Farfisa Compact DeLuxe

There isn't much to the Farfisa Compact Deluxe. The presets...eh, forget them. Just focus on 6 switches: Reverb, Vibrato, and the pipe length switches. No manual necessary, unless you plan to tune it. (And I accomplished that ok without a manual once I figured out that I had to remove the metal screwdriver from the adjusters to hear the actual pitch...)

It has all the features you need on a '60's era transistor organ. Never mind MIDI, or sequencing. Easy-peasy.

It's all about the footages, and the boost. Reverb and vibrato are excellent, and cheesy in that '60's kind of way. For a good idea of what this thing sounds like, either listen to "Radio, Radio" by Elvis Costello, or "Incense & Peppermints" by Strawberry Alarm Clock. It's awesome. It has a knee-control for the tone booster, which I never touched. I just kept it boosted all the time, and on top of that ran it through a 100w Fender Bassman tube amp. Don't let the treble get too high or you'll tear everyone's eardrums out. It's a brilliant piece of kit, and well worth lugging the 90lb beast around to shows.

For extra coolness, run the output into a MXR Phase-90, or Crybaby Wah, or Dunlop Rotovibe. Tube amp is the best option for this baby, NEVER go direct with it, it sounds like arse. Always mike a speaker cabinet, and always use a tube amp.

One bonus feature of the Farfisa, or at least mine, is that when you're not playing it, there is this eerie kind of noise that it emits, very subtle but it sounds cool on stage just before a set.

They're pretty rock solid as long as you don't drop it. I did handstands on mine, pounded on the keys, rocked it back and forth, spilled beer on it, and lugged it back and forth to probably 200 or so shows and it never gave me any problems. It's built like a brick-sh*thouse.

ALWAYS PLUG IT IN 1 HOUR BEFORE THE SHOW!!!! It might act funny if you don't. My middle G would play a D until it warmed up for at least a 1/2 hour. No problem, I'd plug it in for a sound check, then backline it until showtime, leaving it on the entire time. Never had any problems with it. It's built to last. (unfortunately your back will probably give out before the organ does from carrying it around, especially if you have a rehearsal studio on the third floor like I did!)

Does Farfisa even exist any more? You can get info online, i'm sure. I figured out how to tune it myself, I just looked for a bunch of adjustable pots, and had at them with a screwdriver. When you touch them with the screw driver, though the pitch will change. So don't take your measurements until you remove said screwdriver from said pots.

I loved my Farfisa. I will own another one someday when I have the extra room to keep it, without having to shove it in a closet, etc. It's a beautiful instrument, and you will develop a (sometimes unhealthy) relationship with it. If you get lucky enough to own one, do yourself a favor and don't cheap out on the lower models 'cause the bass keys are well worth the extra few bucks. And Don't forget to plug it in an hour before your set, or you might be slightly embarrased when you start pounding on it!

I miss the hell out of my Farfisa. If someone had stolen it from me when I had it, I would hunt them down and kill them. I can't wait for another chance to own one!

Ease like mini-compact :-))

Full polyphony, bass is poly too, have 4 footages, 16',8',4'and 2 2/3', solid for this kind of organ, vibrato (slow/fast,light/heavy), reverb,prcussion for
bass and threble, multi tone booster with knee contol for filter, photo-cell swell pedal, bass
pedal is optional, 2 key split modes: bass 1+ threble 4 oct, or
bass 2+threble 3 oct. I have compact de luxe in "white caffe"colour,
withouth brush and cymbal drum efects.

This sound is very AUTENTIC!!! Unlike all other organs who I play!
( I play huge number of e-organs )
This not copy of hammond, vox,...etc. And, this maybee betther
single manual combo organ (for my taste). Farfisa compact de luxe
have sound-palete from very soft and gently sound,to wery agresiv.

Just perfect! I use this organ in home, and for studio,
with ordinary amp for "chesse" sound, and with leslie for
classic ogan sound. Interesting efect with this organ is
boss-super phaser, for example, multi tone booster 16'+8'with
slow vibrato and very slow phasing efect...etc.

This organ is never be a booryng to me...
Exept reverb, all sections of instrument working perfect!!!
If you need autentic combo-organ sound, this organ is jack-pot!!!

Easy. Flip tabs on, press volume pedal, press keys. As it's a sixties combo organ, the tabs sound nothing like their name. Any manual explaining this beast has long since evaporated.

Full polyphony, but the 2-2/3 tab will 'wrap' an octave down at the top couple of notes. Keyboard action is okay - the keys are a little mushy but provide nice resistance. I like the keys much better than the modern 'overhanging' keys on my synth.

Not too many effects - there's the knee lever, reverb, vibrato, and a 'brilliance' tab (more on those below.) No expansion (unless you want to go inside it with a soldering iron.) No MIDI or sequencer, but what do you expect.

The instruments sound nothing like what they claim. There are four footages - 16' with flute and strings tabs; 8' with flute, oboe, trumpet, and strings tabs; 4' with flute and strings tabs; and a 2-2/3' tab. In each of these, the 'flute' tone is very quiet and mellow (sine?), while 'string' is fuzzy and loud (triangle?). At 8', the oboe and trumpet sounds are sort of in between, not that useful, but it provides some nice range otherwise lacking due to tabs. The main problem with the tabs is volume difference, though. The mellow tabs are completely drowned out by the brighter tabs, which are far louder.

The 'drum' and 'brush cymbal' effects are very strange. 'Brush cymbal' plays a quite accurate brush cymbal sound on treble keys. Likewise, the 'drum' activates a fairly accurate bass drum sound on bass keys. In conjuction with long percussion on bass keys, this provides a decent acoustic bass sound. The brush cymbal is next to useless though. Ironically, these sounds are far more realistic than the instrument tabs which are the meat of the instrument.

Works well for psychedelic, early-Floyd stuff (the sound is very similar to the Compact Duo which Rick Wright used), surf, and cheese in general.

In terms of effects, the deluxe has a few things to offer. The knee-lever tone booster is very nice. It's activated by turning on the multi-tone booster tab. Strangely, this disables all the footage tabs with instruments! In order to get sounds, one has to turn on the footage tabs on the left side, with only numbers. This will activate flute sounds for those footages, which will turn into very fuzzy string sounds as the lever bends right. The all-tone booster tab simply makes the sound as if the lever was bent all the way, bypassing the lever. That the lever cannot be used with the instrument tabs is kind of cheap - it's just a mellow to bright thing rather than a real modifier of sound. But it's still very expressive and useful.

Besides the knee lever, there is a 'brilliant' tab which provides a little bit more tone for the instrument tabs, but is not terribly useful. There's reverb (on/off, medium/long), via a little chamber mounted beneath the organ. The effect is very high quality, but also slight. Great for crashing though. Vibrato (on/off, light/heavy, slow/fast) is fairly variable with the tabs, but I still wish there was a knob or something so it was more controllable. The vibrato sound itself is very cheesy, but it's supposed to be. Finally, there's percussion (bass on/off, short/long, treble on/off) which is a completely different effect from Hammond percussion. Rather than providing a little 'pop' before each note, it makes it so notes don't sustain, lasting only a second or so.

No velocity or aftertouch. The triggering mechanism allows for a little variability though - as the key depresses, each footage is activated separately, so it's technically possible to get quieter sounds by only pressing the key a little.

I have little personal experience. Supposedly these things are pretty sturdy (they're built like tanks), but they're also very old and things tend to go wrong. On mine, the percussion doesn't always work. I suppose I would want a backup at a gig, but the chance of something going catastrophically wrong is so low that I wouldn't bother with anything more than an all-in-one synth.

Ooh.. farfisa? I think they make some synthesizers now, but farfisa.com is quite devoted to intercoms. There are a few people who know about fixing old Farfisas around.

If it were lost or stolen, I'd be pretty pissed. And I'd get a new one. I certainly didn't get a bargain on mine, but I got it from a store which puts them back together, so it's not unprecedented.

I just got my Farfisa, but I've been playing a Yamaha synth for a little while. I love the Farfisa's tone - much more natural than the Yamaha's, but, of course, only combo organ sounds. I wish mine had the pedalboard, so I could free my left hand, but they're hard to track down.

One last thing- the design is pretty ingenious, at least compared to todays stuff. Legs, expression pedal, pedalboard (if I had one) all fold into a nice bit suitcase with a handle. Sure, it's still heavy, but it's very convenient.

Very easy you turn it on and push rocker tabs to get sounds and effects, then you play, very easy.

Has cool features for a 60's combo organ,, 1-2 octaves manual bass, with tabs for loud/soft- mellow/bright. Percussion which adds a volume modulation effect. A total of 16 voice tabs, and a knee lever under the organ that serves as a tone booster. Really basic vintage combo organ features. This has more features than your average 60's organ.

This organ work well for old 60's psycho rock, surf, Blues, funk, and of course new wave. The action of the keys are good for fast chops and glissandos. The organ has pitches in 16,8,4,2-2/3. and voices in flute,oboe,trumpet,strings. If your familar with farfisa compacts the sound is reedy, or bright and buzzy. This organ has ranges from a mellow organ sound, to a grungy reedy tone, to a real bright buzzy lead tone. It sounds old, and very cool, sounds great for recordings and in a band. Listen to early Syd Barrett floyd to get an idea. "Piper at the gates of dawn" by Pink Floyd has farfisa all over it.

All depends on the condition of the organ after 30 years. Most that ive sen have seemed to work, but all had some kinda poroblem. Ranging from worn out electronics to contact problems or neglect. If you have one or would like to get one, expect to spend alot of money reconditioning it. Unless you have adequate knowlegde of farfisa repair.

Doesn't exist any longer, due to the fact that these organs are over 30 years old. Your best bet is to take it to a reputable repair center that knows about these old combo organs.

Been playing for 3 years. Been a fan of the Farfisa sound ever since I heard Pink Floyd's first album "Piper". After that I had to get one. I love the compact deluxe's retro looks and sound, the fact that it's so old makes me a little nervous since I recently spent alot of money to have the organ totally reconditioned. Before this, I owned several other Farfisa organs, The compact duo, a fast 3,and a fast 4. This sound identical to the compact duo, however the deluxe was in better physical shape and it's lighter with a single keyboard and abuilt in pre-amp. The duo is a double tier organ with a seperate power supply making it a bit cumbersome. It has a more rugged tone than the fast organs, and it doen't sound tooty like the fasts. You cant rock out on this one more. It is what it is and it does what it does. But it's very cool and fun to play. It inspires me musically as of course I selected it as my sound as a keys player. Oh, by the way be prepared to spend alot of money on finding a descent old farfisa and then having it serviced to make it truely good. You have to love them, to make it worth your wild. E-mail me with questions-if prompted.

This is a very simple to use transister organ. The only controls are tabs and a whammy-bar type deal. It is a bitch to put together if you don't know how, It folds into a easy to carry (sarcasm here) suitcase. It is about 3 feet X 2 feet X 1 foot and weighs about 90 lbs.

It has controls for pipe length (16,8,4,2-3/4), vibrato speed (two-speeds) and depth (light-heavy). It has a reverb unit and controls for depth but is only useful for crashing it. There is a foot pedal for instantanious vibrato, and a foot pedal for volume control. It has a knee-bender whammy-bar type thing that adds tone (distortion) as you bend it. It also has a tab called "all" that gives it instant tone(distortion). The only drawback is that it has tabs as opposed to drawbars so there is less of a range of sound. There is also this weird bass/brush cymbol thing. You turn it on and each time you hit a key it will give a bass drum sound or a splashy cymbol sound.

The tabs on the right side have names like flute, strings, tuba, etc. but it sounds nothing like these. It has a transistor organ sound (Doors, Sam the Sham, Jefferson Airplane). It was used for rock in the 60s. It is good for rock, classic rock, surf. I use it in a punk band. The vibrato is alright, it sounds nothing like a Leslie speaker(rotating). I once played with the vibrato pot inside the organ and got it to do this slow to fast leslie sound like if you were turning the leslie on.

I've gone through three different Farfisa Compacts (standard, duo, and DeLuxe) but these were cuz of problems I caused trying to fix other problems. I've seen people beat the hell out of these and they stay strong. Jake of the Bomboras jumps on his and lights it on fire. I wouldn't bring a back-up if I had one cuz of the size. This thing weighs about 90 lbs, but is worth it. No synth could get this sound, NO SYNTH !

Farfisa is still around but I doubt they have anything to do with their 60s organs, They make big expensive synthesizers

I would definately buy this again, this is my third. I have paid from $40 to $400. It has a great cheesy 60s sound, nothing like a Hammond but I think it sounds better. I haven't played a Vox Continental but I played a Vox Jaguar and the Jaguar is crap compared to this. I wish it had drawbars as opposed to tabs and a better way to control the exact speed of the vibrato. Feel free to ask questions but I AM NOT INTERESTED IN SELLING IT FOR ANY PRICE WHATSOEVER !