Hammond-Suzuki XK-3

It came in a box ! Open the box and sit the Instrument on a sturdy stand and start playing ! Its that simple, anyone who has knowledge of the Hammond Organ will be right at home with this baby. Nothing really complicated at the outset. However I would say that a qucik read of the manual will soon have you exploring the inner depths of this instrument. The Manual is poorly written and it should be rewritten and proofed before being released as the descriptions and spellings leave at lot to be desired and the manual reminds me of the vey early efforts of the Japanese manufacturers .

Polyphony is unrestricted,

Keyboard Action is a pleasure and comparing it to that of my C3 & A100 it is different but not to the point where swapping between then would be a problem.

Effects are standard, Reverbs, Rooms, Plate, Halls & delays, again very good quality for wetting the organ sounds.

There are at this time no voice expansion options available and why would you ever require them !

Midi control is there but is limited and It would not be my choice as a controller keyboard except for simple jobs.

No onbaord sequencer.

Having spent over 40 years playing Hammonds and ALL of the tonewheel clones that have come and gone and in addition comparing the XK# alongside my real tonewheels and leslies I can say this.

I never thought that this sound would be nailed by any electronic means sampled or reproduced by another tone generation system.

I was wrong . You may have noticed that I refer to the XK3 as an instrument and that it is without compormise. The Hammond sound is there no mistake and its highly playable and totally convincing and I do not say this lightly, I am the worse sceptic and this passes my ears, couple it through a real leslie for the finsihing touches and shut your eyes and its the perfect combination.

I have to small gripes, 1. The keyclick is too pronounced with the onboard presets but this can be adjusted to taste as can many parameteres. 2. The Leslie Simulation, well it works just fine and is the best I have heard and is again very useable in situations where either you dont have a real leslie or space is a consideration or quick set up is an issue. However for full effect just like the real thing use a leslie whenever you can.

The sound of the Hammond is here in its full glory and I would say that you should not be put of by some of the negative comments elsewhere. It Sounds right, It looks right, It plays right, and it is right from the ground up. HS have done a real ggod job on the build quality and it puts the Korg CX3. Roland VX8 and all the other stuff right into the shade.

From the way this instrument is built I would say that with a flightcase and good handling it will last for years. The technolgy is the same as its big brother the New B3 save for the Keyboard contact arrangement and I would hope it will be realiable. Time will tell !

Having dealt with my country distributor prior to purchase they were extremely helpful and I would not envisage any problems on this score

If it was stolen I would hunt the thief down and tie oiling wicks around there testicles. Yes I would get another one without question.

Yes I compared it with the other manufacturers offerings,This is the best !!!!! Go get one.

if not editing things like the leslie simulation or assigning bass pedals to the keyboard manual, it's very easy. tinkering w/ aforementioned items is not as quick to understand.

full polyphony, loads of Hammond/Leslie type features.

Hammond tone is dead on due to the analog tube which takes the digital edge off of the notes, especially on the upper register (give this a 10).

Leslie, still not there. Korg CX-3 still the winner in this category. How hard can it be to get this right when there are two companies out there (KORG, Motion Sound w/ the drum simulation) doing it right already? Steal their technology for god sake! Keep trying to reinvent the wheel in this area and not getting it. (Give this a 7)

Chorus/Vibrato, not Hammond authentic. C3 too heavy. This can be tweaked in registration, but why should i have to tweak it to get it right? Why isn't it delivered correctly out of the box? (Give it an 8 due to the fact that it can be tweaked to sound better, points off for the frustation of having to waste time tweaking it in the 1st place).

Just to show you i'm not being subjective, you can compare the CX-3, the Electro and the XK3 here.

http://www.drjohomusic.com/clonecompare.html
http://www.drjohomusic.com/clonecompare2.html

You'll notice the CX-3 is the brightest of the 3, the XK3 the warmest of the 3 in terms of tone (a good thing). You'll also notice that the chorus is not as good as the Korg nor Electro and the Leslie simulation is last among the 3.

Through a Leslie 145, it sounds fantastic.

n/a

try finding some info on this; difficult. hammond-suzuki website doesn't give you much; you can't even get an online owner's manual. most information about the keyboard comes from 3 parties.

It sounds great, don't get me wrong. Tone-wise the best yet; leslie simulation still not the best. Why is it the most expensive then, because it's new and has a tube in it? When you go to the above websites i previously mentioned and listen to all three (hammond, cx3 and electro) they all pretty much sound the same. Small differences don't warrant the price. This makes the Electro the best buy since it also provides topnotch rhodes as well. If you just want a clone, i think i'd still go w/ the CX3, simply because it sounds very close to the hammond is at least $500 cheaper if you find a used one. Hammond not worth the additional $500, even w/ the tube. If you run the CX-3 through a speakeasy pre-amp (or any tube for that matter) it sounds even better than the hammond.

I only checked it at a music store yesterday, so I don't know about software version and manual.
preset sounds are okay, editing "patches" is of course very simple:
drawbars, knobs for vibrato/chorus, volume and overdrive, buttons for percussion and leslie-simulation

i'm not sure but i think it has full polyphony.
keyboard action is nice, feels good for glissandos etc.

it has a delay and overdrive effect built in. very simple

no expansion afaik

there is midi in it, but i wasn't able to check it out

no sequencer of course

this is what disappointed me.
i started playing on this thing and, well, it sounded "ok"
but do you expect from a HAMMOND to sound "ok"? i don't.
while fumbling around with this thing, i realized that it was not the whole sound i didn't like, but especially the leslie simulation

i own a nord electro II and really know its sound, and all i can say is that the electro's leslie sim is a LOT better than the hammonds.
in the electro, you can hear the sound go round in the room (even in mono!) or your headphones, but the hammond is somehow different...
it's of course "moving", but it lacks the "!!!WOW!!!"-effect if you know what i mean.

when i disabled the leslie simulation (the sound of course got worse), i realized that it sounds almost exactly like my NE2 when disabling its leslie-sim.

as said above, i only checked it out at a store

as said above, i only checked it out at a store

finally i can only compare it to my nord electro. and the hammond definately loses.
it's much more expensive but doesn't sound any better.
i think when driven through a real leslie, both will sound very similar, but why pay for this thing when you can have a better one for less money?
and it's not just the hammond sound: the electro features a keyboard i like much more (and you can get the 73-note model for even more keys) and it contains incredibly good rhodes and wurly simulations.
and if you think "i don't need those" now, just check the electro out at your store. i promise you will "need" them afterwards.
but to come back to the hammond: there are better things on the market, not being produced by hammond itself.
too bad. but i don't buy instruments for the name, but for the sound...

I am using version 1.20. I didn't buy the XK-3 for the presets. For a Hammond player , the drawbars in real time are the real payoff. The presets I did hear sounded good and are probably useful to someone who is not familiar with the different registrations Hammond players use.
Editing the patches is why I didn't give it a 10. It is not something you can do without going thru a lot of menu choices.
The manual is pretty basic. It only describes the functions of the different options you have. Playing a sound on a Hammond is done by ear. You have to know the sounds in order to know what choices to make. I did modify some of the default factory presets.

As with a real Hammond , it is fully polyphonic. The action is actually better than many Hammonds that I have played on. It is the closest so far to my favorite, my own Hammond B2. Mush better than the Korg CX-3 and more realistic than the Roland VK 8 or VR-760.
The effects are good. The Leslie sim is good. The effect of the Leslie is only as good as the people in the immediate area. And Leslies are underpowered. I also play it thru a PA system with a sub-woofer and it sounds great.
It accepts a Compact Flash card. It has velocity , but I already have plenty MIDI keyboards. I bought the XK-3 solely for the Hammond sound. The only use MIDI has for me , is to add second keyboard for a dual manual. It is setup to make that painless.
There is no sequencer in it. Get the EXP-100F pedal , it is an essential part of the Hammond sound.

I have a 1953 vintage Hammond B2 with the percusiion added. I am not a fan of B3's, they lack the bass end of the earlier Hammonds. This is the first Hammond that makes me not want to get back to my B2. The bass end is even better than the pedals on the vintage. the XK-3 sounds better than most B3's I have played.
I use it for jazz and R&B. It should be great for gospel and rock. I listened to and played every B3 clone out there and this is the real deal. Gospel choirs will love it. I also have heard almost every fake Hammond patch. The thing that does it for me is the drawbars. You can change the sound in real time.
I love the reverb. The chorus/vibrato is better than the rest , but still not as good as a vintage. The keyclick and leakage are there , but you can get rid of the keyclick if you like.
The Hammond sound is an acquired taste. It is not pristine or clean. There are little noises that make it unique.
I don't care about velocity or aftertouch on a Hammond. I want the sound and the feel of the waterfall keys. If you need other sounds, don't buy the XK-3. It is solely for that Hammond sound.

I have used Hammonds for years. I have never had trouble with them. I used the XK-2 and the XB-2 and never had trouble with them. My B2 was made in 1953 and is still working. I know guys with XB3-M's and they never have trouble with them. They are trading up to the new B3 and new B3 portable.
I usually bring another keyboard for the other sounds , but I would have no problem using it alone. I have never heard anyone complain about it being unreliable.

No experience with the company except ordering the demo CD for the XK-3. They send it out the same day. I doubt if I will have to get it repaired. I have good SKB cases and I don't bang my keyboards around.

If it were lost or stolen, I would buy another. I love it. I have been playing pro since 1972. I have 10 other keyboards. Lots of vintage stuff.
I chose this keyboard from the reviews on this website and word of mouth from Hammond techs. What I love about it is that now I can do small clubs and I don't have to worry about a Hammond being there. The XK-3 is a real Hammond.
I tried the Korg CX-3, Clavia Nord Electro 2 73 and Roland VR and VK-8. I had to buy the XK-3 to try it out. Now I am glad I did. If you play a real Hammond , you will know the difference right away in the others. This is the only one that sounds like a Hammond.
Of course, I wish it was cheaper. I wish they made a dual manual for twice the price.
The XK-3 allows you to play the pedals in your left-hand. This will be all the keyboard you need for a organ trio gig. You need a serious amp for it though. The low end is deep.
Believe it or not , I play it more than my B2 now. It really feels like home for me as a bona-fide Hammond player. If you play rock, you could get away with using any clone. You won't be as critical as I am about the sound and the quirks of a Hammond.
I haven't hooked it up to my Leslies yet. I am enjoying hearing it thru a 900w Mackie subwoofer.
I wrote this review because this website was invaluable to me in making the choice to buy it. I want everyone to know that the reviews, except one a CX-3 lover, were right on the money.
If you need all those other sounds or MIDI, this is not the keyboard for you. If you want the best Hammond sound in a 43 pound package, this is as good as it gets.

I just purchased the Version 1.20, I was rather dissapointed. Most all of the presets have way too much Key Click on them. It's a shame because the reproduction of the Tone Generator is great. I turned the Key Click all the way down to 0, and felt it still was artificial sounding. There was no manual in the box (which certainly didn't impress me), so I had to wing it with the editing. It wasn't that hard to figure out though. The display is too small though.

It is fully polyphonic, like playing a real Hammond. It has a nice action which is vety responsive and smooth feeling. Very easy to play the thumb and finger machine gun licks with. The reverb is good on it, I think they should of had a spring reverb like some old Hammonds or Leslies had. All the efects and controls are very easy to manipulate. It's nice that they have a memory card for it if you're into that. I mean how many patches do you need when you have drawbars? I prefer the old syle drawbars like my 1956 B3 or my choped 1940 BC. It's midi is less than adequate,I don't know why they wasted their time having pitch bend and modulation wheels with such limited midi control. That was one of the reasons I bought it over the Korg CX3, I didn't realize it's midi was so bleak until I got it. I also wanted the Leslie output, it's an 11 pin connector so I would need a adapter kit. It has a little recorder in it which I don't care about. With the midi you can't even use the footswitch as a sustain pedal. It has bass pedal drawbars wich you can assign to the left half of the keyboard or pedals which is a very nice feature.
I can't believe they didn't put seperate on/off switches for the Chorus/Vigrato after how much they seemed to copy the Hammond so well. This is the main reason I'm sending it back and going to get the Korg CX3! That's a very crucial part of the Hammond Organ, especially for color and texture differences between the manuals.

Like I said before it leaves allot to be desired!

Just got it and going to send it back. Was not impressed with them forgetting to put a manual in the box.

Same as above!

I think it's overpriced, for what you get. They would have been better off to not have so many useless features and priced it lower. The tube overdrive can't even compare to my 56 B3 which screams like a Tiger when need be! It's very well built and sturdy, it's a very pretty looking keyboard. Like I said earlier I'm sending back and going to get Korg CX3, I think it will accomodate my needs much better.

The interface to the XK-3 is better than any other Clonewheel organs I've played (noted above). It is the most natural of all. It took the native layout of the old analog Hammond (including the reverse keys-you can't tell me it's easier to press a tiny button than a reverse key). It also has the native vibrato knob, along with prominent buttons for all the other stuff. I use my Alesis sustain pedal as a Leslie switch and my Roland pedal for volume (I set the overdrive before the expression, but you can put expression first). To this solid foundation for the Hammond, they added digital features that made it better. The LCD readout is pretty inclusive. It shows you the values of each drawbar so you can catch up with the preset
by looking at the screen (i.e. when you change to a different one and the physical drawbars are not aligned). It's all ergonomics!

Most notable is the fact that you can change tonewheel sets. The organ comes with a completely different tonewheel set that does a pretty damn good job of reproducing the Vox organ. I've always been a huge Doors fan, and this bonus was one that I was pleasantly surprised to find. The Vox had drawbars too. However, the XK3 has overtones that the Vox doesn't, so you now have yet another dimension (in addition to overdrive and reverb). The reverb includes stuff like delay, reverse delay, and pan delay. Pretty cool.

I felt the need to buy a real Leslie. The onboard is as good as any other, but i liked the added overdrive of the Leslie 2101, as well as the sound of a REAL leslie. Nothing quite like the sound bouncing off different walls as the horn rotates.

No problems in the short few months i've had it. However, i can't say the same for the Leslie 2101. No problems with the XK-3 though!

I sent the Leslie in for repair to Hammond and they were really on top of things. I was never out of touch with Ray, the Hammond service manager. When i had a second set of problems when i got the Leslie back, they sent me a brand new one as an excahange.

Overall, i'd say it is worth it. I wish you could optionally turn off the vibrato off on the lower manual (probably only at this point cuz some dude keeps pounding this in people's heads). Also, i wish the mod wheel had a use besides leslie speed control. Overall, i'm convinved that i got what i wanted (the sound of the original Hammond + some extra goodies).

This new XK3 is easy to understand if you know Vintage Hammond organs. Everything works pretty much the same way. Editing allow you to create almost any organ sound.

Outstanding action for organ playing.

The Hammond tone is the best feature of this keyboard. Sounds better than sone real tonewheel organs that I've played. Really great sound. Same sound engine as the New B3. Leslies kick butt to. Choose from 122,147,760, and other cabnet types. Distortion is fantastic because of the onboard tube. This is the best Hammond Clone so far.

This board is solidly built. Very strong wood of good quality. I can't find any faults with this board. Very pretty.

H/S is very supportive although I haven't had to contact them about a problem. This is a winner!

The XK3 is an outstanding recreation of the orginal B3 organ. It's worth every penny that you could spend on it. If it were stolen or lost, I would buy another one right away. I play gospel music and I can't wait to get the bass pedals to go with it. I've owned a Roland Vk8 and Korg CX3. The Xk3 outshines any clone that I've heard. I'm very happy with it and highly recommend it to thoes wanting a true B3 sound in a single manuel transportabe keyboard.

I won't waste time with redundant critiques here. But if you've played a Hammond organ, this will feel like home to you; if you haven't, you'll be moving in. Playing presets is easy, programming your own is not more more involved. You might refer to the manual periodically, but you'll find it's not too necessary.

The keyboard feels incredible, and very Hammond-like. Triggering is fast and smooth across the keybed, and can even be programmed to be a little sluggish if you're into that kind of thing. It plays fast without feeling like a toy.

The leslie sims are not bad and are very programmable. I'm a stickler for the real thing and use a leslie all the time, so I'm guessing for most keyboardists, the leslie sim will qualify as very good to excellent. All the artifacts of Hammond are here in spades and are programmable: Keyclick, percussion, grind, mellow tones, even reverb and chorus. The chorus/vibrato unit, the thing nobody gets right, sounds incredible!!! I own and love my Electro, but this thing spanks it. This keyboard will sound different in everyone's hands, because like a real instrument, it responds to the player unlike a Rompler. This organ will sound incredible to rockers, jazzbos, blueshounds or gospel players. No lie!

I had an XK2 for years and an XM1 even longer and neither gave me a lick of trouble. This thing weighs almost 50 lbs, and is built like a tank. I'd be surprised if there were any troubles.

Customer support is easy to reach via phone or email.

If this thing were lost or stolen, I'd buy another one right away. It's worth every penny I paid for it. Through a Leslie, this thing is a monster. I dare say it sounds better than a lot of vintage b3s. I've owned a VK7, VK8m, Voce V5, Nord Electro, XK2 and XM1, and the old CX3, and none of them, NONE OF THEM, come close to this instrument. Not only is the layout true to the ergonomics of the B3 (only the new CX3 nails it more), but its sound leaves all competition behind. Nobody's C/V unit sounds as good as this (and this thing sounds RIGHT!), nobody's percussion has the woody thunk this has, and unlike some other clones, a registration of 888888888 played at High C won't shred your ears. This thing is IT.

If you know the old B-3, or in my case C-3, you can play this organ right out of the box. Everything is where you remember it being. Vibrato to the left. Percussion to the right. Also, a new twist for clones, a master volume control and other controls on the left. Why did it take so long to master this simple idea? Organists always have their right hands occupied with making music. The left was for the leslie switch and kicking on presents (and maybe holding a beer). Ah yes, presets, where they should be, and in a welcome modern touch equipped with light indicators. They don't lock down but who cares? They are easy to get to and you don't have to read an LED screen (unless you want to) to find out where you are. Again, if you are a B-3 person, you'll love this ax. If not, you will get an education as to how clasic music used to be made.

The only real "bells and whistles" here are concerned with maximizing the options one could have with the old Hammonds. There are no orchestral sounds or strange controls you will never use. On the other hand, you will get 9 (count 'em) virtual leslies to play around with or your choice of clean or dirty tone wheels etc. About the only "modern" thing here is pitch bend and even that can be done the "old fashioned" way by vitually speeding or stopping the motor. If you prefer you can get the synth version too which just raises or lowers the pitch without the motor's idiosyncratic sound. Not a feature you will use often but an indicator of the level of control detail on this instrument. Yes, it will do MIDI too.

Since this is the same system in use on the "new" B-3 transplanted into a single manual, the overall sound is identical. If you like the new B-3 (and I do) you will like this instrument. The thing that most impressed me was the sense one gets of playing the vintage real thing with all its little imperfections like key click, motor hum, tube distortion and the like. This is stuff that an audience member would be unlikely to hear or pay attention to, but an experienced player will find it comforting. Yes, it has waterfall keys for those that care about such things. I think too much is made about this feature in product reviews in that many us us "old guys" played on early Hammond L models before we could afford our B's and C's and somehow didn't mind the "diving board" keys. More important in my book is the feel and it is there. You can do your best Jimmy Smith machine gun on one note with style here.

I can't speak to this in that this is my first Hammond Suzuki although it is not my first digital emulator. I owned a Roland VK-7 which was reliable. I own a 1960 vintage C-3 which never let me down and could be fixed with spare tubes (always kept in a handy tool kit which went to the gig). If Hammond Suzuki can recreate this level of reliabilty as well as playability, I'll be happy. For now though, I carry a second keyboard both for the additional sounds and for redundancy. Somehow, I don't think on-the-job repairs are going to be part of the experience with this new breed of digital gear.

I bought this instrument online and was very happy with the company I dealt with but have no knowledge of either their, or Hammond Suzuki's, support if things go wrong.

If this were stolen and I ever found the perp, there would be blood. At this stage, there is no other clone I have tried, and that includes Roland (which I liked enough to own for three years), Clavia, and Korg, which even comes close to this instrument. Price is always relative. Is 2 grand too much? Compared to the new B-3 at 25,000 or even the portable version at 15,000, this thing is a steal. I suspect in a year or so it will be down to 1500 and while I might feel some regret, I'll also know I had an extra year playing this thing. I think in this case being an early adopter is worth the price difference.

This ain't a clone, friends, it's the real deal. The Hammond guys took the engine out of the "NEW B3" and dropped into this keyboard. It's very much like transplanting a Dodge Viper engine into a PT cruiser. God must be an organist, beacuse the prayers have been answered. (especially the ones from those who have played the 'NEW B3' and did a spit-take when they saw the 5-figure price tag)

Ease of use? If you've ever played a B-3 you know how to play this organ. Any organist with any experience at all will find the traditional controls...traditional. You could take it to a gig, remove it from the box 2 minutes before the downbeat, and you wouldn't be lost. The reverse key presets don't latch like the big brother, but they DO have nifty LCD's which even make MORE sense on a dark stage. There are two sets of drawbars, a rotary Chorus/vibrato knob, and the percussion switches are up on the right hand side right where they belong. The presets are great, but who uses presets on a real b3? Refer to everything you like about the b3 and that's what is in play here. An added bonus though, is the fact that you can use the percussion on either the A# or B preset--The XK-3 will "remember" your percussion and vibrato setting between the two "drawbar" presets. Unlike the big boy, you can program a bunch of different banks of the "octave" of presets for your convenience. There is a regulation LCD display for patch names and menu functions, but you can ignore it if you're a purist.
Getting into the editing is pretty easy, and the choices you have are submarine deep. You can make this organ as sweet as a gospel sunday, or as dirty as Jon Lord's jeans after a 3 day bender in New Orleans. All of the mods that the stars pay customizers huge bucks for are available here for the asking. You can voice each "tone wheel" to your liking. Hell, you can even give the thing a "bad note" if you have a mind to. All of the percussion, chorus, vibrato, attack, and tone is up for your touch. And the whole shebang can be saved on a flash memory card. And you can make almost all of these mods PATCH SPECIFIC. meaning you can have a bank of presets that are a silky jazz B3, and another that are Stonking Rock.
If you use a Leslie (and you really should with this much organ) the internal controls will run it, and all of that is saved with presets, too. I hear HamSuz is going to bring out a "half moon" trad Leslie switch for this thing like they do on the "New B3". Whoa!

I was half expecting to have to "run up the motor" with a start switch to get this baby purring--but it has a regular on-off switch.

The XK-3 has one and only feature:
It physically plays like a Hammond B3 and has an identical sound. The feature is that you ALREADY KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS ORGAN.

OK, two features
An onboard tube preamp--Pure genius--This is where the XK-3 leaves the pretenders in the dust.

No piano/strings/synth voices. No sequencer, No cheesy "alternate" organ voices, and No "D-beam" controller (And what the fuck is that anyway?-Is Roland tripping? Did Jimmy Smith need to wave his arms in the air to turn on the Leslie? I didn't think so)

Yeah, there's full MIDI implementation, Reverb, Delay, all of the usual boilerplate if you want to go under the hood, but I must keep reiterating that you DONT HAVE TO IF YOU DONT WANT TO. This thing is one manual of a B3. Period. If you want a synth, go buy a synth, if you want an organ, this is your only choice.

Just like the big box, you've got to have a Leslie speaker. The on-board Simulator is way good, and actually will suffice for most applications, especially if you run this box in Stereo. But to make the thing bloom, you've got to have something spinning and pushing air. I use the new Leslie 21 system, and it's perfect. If you've got a bigbox Leslie, you're in for a REAL treat. Go into the menus and dial up the tone setting for "dirty b3" and listen to that glorious "hash" and leakage. Pull up your favorite drawbar setting and then dial in the tube preamp. No, it doesn't necessarily have to mean "overdrive and distortion". It means "Warmth" as well, and what is a B3, if not "Warm"?
Unlike the clones-The XK-3 nails ALL the different types of Hammond organs--The vintage models aged and grew into their characteristics--like Martin guitars or Les Pauls, Marshall amps or Selmer Saxes. Each has its own personalities. The XK-3 can summon up any b3 at will. Jazz, blues, Rock, gospel. Even the Pop stuff like Lenny Dee and Earl Grant. They all had their individual sound. You can't get those nuances out of the other clones. I hear tell that there are people that still work for Hammond who were there during the glory days. Who knows better? I said it before and I'll say it again--THIS ISN'T A CLONE-IT'S THE REAL THING

Just got it--time will tell--My XB-2 and XK-2 worked flawlessly

HamSuz has always given great and prompt customer service when needed.

This is not a clone-it's the real deal. End of story.