Farfisa Professional 110

The Professional 110 is very easy to use: in fact, absolutely self-explanatory. The presets are okay, but the fun is certainly in the drawbars.

Full polyphony, fast keyboard action. It has a vibrato effect, with two speeds, and a "delay" function, which makes the vibrato "fade in", if you know what I mean. No MIDI, no expansions as far as I can see. It does have a Leslie connection, though, with switches on the left of the keyboard to control the Leslie - handy! Best of all: ALL drawbars can be switched to percusions, i.e. you can get up to nine percussion registers... how many organs let you do that?

For an old analogue organ, I think it has about everything you need, so please take "9" to indicate "near-perfect for its time and technology as an 70es organ".

It is just an organ, but a good one: Doesn't really sound like a B3, but nor does an Ace Tone GT7, Korg CX-3, Elka X-50 which are all great organs, too. For all I care, the sound is plain gourgeous, and you only get a tonewheel sound with the g*dd*mn weight of a tonewheel mechanism. So as long as you don't have roadies, I guess you'd prefer this to a tonewheel organ, as it plays really well, gives you a great feel, reacts perfectly to your playing and sure sounds great -- in short: if you want an old organ with a vintage sound, this is it!

I think I can depend on it: it's my age, but it looks and plays just fine. All the drawbars are perfectly smooth, all the buttons click like new. I don't think many organs of this vintage hold up better. Still, it's an old instrument, so I suspect a new board with just a computer chip will be more reliable... let's say "10 for a 70es organ", which translates as "8 by today's standards"? A very reliable instrument!

Don't know, never contacted them. Old organs, unlike their modern-day counterparts, are really servicable, as they mostly use discrete components. If you find the schematics (they do pop up on discussion groups, if you google for them), you'll be fine.

It certainly is a lovely organ. It plays well, it sounds great, it can be transported, and it has an air and a style to it that you just won't get from a Hammond XK-1, Roland VK-8 or whatever new digital board you care to mention. If you want a vintage organ, without the hassle of weight or repairs, I recommend you check out one of these!

Very easy to use: it is an organ from the late 70es, i.e. no displays, menus etc.: Just grab the drawbars and pull the switches. The manual is very clear about the individual switches etc. but does not give much help in the way of "popular organ registrations" or anything - well, you can browse the web for that.

Full polyphony (frequency-divider technology), as expected from a good organ. The keyboard is extremely light-weight - which is a good thing for an organ: all playing techniques, trills, single-note sputter, tremoloes, palm slides etc. are easily possible, an excellent, precise, playable keyboard for an organ. As for effects, you can repeat the percussion register at an adjustable rate, and there is a Reverb effect built-in (just one fader). There is no expansions or anything, but the organ is pretty complete the way it is: It is a drawbar organ with a full set of 9 drawbars for the upper manual, and four drawbars for the lower manual (plus the possibility to map the pedal footages 16" and 8" to the lower half of the lower manual - very handy!). You get dual keyboards and a pedal board, a volume pedal (with sustain switch for Percussive Voices, see below), there is three non-editable, but good preset organ registrations, and extra percussive voices (Piano, Vibes,...). Pretty full-featured for an organ of this time, hence nothing much to fault the instrument for here! Maybe it could have included chorus or overdrive, so not a perfect 10.

The only sounds that are realistic are organ sounds - but these are excellent: The organ just sounds very full, round and analogue. The sine wave registers make this instrument sound very much like a Hammond, and you can get excellent results for lots of classic Hammond registrations! I'm not gonna say it sounds it sounds EXACTly like a Hammond, but I will dare say that it can replace for one in many situations. Given that you can carry this instrument (at around 45kg, with a very good carrying handle all across the front), this is cleary an alternative to lugging around a Hammond -- or settling for the digital replacements: While these add more details, they do not sound better overall, imho, in that this instrument packs more punch, and lacks the digital artefacts and the harshness of many clonewheels I have tried. All in all, I rate the organ sounds as near-perfect.
The extra percussive voices should be seen as a free bonus: "Piano" and "Vibes" certainly does not sound anything like piano and vibes, but they are very charming 70es sounds in their own right. I can see people using these to get a special effect, but let's face it, this instrument is about its excellent organ sounds.

Not all Farfisa organs have proven to be reliable, however their more professional gear often is. The Professional 110 has an excellent built, with wooden sides, many metal surfaces, etc. It's all built into its own case, with a detachable cover for the keyboards and drawbars, so as far as can see, this is built for gigging and should last you long. As things stand, we don't gig with this instruments (but may, should the need arise), and I don't see any problems for that . I have even set this instrument up by myself, even though I don't necessarily recommend it. Breakdown you can certainly do on your own: Lower the instrument on its side, screw off the legs, put on the cover and you are ready to load it in your car. In short: You have to treat vintage instruments carefully, but this one is certainly on the reliable side!

I'm not even sure Farfisa still exists, and I don't think they'd be much help. However, the instrument is very servicable: Two screws and the lid of the instrument lifts up for complete easy access to the interior (there is a folding mechanism that even hold the lid open for you), and as far as I can see, all parts of the organ should be replaceable by anybody who could repair your radio or tele. To sum up: I don't foresee needing any support, but if I ever do, my radio tech will certainly fix this instrument with no problem at all. How much more can you expect from a 30+ year instrument?

If this instrument were stolen, I would try to get something similar, as I just don't expect to find another Professional 110: They are quite rare, I think. A Korg BX3 might replace it, or a Crumar T2, but overall I'm very satisfied with the Farfisa: If I had the chance to get the same instrument again, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it. Nor, I think, should you, if you ever find one in good condition: It makes you play very cool, and bluesy and jazzy and it's just got that feel that you only get from a vintage instrument - just don't expect 2008 high-tech features from a 1970es instrument, and you will not be disappointed -- highly recommended!