).
The virtual drawbars have been discussed a lot (and is propably also the most revolutionary feature on this synth) and of course it's not like real drawbars. I find them very well, however! They are quick and react as you want them to and the visual feedback is even better than normal drawbars. Their greatest strength is that they are ideal for patch-editing. There are 48 patches which save everything and eight userdefined drawbar settings (plus eight preset drawbar settings), which only saves the drawbars. They are all very easy to edit and even save and recall while playing.

I'm using software version 2.1 that features velocity curves. Nice feature.

The polyphony is full for the organ and enough for the pianos.

The action is very good, light enough for fast glissandos and heavy enough for playing with rhodes etc. And fast enough for short clav/organ notes.

Most of the effects are fantastic! The presence filter is essential and works very good - you can really personalize the sound. The tremolo, pan, chorus are as they shall be and very useful. Phaser, Flanger, Wah and Autowah are all good - you can even control the wah with a good midi pedal trough the control pedal input. Ring-modulation and Overdrive are not the best heard, but they still are very useful and good-sounding. A two-band equalizer is embedded - solid and good.

Talking about the organ effects (Vibrato, Key Click and Leslie): They rock!! Very natural and that leslie comes as close as it gets to the real thing (can be used with the piano sounds as well, funny, actually useful for some things).

All 60 variations of the clavinet D-6 are available and they sound very well and are easy to edit. Aftertouch, however, is a lack here, but it still sounds great!

There's no sequencer.

Reverb is missing and that is a lack. If you run it trough a mixer or even better a guitar-combo, however, you're rocking!

All of the sounds are very good and close to the real thing! The best clone in it's class!! Stay away from the grand piano sounds - they're awful with no reverb and aftertouch and so little richness (I wonder why Clavia seems to be so proud of them...really not worth using...).

The organ has some problems without the leslie-effect, but run it trough af guitar amp (Fender Blues Junior or Twin Reverb) and it comes back with so much strength!!

Four different Rhodes sounds are available for download - and they are all very good!!

I give it a ten here - it'll never be the same as the real thing, but it does not come very much closer. Especially trough a combo as I've mentioned.

Very realiable! No problems at all until now (I've had it for half a year - used). The buttons can be taken off. Only one spilled beer will be needed to take it out of function, but one of my mates actually took off the cover and let it dry after such an accident - and it has worked brilliant since then...

It is no tank, but it's really well-built and reliable. Comparing the weight (which is only 10 kilos!!) this will be an eight.

Haven't dealt with them. The extra downloads and OS upgrades are some really good concepts, worth mentioning!

If you want the real thing go and get it! If you can do with a clone, from which only a minimum of the audience can hear any difference and that looks great on a stage and weighs much less and cost a tenth (apart from all the other advantages mentioned above) go for the Nord Electro!

It will be exciting to see if Clavia gives us reverb and aftertouch within version three. That would be the next great step, which would finally fulfill this instrument!

Version 2.0 - darn easy, and I'm a analog guy. Physical nobs are good.

Keyboard action is really nice - perfect for organ (comparable to Hammond XK-2), different for "pianos" but really easy to get used to. Given what they were trying to do (that is, find a happy medium), I'd say it's perfect.
Effects: Like I said before, knobs are good. The Leslie Sim is amazing - way better than the XK-2 (I used to own an XK-2 - sold it for this puppy). Pan and tremolo are very nice.

Hammond - Practically perfect. Tone is comparable to the XK-2, but the Leslie sim puts it over the top.
Pianos - The lower notes sound really authentic, but the higher up you go the less like the real thing (I own a Wurli and a Rhodes Suitcase, and I've recorded with a real Clav, just in case you want credentials :) In the mix, though, and with the right EQing, etc., it's not a big deal at all. In fact, I'm pretty comfy recording Wurli parts on the Nord as well as playing it live (well, live is a no brainer - the difference between the Nord and the real thing is not significant enough to merit discomfort, unless you're more of a tone freak than me... in which case you need serious help).

I've only had it for a week, but it seems solid.

I love how this thing is updateable - as soon as new technology comes out, you can simply download it instead of having to buy a new keyboard. That's why I sold my Hammond.
This is the best Stage Keyboard for vintage sounds - period. The GEM keyboard is really good, but the action isn't well suited for B3 sounds at all. And it's not updateable.
No, the piano section isn't made up of perfect clones - but if you think of it in terms of being new EPs in their own right, it's really cool (i.e. the real Rhodes Stage Piano didn't sound exactly like the real Rhodes Suitcase, but it was still cool; the Nord doesn't sound exactly like the Wurli, but it's still cool). It nails B3 sounds, but only comes really close to electric piano sounds. Do I let that bother me? No. It's close enough for my purposes. The only times I'll use my real Wurli or Rhodes are when the EP sound is the leading instrument in a song. Even then I might use the Nord - if I'm going for a different sound.
God bless you, Clavia - I've been waiting for a keyboard like this for a long time.