Farfisa Compact Duo

Hi Out there,
I'm posting this to dispell the myth that there are no spares for these great instruments.
I have plenty If any one needs them.
Oscillator coils,Germanium transistors and diodes,Fully reconditioned power supply/reverb unit for a compact Duo and a newly restored PRO DUO complete with matching bench.
I DO NOT repair these as a living;more a labour of love during my time off.I work 6 weeks on and 6 weeks off in the oil industry as an electronic engineer.I am also an avid organist.When I turn 56 next year ,I will be retiring to the south of France so much of my stock will have to go.At present I'm uK based.
If any one is interested or if i can help,drop me a line.
Kenneth

Totally obvious to use. On/off like presets, that's it.

It does it's few things and it does'em well. It's a combo organ, not a yamaha cs80. The onboard tremelo and percussion add nice features, as well as the spring reverb you can pilot from the A/R box, which gives more drama to the average sound of the instrument. pink Floyd'Ummagumma docet.

The best, deepest, warmer and most evocative of all the combo organs in the world.
If you love that '60s surf sound you'll love it, if you love that english psychedelic sound then you'll love it too. I think the Compact Duo reaches it's best when used for the second purpose, as Richard Wright did. There's not another organ which can give such a deep mood to a track. It's brainish, and really gives you thrills down over your back.

The germanium transistors are weak, we all know it. the youngest Compact Duo you can find is 36 years old now, so the only thing you can do is to buy as many as you can find around, as well as the destroyed ones or the minor models (Compact/Deluxe/Minicompact etc) in order to backup as many osc cards as you can. Personally, I do have four Compact Duos (three working, one dead), plus a nearly dead Compact, two minicompact,a Farfisa Ballata (a kind of home market Compact Duo) plus two Farfisa Transicord Accordions (yes, internally they are just like a Compact organ!) plus something like 65 osc cards. I wanna be sure my Compact Duos will work for the rest of my life, and every time I find a Compact organ, dead or alive, i do buy it.

Farfisa no longer takes care of the old Compact serie. Private technicians are the only, and expensive, answer.

I can't really live without. Listen to the first four Pink Floyd albums, and you'll see what I mean.

It's a '60s combo organ. That means IDIOT-PROOF operation. Every function has a clearly labeled tab to activate it. If you understand the whole concept of organ stops and pipe footage markings on the tabs, you should have no trouble at all. If you don't, it shouldn't take you but five minutes to figure everything out.

Full polyphony across all 98 of its keys (2 x 49). Nice asortment of organ stops for both of the manuals and the bass section (the two octaves of reverse-colored keys on the lower manual). There aren't as many harmonics as on a Hammond, nor the infinite amount of control for them via drawbars (the Vox combo organs also have drawbars), but since the Farfisa sounds are based on complex sawtooth and square waves rather than the Hammond's basic sine wave harmonics, this isn't such a problem. There are plenty of fun doodads to play with, like vibrato, repeat, a couple of simple percussive envelope settings, reverb (incorporated into the Compact Duo's companion, the FA/R amp-reverb-power supply unit), and a knee lever thingie which doesn't work on mine. There are connections for a somewhat mediocre photoelectric volume swell pedal, a bass pedal unit, and even a separate 1/4" output for the bass keys only. For a '60s combo organ, the Compact Duo has a very comprehensive set of features.

The Duo does one thing extremely well: '60s electronic organ sounds. This is, after all, the famous Rick Wright/Pink Floyd organ from the Syd Barret era, "Ummagumma," "More," etc. You can also get those modern future-retro sounds a'la Stereolab out of this thing.

And it does one other thing pretty well: simulations of a pipe organ. Seriously. On certain settings I'm convinced that the Duo, straight out of the packing crate, without a Leslie cabinet, can do a more authentic church organ sound than even a Hammond. Thank those electronically generated complex waveforms for that.

Try putting the Duo through some outboard effects (a simple matter, unlike the Hammond/Leslie, since the FA/R which the Duo runs off of has a 1/4" output jack) and get some nifty pseudo-synthesizer effects. After all, many '70s string synths were based on similar technology.

Erm...well, here's the problem. There is just about NO support for Farfisa organs anymore, save for the odd combo organ fan out there and a few organ techs out there with NOS parts. Certainly none from the current Farfisa company in Italy. The 7-pin plug that hooks the Duo to the FA/R is one piece that could be a problem. My Duo had a bad one and I have yet to buy a replacement, although I have one possible source. Also, as with all old electronic gear, something this old is likely to need new capacitors and other parts. Advice: find a local organ tech and treat him nice. Although I'd love to gig with this bad boy (and a Farfisa organ on a stage is tre cool) I'm not sure I'd risk it.

See above.

If I found my Duo missing, I would track down the putrid dingleberry-brain who ripped it off, strap him into a La-Z-Boy soaked with paint stripper, and force him to watch the American Idol movie until he gave it up and resigned himself to Casios from now on. While carrying it away, I'd point out to him, as he's tending his festering butt, that my Duo isn't currently working anyway.

A classic. Just make sure you get one that is in good shape and works correctly. And make sure it comes with the FA/R.

Operation is a breeze without a manual. The tones are all in a narrow range, but spot-on for the 60s sound or for doing vintage Pink Floyd. I played it at the same time with a Hammond L-100 and found the Hammond had the better all round tone, projection and lush reverb. The Compact Duo favours the treble range, and the muted (short, no percussion bass) will grow on you while the sharp bass has its own fuzz sound. The Hammond also lacks the complex modulations that makes the Farfisa a star. The Duo is also more portable and very external effects friendly. It can be seen on the back cover of Floyd's UmmaGummaGumma double LP and it is easy to get that LPs sounds on it. There is enough tonal range and variation between the upper keyboard and the lower manual and the bass range for complex solos.

Full polyphony. Keyboard action is solid and responsive (tain't no optigan). Feels a bit more solid than a DX-7. My keys developed minor surface cracks, which is odd. No MIDI. No upgrades. Excellent unique effects (tremelo AND Repeat AND vibrato)with rates and on off for either manual. No depth adjustment or reverb depth. Tremelo and Repeat can be thought off as having two independent triangle wave LFOS inter-acting. No flashing LFO lights. Percussion is simply a selection of short envelopes, and does not bite like a Hammond's percussion. Oddly enough the only way to get long sustain seems to be in repeat. Percussion retriggers any notes still being held down when you grab more keys. The depth of effects and range of rate are only reachable on the internal circuit boards. Easy to interface phasors and tape echos or any external effect. No leslie controls.

It only sounds like a Farfisa, which is why we seek them out but for sixties, hard rockers or space rockers this is a lot of fun to work with. The designers got the effects right, hats off to them. I was very surpried by how musically expressive the knee lever is for a first time user.

It is reliable, quite a statement given its age and I'd trust it live. Granted someone already rebuilt the power supply. I have to change one transistor in the divider network to correct one pitch but otherwise it fired up immediately and has run for days, despite being over 25 years old. The Philips transistors are still available as are schematics on the net.

I've played a Vox Jaguar clone (by Briscoe) and a couple of Hammonds. [Briscoe of Vancouver Canada has a Jaguar clone they ordered from the same factory in Italy, red tolex, same tabs, same circuit boards, etc.] The farfisa is great to play and has some depth for a synth player). If you see one grab it. It took me two years to find the power supply, but it was worth it. It also has a great retro look. If I had to choose I'd take it over a Clavinet any day, which says something in terms of its real value. It you play EARLY Pink Floyd you can't do it without one. I see it this way: ARP/MOOG; Rhodes/Wurly; L-100/Compact Duo. A true classic keyboard.

Since this organ is vintage probably from 1966, it's quite simple to todays standards. Today's keyboards are mostly digital with presets and tone editors and menu's,screens, and all that shit. This organs utilizes tabs, that offer certain sounds. some tabs you can use by themselves, others you blend together to get full organ sounds. there are two knobs which control the volume for the bass sounds, and lower keyboard. The only other device is a lever(A Farfisa Trademark)that swings down from the bottom of the organ, serves as a tone boost. If you push it to the right with your knee, it feeds the classic high pitched Farfisa sound to the organ. everything else is controlled by tabs. Doesn't get any easier than that.

For an organ this Compact Duo is very versatile. It has a double keyboard like a Hammond, with one or two octaves of bass on the lower keyboard. It is capable of producing sounds ranging from a pipe organ, hammond like sounds, the classic high pitched farfisa sound, and even more synth like sounds including oboe and trumpet. The tabs are labeled Bass, Strings, Flute, Oboe, Trumpet,ect. They sorta sound like their names particularly the oboe, but it's an organ. There is a multitone section with tabs for pipe lengths like 16,8,4,22/3. These are a mellow organ sound, and also there is a tab for all-booster, which instantly kicks in the high pitched farfisa sound that is also controlled by the knee lever. When the multitone section is on the other white tabs are overridden. Also there is a reverb tab, vibrato tabs with two speeds and two depths. Plus percussion that gives a thud to the bass keys. There are three sound tabs that control the lower keboard, one sounds like the flute tabs, the other two sound is like a mixture of the trumpet and strings. The organ does come with two bass sounds, one is like a bass guitar and one is like a synth bass. As far as organs go this one is very fun ad funky to use.

AWESOME, You would have to be a complete idiot not to think this organ is sick. It has that unique sound from the sixties, if you ran it into a leslie is would sound great, but you can run it into a high powered guitar amp, or keyboard amp for a more pure sound. Either way it sounds crazy, and if your creative and can pay well it will instantly transform you into the psychadelic scene of the sixties. If you want to get a great idea of what it sounds like listen to early Pink Floyd. Especially PIPER AT THE GATES OF DAWN. It was that album that made me want to get one. After hearing that album you will agree that this organ is spectacular.

I have had it for about six months and for a while a couple of keys would go dead and them come back? now everything seems to be working fine. This organ was manufacured at a time when thing were built to last. And if you didn't know this organ is Italian, so you can count on them for making good shit.

Farfisa as far as i know is not in existance anymore. the only thing I know is that there is a place in Italy that you can mail for parts. other than that, you would have to rely on finding a repair guy somwhere to service these organs when needed. scower the web for info and you will find something.

If it were stolen I would get another! I have been playing for about 3 years, and I also own a Roland xp-10, and it does not compare to a Farfisa. I love the way this organ looks, it has a grey/black vinyl outside and legs that swing from under the organ, and they attach to a front panel that says Compact Duo. I have played Various Hammmonds and I'm more into the sound of a Farfisa. Contrary to what most people think, farfisa's are capable of producing more sounds. And you can use more effects with them. You can use tremolo's,Wah Wah's,Reverbs,Leslie's,Echo/delays, and they all work well with this organ. Now all I want to do is find a band and play Pink Floyd covers, and eventually do original material in a emo/punk band. Oh yeah one final note: Farfisa organs have a reputation for being cheesy sixties organs(probably a term coined from hard core Hammond enthusiasts)well all I can say is this thing is a great sounding, high quality organ. And if you ever get the opportunity to play one, I think you would agree!!!!!!!!!!!!

This organ is simple to use!! All you have to do is switch a tab down to activate it. The organ has 26 tabs, and two control knobs. The knobs control the volume of the accompaniment keyboard, and the bass keys. The only additional control is a knee lever that hangs from the bottom of the organ. If you push it to the right with your knee, it feeds in a high pitched signal to your sound!! That's all there is to it!!!

The action of the keys are very responsive. The keys feel very much like a modern synth rather than a Hammond. This obviously was designed to be used as a hard riffin' performmance organ. NOT a GRANDMA ORGAN FOR THE HOUSE!!??? The compact duo comes with your standard organ effects. It has vibrato, with tabs for heavy/light, fast/slow. Percussion, which is used to give a thud to the bass keys. And reverb, which is controlled from the power tank, however if you could track down some kind of spring reverb unit, your better off using that!! These features are also controlled by tabs so its very strait forward. finally, the compact duo folds up into a suitcase like contraption, making it quite portable and not too stressful to cary around!!

The sounds are very groovy!! Nothing sounds quite like it!! The sounds are: bass 16",strings 16",flute 8",oboe 8",trumpet 8",strings 8",flute 4",strings 4", 2-2/3. It has that real vintage sixties sound!! My favorites are oboe and trumpet, you can get some nice "alice in wonder land/christmas music" sounds with those!! Using the multitone section can give you some mellow organ sounds, and the all-booster tab gives you the real CHEESY SIXTIES SOUND!!! Perfect for the Pink Floyd song "set the controls for the heart of the sun". Using 2-2/3 gives you that vincent price-eerie organ sound!! The sounds can be described as eerie,mellow,cheesy,weird,powerful,cool,ect!!! but its really cool if your into that sixties/psychadelic organ sound!! This is the gem!!!

Sure!!! it's an ITALIAN made organ!! You can trust that the Italians made good equipment in the sixties!! But because my organ is about 34 years old, its in extremely good condition. Take good care of it(cleaning and kindness) and try to find a Farfisa repair expert if you can, and these compact organs should give you alot of years of fun and games!!

From what i've learned, customer support is non existant!!! The only progress i've made is finding a web site that has some info!! the web site lists an adress in Italy where you can mail them for parts. That's all there seems to be, other than finding a rapair guy who gan get the parts you need to fix it. The web site with this info is called the Anglicus Farfisa site on lycos. Other than that, it remains hopeless in this area.

Very unique and cool!!! these Farfisa Compact duo organs are both unique and fun to use. You get alot of cool vintage sounds in a unusual looking compact organ design(much nicer looking than those big wooden organs with those ugly meshed speaker cabinets)there not overly expenvive to buy, and there portable!!! you can buy alot of nice effects for them like reverb units,tremolo pedals,echo machines and leslie simulators!! (puting these through a leslie cabinet is very usefull!!) However they are extremely hard to find!! Almost impossible!! If want a farfisa your best bet is findind a mini-compact, or just a regular compact. The duo's are the most rare and lusted afer(especilly if it comes with the repeat/tremolo effects) finding the other models are easier if you really want one. They all basically sound the same anyway!! GOOD LUCK!!! AND "LONG LIVE THE FARFISA ORGAN!??!?!?!?"

The Compact Duo has a full range of preset tabs for the upper keyboard and three for the accompaniment keyboard. A fairly wide range of sounds is available for the top, especially with the choice of the All-Boost selector, which involves the funky knee lever you find on most Farfisas. In the standard set of tabs, you can get the perfect Rick Wright/early-Pink Floyd sound with the 2 2/3' stop and the oboe and trumpet 8' sounds. Using more stops at once makes it louder and more like the standard "cheesy '60's organ" sound that people may expect. Along with the tremolo (I don't mean the vibrato, which is proper pitch vibrato and has two speeds and two intensities like most Farfisas) and the repeat/percussion effects (if they work, which on mine are dodgy - I'll get to that) you can get a very wide variety of sounds very easily.

Each level has 49 keys; the top are all normal organ stops, and the bottom has a choice of one or two octaves of bass, and the rest is accompaniment. The built-in effects, which appear to be unique to the Duo in the Compact range, are the tremolo and repeat/percussion effects. Pink Floyd fans can hear the tremolo well on "Cirrus Minor" and "Cymbaline" from More, and repeat at the beginning of "Astronomy Domine" from Ummagumma and on other live recordings. I believe the pulsing sound from Blondie's "Heart Of Glass" is also the repeat effect. The speed of each is individually adjustable separate from the vibrato setting, which can create some interesting interactions. Unfortunately, my tremolo does not work, and the repeat is hindered both in terms of minimum speed and intensity (it's too fast and not intense enough, compared to what I can hear of it on records). These problems mean I can't determine with certainty if you can use both effects simultaneously and make THEM interact as well, which is something I'd really like to do. There is also a very nice-sounding reverb in the separate power-supply/preamp sections, which also contains volume, treble and bass controls. The organ also comes with a volume pedal and bass pedals which trigger the same tones as the first 13 notes of the bass section of the lower keyboard. That section has a choice of two tones, one bassy and one brighter, and a percussion effect with choice of short or long decay. The bass and accompaniment sections also have individual volume controls as well.

The sounds are great, especially if, like me, you were lured in by that early Pink Floyd/Rick Wright tone on Piper, Saucerful and Ummagumma. If you want to get that sound, this is really the only model that will do it, although the Compact Deluxe does have the same standard top keyboard sounds, but none of the other effects. Overall, the sound is more versatile than any other organs I've used, and this includes the Hammond. It is a bit noisy/hissy, in a different way than other Farfisas I've played, in that it sounds like tape hiss rather than that "note-leakage" sound of the Compact Combos. The hiss is a bit too loud for me for quiet sounds like the oboe, but I'm hoping to also get this services to reduce it somewhat. It's a relatively minor problem anyway.

I've had no additional problems with it that weren't there when I got it, and I well imagine my problems are related to old filter caps in the circuits, which a thorough servicing and replacement would cure. I would love to have a backup for gigging, though, if possible. But generally the thing is so robust that it's a pretty reliable stage instrument.

Farfisa no longer makes or support their '60's organs, so you're on your own for parts and/or repairs.

For me and the kind of music I play, the Compact Duo is absolutely essential. I would have to replace it if I could because so much of what I do now is based on it. I own a Mellotron Mk II and a Hohner Pianet N, and it's far more reliable than either of them. I'm hoping to have it completely serviced by an expert in order to make all of the circuits work and to minimise the noise. But even as it is, it's one of my favourite instruments to just turn on and play. Get one if you can find one!