Farfisa VIP 600

Very easy and it is vintage in sound. She has slides on her like a hammond organ. The Vip has no midi. I did not get a manual, but it would be fun to have one. But setting the sounds is very simple.

I picked up the Vp 600 when I was on the road playing down in Fort Doge, Iowa back in 1985, and paid $200.00 for it. And I have used in on gigs over the years with a junio 106 on top of it. What I like about it is the bass sounds in the left hand, you can do a duel with a drummer very easy. I was at a club, back then, that used trio's during the harvest seasons and most of the year they used 5 or more in the band that they hired. My bass player played the Vip-600 with the left hand on the bass and right hand on the organ and my drummer played and I went out and sang some slow Elvis front man style. This put enough extra something from a bass, guitar and drum combo as we played most of the time. The Vip 600 saved the two week gig. The Vip-600 now sits in my living room and I use it when my synths are put away or loaded up in the van.

The sounds are vintage and work for that style. I really like the organ sounds, the piano sound will work on a tape mix of a band, but will not stand alone. I like the touch and it is great for classical rock, and to tell you the truth I like it's touch better then my new midi synths. But it has no midi. I think that it would work great for dance, disco type sounds also, I don't play this style but it would work. The onboard effects are funky but usable.

It has allways worked for me. I would not use it on a gig today, because I have new keys that do the job. As the one before stated it is very very heavy.

I have never tried to look for customer support. I wouldn't mind finding a manual, just for fun.

If lost or stolen I would not worry about replacing it, but would get something that would fill it's place as a home instrument. I'm not really a keyboard player, I do play by ear and rhythm and comp, I'm a guitar player with a lot of midi gear. I use it as a set up ready to use keyboard for practice, or working out a part, etc.. It's handy. She does have a great organ sound and I have used it for live recordings and years ago for gigs.

Easy to use. Has a lead for a swell pedal. Cool synteslalom-portamento, full polyphony. Also 1/4" jack to amp.

No midi. Full polyphony. Split Keyboards, bottom with bass chords. Wha-Wha built in for lower keyboard. Really cool percussion section. There are lots of weird things on this keyboard that i don't understand too well. THere is a delay, which is an analog delay (of course) but is not a real clear delay, kinda like a reverby type thing. Percussion section is great.

Cool Sounds. Really like it. Kinda tripped out, good for ethereal kinda stuff.

I can kinda depend on it. Once the 'delay' really fucked up and would not turn off, but now it seems that only that one key is broken. Well, my band uses it at gigs, but it is the motherlode as far as keyboards go, REALLY REALLY heavy.

Farfisa? Ha.

I would buy it again definately for $200. But how high would i go? Prolly not heaps high, cos i don't like spending money on keyboards, cos i can usually find them cheap somewhere else. If i saw it at a shop? i would expect about the $600 range (Aust), i've seen lotsa Yamaha's that are similar but not as good (features and sounds) that go for about $600. so..

Quite simple to use, with some coloured sliders and switches to change and modify instruments.

Full polyphony (every key has an own oscillator!), 108 keys (subdivided in one 5 octaves and one 4 octaves keyboard) but no pressure or velocity sensitive. Bizarre pitch control (called "syntheslalom"), vibrato and wha wha.

Very good flutes sound, and others combinations of instruments that sounds like an ethereal organ. With the strange pitch control you can obtain interesting effects, and with repeat mode too.

Made like a russian battleship, it weights over 40 Kg!

This model is over 20 years old and Farfisa is dead long time ago...

I suppose I was quite lucky to found this keyboard for a very low price, but now I cannot do without.