Hammond-Suzuki XK-3c

Navigating the menus on the XK-3c is no more complex than the menus on an electronic typewriter.

The best feature of this instrument, is that there are accessories available to expand the instrument. For example, a lower "manual" (or keyboard) plus music stand. Hammond's "complete" system is the most portable solution for musician that needs the full "Hammond Interface.

The output of this instrument is authentic.

These are very reliable. It has been my experience that this instrument is built to be a quarter-back.

Never had to deal with them!

Overall... This is a great instrument. If you will never by all the accessories, then the XK-1 is a better choice. The XK-1 has controls that are easy to navigate with the left hand, and is cluttered with fewer "garbage control knobs". End all be all, the money could probably be used to purchase a used A-100 that has that "Hammond" touch that can't be immitated.

A brief background:
I have been playing organ for 2-3 years. I play mainly Gospel music (Southern Gospel, Black Gospel, Contemporary). I play in church and serve as a backup keyboardist, as well the electric guitar.
The nice thing about the Xk-3c is that it can be very easy to use or harder to use if you start editing or tweaking settings/patches. There is even a feature on it to disable the screen and all advanced functions basically emulating a B3. I liked the fact that I operate the XK-3c without referring to the manual for basic functions. If you've used a Hammond before, you'll have no problem setting registrations, chorus/vibrato, percussion, etc. Splits and Bass lower are easy to set.
I find that the menu system can be a little confusing at first, but once you learn the navigational buttons, its really not that complicated. Without looking at the manual, I was able to go into the menu and change cabinets, change reverb, etc. There were some functions that I had to refer to the manual. The manual is pretty straight-forward and well-written. Unfortunately, it wasn't 10 pages long like the Nord C1 I traded this for. But then again, there's so much more features and settings on the XK-3c.

The XK-3c has a ton of parameters that you can tweak to get YOUR favorite sound. In the week that I have used it, I've only gotten into a few. To name a few: Reverb, Cabinets, Drawbar settings (tonewheel type), assignable knobs, etc. It's really more than most people would need but it is definitely good to have. I found that the Nord had few settings compared to the Xk-3c. Also, having an lcd screen on the XK-3c is amazing! I wish Nord could have incorporated this- you can do so much more with the Xk-3c in terms of tweakability. I would say that the Nord C1 was more user-friendly and simpler to use in the long run, but it offers much less settings and controls.
I love the drawbars! I find I can be more expressive with the drawbars than the buttons on the C1. It's not to say that the Nord is bad for having "digital" drawbars. If you one of those players who dials in a preset or registration and don't change it throughout the song... then the Nord will be fine. Personally, I like to change settings on the fly and it???s more difficult to do it on the Nord. I
One thing that I wish the Nord had was the preset keys. I use these very frequently. When you're only using one manual, you can use the A# and B key to switch between the registrations.
The keys on the XK-3c have less resistance than the Nord, which I like. I can do slides easier. I would say they are more accurate to the B3 specification, but the Nord keys are still very good. I do miss the lower manual which some would justify the extra cost for the C1, but I have no problem since I use a motif as a lower manual (midi). I do find that the Hammond is heavy compared to the Nord for only having one manual (50lbs vs 40lbs) but the wood and finish is very attractive.

Sound

I will emphasize on each area. Overall, the sound was very, very accurate to the B3.
Tone: Truly amazing! I was very impressed with the sound. It has that raw, dirty, powerful tone that we associate with the older Hammonds. The C1 had more of a controlled, studio sound- Not bad by any means, just not the sound I am looking for. It was harder to get a punchy tone from it. On the Hammond, I can easily crank out some full sounds that to me, sound better than the Nord. Also, with the 2 tubes in the XK-3, I add light overdrive and it gives the sound a new dimension. It???s great!

Leslie Sim: Both the C1 and Xk-3c have very good Leslie simulations. This is what I use since I don???t have a Leslie. I found the Xk-3c had a deeper and lush sound over the Nord. The swirling effect sounded richer with a chorus effect. I found myself being addicted to the Leslie on/off switch. Also, the Leslie had much more settings to configure that the Nord (rise, fall, brake, mic distance, mic angle, leslie cabinets (122, 145, 3300, etc)
Chorus/Vibrato/Percussion/Key Click: The chorus and vibrato are great. My only complaint would be that the c1,c2,c3 are a little extreme, but this can be easily adjusted in the parameters. I love the fact that you can turn the Key Click down or off (The C1 did not have a key click setting). I don???t use much percussion but when I do it sounds just like the real thing. Other than these small gripes, they sound almost dead-on to the B3.

Reverb/Effects: It was easier to dial in reverb on the Nord since there was dedicated buttons and knobs. However, I found that the Reverb on the Xk-3c is superior. You can choose from more settings (room, stage, live, hall, etc) and it let you adjust more settings. As mentioned before, you can use the assignable knobs to control EQ and reverb parameters. There is even a setting to set reverb BEFORE Leslie. There are also reverb/delay effects but the disadvantage would be that they???re not separate effects compared to the Nord.

I assume this is going to be very reliable. The only thing I see going out would be the tubes, but that will be in a while.

Haven't dealt with the company.

In conclusion:

Very good Clone.

Why would I buy this over the Nord C1?

1. Real Drawbars.
3. More buttons,knobx, control surfaces
4. More tweakability
5. LCD screen
6. Preset keys
7. Keyboard action lighter, more authentic
8. 2 REAL tubes (Not simulated)
9. More authentic sound
10.Beautiful wood and finish.

finally: It's a Hammond!!!

Why would I buy a Nord over the xk-3c?

1. Lighter.
2. Comes with two manuals.
3. Less advanced functions = easier to use
4. Unique Red color with nice wood ends.
5. Reverb and Delay have separate controls.


Overall, I couldn't be happier with my purchase.

I am blind and that can be scary on a keyboard like this. If you know a full sized console like the B-3, then you pretty much have it down. Vibrato chorus, drawbars, percussion, etc etc.

I do not own this. I played it in a store which you _had to have heard of called Sweetwater Sound. I questioned one of the guys twice asking them if he was sure this was a Leslie simulation. Why? Because this Leslie simulation is killer. It has three modes as follows: fast or tremolo, slow or chorale, and stopped or brake. The percussion is perfect. Only second and third not fourth or fifth like other models such as the A-100. And maybe an extra button to adjust how fast it decays you like on a B-3 where you have to open the back and adjust it by the percussion amp. The sound is pure. The overdrive effect is okay. Why okay? Well I am more into jazz organ than into rock music. It sounded good but I turned it off after a minute or so. The vibrato and vibrato chorus is perfect. Oiling is not needed. A problem I have with my Hammond T-211 spinet which is a smaller organ, is that when it was oiled by a friend of ours, he accidently got some oil into the vibrato scanner and luckily my vibrato chorus and some other vibrato works but one seems very choppy. Well, that problem can be solved with the Hammond Xk3c. The leakage noise is reproduced perfectly. Why in the world would that be an imperfection? Who knows.

The Hammond sound is very realistic. I like to play jazz and I can immitate Joey Defrancesco and Jimmy Smith. The percussion is perfect. It sounds no different than the percussion on the real B-3 organ. I can't really rate this.

It would be a very reliable instrument. Oh yeah I would take it on a gig without a back up although the drawbars would worry me sometimes. I think they are a little on the small side compared to a real Hammond.

I have never delt with the company at all.

I think it is worth the money. If it were lost or stolen I probably would consider another one. One thing I forgot to tell all you Hammond lovers is that if you are just starting to like the Hammonds the Hammond Xk3c can be hooked up to a real Leslie. You can also expand it into a full double manual organ.

The other reviews here are very concise so I'll try not to duplicate their fine efforts... my comments are related to my personal experiences after a week of working heavily with the XK3c.

"Ease of use" - I guess that would depend on how deep you want to go with it. In many ways the XK3c is no more difficult to use than the original B3, but if you want to get into the deep functions like the MIDI controls, then thanks mostly to the terminology in the owner's manual and the multilevel menus it can be a bear to setup the XK4c for your needs. Here's as example: I wanted to control a piano module from the XK3c and wanted to use the velocity sensitivity features. It turns out that many functions affect the internal as well as the external sounds and this is one of them. As most people know, organs don't utilize velocity but the XK3c has it anyway - it can be applied to the percussion tones and it must be turned on the percussion for you to have full velocity control of an external module. It took a lot of fishing to get that necessary info in a way I could use. Other things like setting the octave for the split keyboard function also took more than a little effort. So my rating of "7" isn't so much a negative rating as much as it's my way of saying you'll have to spend some serious time wrestling with the terminology of the owner's manual to get what you want of it it, especially if you want to make the most of he XK3c as a MIDI controller. I expect to be refering to the manual often in the coming weeks and months.

I think the XK3c has every conceivable feature you could ask of an organ and more. Really. As drawbar organs go the XK3c has everything you could want. On the other hand then I was surprised that a small compact flash card is not included with the XK3c considering that you can't save setups without one. Another feature I think is indispensible in the EXP-100F expression pedal which includes a Leslie footswitch - an option. And I am a little concerned about the preamp tubes - I haven't found any obvious way to change them if them burn out. No mention of if the organ will still function if the tubes do burn out - I assume it will. But the tubes are a nice feature and they really do add warmth to the sound (and they glow out the back for everyone to see!). Other "clonewheels" try to imitate tubes digitally... Hammond/Suzuki went with the real thing.

I already mentioned the velocity sensitivity keyboard, which feels very nice by the way, and it's cool that this organ has pitch and modulation wheels. There is an on/off switch and volume control for external modules - a nice touch. While the organ has some nice MIDI controller features and some mapping setups that I have as of yet to use, the XK3c's MIDI functions are not as comprehensive as other keyboards I own, and considering how the internal sound and external MIDI functions affect one another in some ways, it's less than ideal as a master controller. I think of the MIDI options as nice additions to a great organ rather than thinking of the organ as the centerpiece of my MIDI rig. One nice thing is the dedicated MIDI inputs for the lower manual and pedal... I use a digital piano for my lower keyboard and once I got the octaves lined up and the settings right I find the combination of the piano/lower manual and organ/upper manual to be superb.

I like the XK3c split function, which allows you to use both hands on the single manual and control the left hand sounds with the lower drawbars and right hand with the upper. Also the keyboard overall has a nice shape, size and weight... it's very easy to transport. And the keys are off-white giving the XK3c an almost antique look. In fact the entire instrument is beautiful in design, layout and appearance.

No onboard sequencer at all (fine by me). But there are some interesting demos provided by a host of famous players with descriptions of the players in the owners manuals... very cool!

I'd give it an "11" actually... the sound is everything on the XK3c. 100% authentic ballsy Hammond B3/Leslie organ sound that turns heads and makes other musicians grin like monkeys. All the classic settings and sounds are there and you have full control of the "growl". The Leslie emulation is top notch but it really deserves a stereo amp to do it justice. I'm using my XK3c in a classic rock band right now and they adore it. I'm also using it for some solo jazz work and I adore it. I have previously owned a real B3 and Leslie, two Korg CX-3's, a Roland VK8m and more synths than I care to name... the XK3c is the best B3/Leslie emulation of them all. This is a 21st century organ that is worthy of it's legacy.

I have no idea how reliable this keyboard will be. The preamp tubes worry me a little - tubes burn out don't they? I'm even worried I might bump it hard the wrong way and dislodge them. Hope I'm worrying about nothing. I bought my XK3c a serious road case as insurance. I hope to keep my XK3c looking as good as it does now as well as keeping it operational.

I called them with some simple questions - they were freindly enough. Good website.

The XK3c is a fine instrument and I am proud to own it. It looks great. It's been said many times: the XK3c is not cheap but that's okay in a way because it represents the kind of player it takes to own an XK3c. Clearly it's for the discriminating player. There's lots of "clonewheels" to choose from that cost less but the person who buys the XK3c is someone who cares about authenticity. The XK3c commands respect and it cuts through the mix in a warm and welcome way. There's something about the name too - in the legends of rock there are Fenders, Gibsons, and Hammonds, and it's nice to have a legendary instrument in your hands. The XK3c is every bit a real Hammond organ and it's a bad boy - just ask anyone on stage with it. If you got the chops and want the best then step up.

A rating of 9 is in order here because you will need to consult the manual for guidance in getting the most out of this instrument. The manual is easy to understand and not overly complicated. The overall operation of the XK-3c is what you would expect on a Hammond organ and it is for the most part plug-n-play.

I have had quite a few Hammonds over the years and I am fussy about how they play and respond. The very cool thing about this instrument is how you can tweak it for your liking. I took a que from a previous revewer and turned down the volume of the percussion and the chorus. From the factory these two levels are way too high. I then setup the expression pedal to accomodate my Roland/Boss volume pedal. I set the upper manual midi channel to 1 so I could midi into my Electro 2 Rack. There are quite a few fine adjustments you can make to customize it for your liking. I don't know if I'll ever pop for the lower keyboard manual, but this is a great option to have and qualifies the features for a 10. The keyboard action is superb. Very nice to play.

Each and every Hammond has a unique sound of its own, at least the tonewheel varieties I have played and owned. The XK-3c has a very good sound and I'm still in the process of tweaking it to find my signature sound. I am playing it through a 11-pin Leslie model 302. In a blind listening test, you wouldn't be able to distinguish it from the real deal. Hammond/Suzuki has made real improvements in their portable Hammonds. At one point I was considering a Nord C1, but I believe the XK-3c was the better choice.

No opinion on reliability, but my advice is get a good case for it.

Havn't dealt with them

This board is expensive - especially if you add the lower manual, pedals, stand, etc. I do think it is the best clone-wheel out there and will give you the best overall Hammond sound and performance.

This is the new version of the xk-3, which was designed to improve that model. Among the changes are: 1) a new tube distortion module; 2) improved chorus/vibrato; 3) improved digital Leslie; 4) improved midi implementation. This is NOT a synthesizer in the true sense of the term: it's an organ. Unlike its little brother, the xk-1, it has no other voices except for a sort of moog like bass and access to some waveforms that permit basic combo organs (vox, farfisa, etc.). The editing architecture is a bit arcane and rather deeper than one would expect for an organ. Not only can you drill down to basic features (leslie ramp up/ramp down, mic placement and so on), but actually right down to the characteristics of the individual digital tonewheels. Just to make it clear, this is not a "modeling" unit; it's a sample playback machine, so the sound you get is the digital sampling of a REAL B-3 (or actually B-3's... there are a few of them). I think it's academic whether modeling is better or worse, but what matters is DOES THIS SOUND like a B-3? (it does, in spades). This unity is complex enough programmatically, so that a patch editor would be nice, but there is no USB port, so if one ever came about, it would be have to be done in a computer and transmitted via card slot (load card memory) of by MIDI. The manual is a typical Japanese manual, with all the normal odd translations. It's OK, once you get past the weirdness and figure out what they actually MEAN by what they say, but it takes a bit of reading and fooling around with it to figure it out. NOTE: the editing is entirely done using a 2 line small screen. That sounds bad, but it's not as bad as that. Elements are reasonably straightforward and it's not too hard to figure out what they mean. A slick thing is that if you hold down on ANY button for a couple of seconds, it calls up whatever area in editing you are dealing with, for example: if you want to change the distortion, hold the distortion button down. When the screen goes to edit mode, you are IN that area of the pages. very cool.

This is a fully polyphonic keyboard. You can hold them ALL down with ALL drawbars out and every note plays. no strange note reassignments to deal with. The keyboard action is just great. it feels almost exactly like the New B-3 (except for the feel brought about by the New B-3's bussbars). To me, this thing feels like a B-3. the keys are tight within their boundaries (no slop... wobbling side to side). There's a nice 'deadness' to the keydrop and the keys snap back very quickly with no chatter afterward. The unit uses "waterfall keys"; no synth keys; no piano lip. If you are used to a B-3, this is the guy for you. If you are used to an L-100 with the more 'synth-like' keys, the keyboard that most closely matches that is the Roland Vk-7, but good as it is, it just doesn't sound like this). Built in effects are what you expect from a B-3... Chorus, vibrato (3 types), percussion (2 types with soft and fast decay/slow decay), distortion (tube type, with 2 (!!) tubes), reverbs (POST leslie and PRE-leslie) and Leslie fast/slow/stop. There is a capability for decay on the pedals, too, but i don't use that. it has input for 2 kinds of pedals: Hammons own, which is designed around the original hammond pedal and a normal volume pedal. either work well. There is also a footswitch in. There are NO expansion capabilities. this is an organ. that's that. It can accept a memory card for storing all the presets, which come in banks, but that is all the card slot is good for. MIDI capabilities are vastly improved over the xk-3. there are 6 knobs and buttons, all of which can be assigned (although it takes some messing with it and ruminating over the manual to figure it out exactly). The unit comes with assignments already made. it's fairly easy to assign the knobs/switches to external devices, too. the keyboard is touch sensitive but does not respond to pressure sensitivity. Not needed in an organ, but nice for a synth. This would NOT be your very finest master countroller, but for your regular organ player, who will likely be using it mostly for a piano or similar patch in an external module, that isn't much of a problem. I don't miss it, but i also have a poly synth (Korg Triton Studio) that i use. There is NO sequencer.

Absolutely, this is the best Hammond Organ I have ever heard, next to the real thing. Since it is sampled from the REAL thing, it's really just the next generation of Hammond Organ. There are arguments pro and con about 'hammond clones', but when you get down to the nitty gritty, does the thing sound like a B? if it does, then it wins. i've heard and played virtually every kind of clone out there and played the real thing for years. It's so close to what i expect to hear, that i would be astonished if someone could tell the difference between it and a B-3 in a blind test through a leslie. and that is the acid test. This is an EASY instrument to use. the Black Preset keys are there and do exactly what you expect EXCEPT (just like the xk-3) they don't latch down (which they don't need to, anyway). If you use the standard presets in the C BANK (there are different banks... hold down the 'bank' key and hit C preset and you have the C bank; hold it down and hit C# and you have the C# bank and so on), which are pretty much what you'd get in a B-3, then you are set. the chorus/vibrato uses the rotary knob we are used to; the percussion buttons (while different kinds of buttons) are where you expect them and so on. It's very easy to use IF you just turn it on and play. 2 sets of drawbars are available along with 16' and 8' pedals (which, by the way, can tie directly to the bottom octave... that, folks, is very cool, indeed). If you play "organ" music, this is NOT a pipe organ, although it would certainly do what you want just fine (it has a couple of fairly good 'pipe organ - ish' presets. this is better for jazz and rock. Effects on the xk-3c are very much state-of-the-art. chorus/vibrato is right on the money AND you can roll off the highs on the chorus (just like on a real hammond) to make it fit better what your ears expect to hear. Distortion is very good... it's a tube distortion that is vastly controllable down to each individual tube. The leslie simulator is top drawer. i had vk-7, which at the time had the best leslie simulator. it was "ok" as a leslie by itself, but i never used it without chorus on. THEN i came alive. the xk-3c can be used without chorus and it is a very good simulation of a miked leslie. Currently, i use it with a motion sound kbrm, so i don't use the simulator, but i wouldn't hesitate to do so. The machine acts exactly as i would expect it to. When i first got it (i have the xk-pro... xk-3c w/ lower manual), the folks i play with noticed that i don't play the same way with it that i did with the vk (which i ALSO had set up with a 'lower manual'). They just aren't in the same league and my playing changed when i went back to a 2 manual 'b-3'. Velocity sensing is fine and of course, no aftertouch.

The machine is nicely made, but easily marked up. get a hardshell case to protect it. I don't think the machines will take a beating so, take care not to drop them or slam them around. I use it without a backup all the time. I haven't had a difficulty that wasn't my fault.

never dealt with them. I have no idea how they will respond.

This is THE hammond organ for those of us who have played hammonds for years, and i have. i wouldn't hesitate to get another. i think the ORGAN is a little expensive, but for what it is intended, i can live with that. the lower manual is very pricy, but it works with the upper manual exactly as a B-3 would... which makes it a very slick setup. I've been playing hammonds since the very early 1970's. i've played so many different organ clones over the years that they are too numerous to list and none, until now, have said to me 'welcome back'. I chose this because i thought it was the best sounding and feeling hammond-clone. I played most and heard all of them before choosing this. I don't want a console machine anymore (too big and i'm too old), so the flexibility of being able to use ONLY the upper manual (the xk-3c) and leave the lower manual in the truck made sense to me. what i wish it had was a rhodes or 2 and a couple of decent pianos... not the 'toss them in' kind, but a couple of good samples. it doesn't need EVERYTHING, just those. I get around that shortcoming by using a Korg SG-Rack for piano, but it would have been nice to not have to ust that for a couple of decent pianos.

If you are familiar with the layout of a tonewheel organ (A100/B-3/C-3), the layout is similar. There are 61 keys, one octave of reverse color preset keys, 2 sets of drawbars, above the keys, and percussion controls and the chorus/vibrato controls (tabs and selector) are located in the same places as on a classic tonewheel organ. There are many user adjustable parameters on this organ, so to get the most of out it, you will need to read the manual which is not too badly written. The display is a bit small for all the parameters that can be adjusted, and you will have to page through several menus, but it's not overly cryptic.

As on a classic tonewheel, there is full polyphony, and the keyboard feels excellent, very close to my vintage A105. Leslie simulator, reverb, and delay effects are built in, as well as chorus/vibrato indepednently assignable to either set of drawbars (can be configured as upper and lower manuals). It accepts memory cards to store your presets. It transmits and receives MIDI, and the XK-3c incorporates an assignable controller section which was not present on the original XK-3 that can be used to control internal parameters (such as key click and percussion volume or depth of chorus) or external parameters like volume on a MIDI sound module. Keyboard transmits velocity but not aftertouch.

Currently, there is no clonewheel closer to the real thing. It's really that good. The vast array of tweakable parameters has allowed me to match my vintage A105 almost exactly. I would say that only the most critical ears might be able to hear the difference between a real tonewheel and this clonewheel, and would guess in blindfolded listening test, would guess them wrong a good percentage of the times if both were played through a real Leslie.

So far, been completely reliable. Very well built.

Haven't had to use them, but I hear they are great.

If it were lost or stolen, I would definitely buy it again and it is weel worth what I paid. I have been playing for over 30 years, and have owned multiple clonewheels (Crumar T2, original Korg BX-3, Voce V3) and the several real tonewheel organs, including my A105 which I currently still have at home. The sound is really what sets this apart from the Nords, Korgs, and Rolands, and in a side by side with the Nord C1 (at Manny's Music in NYC where they were both going through the same amp), this thing won hands down for realism, although the C1 sounded fine as well. I get nothing but compliments from everyone who hears it, and through a real tube Leslie (my 122), it is totally convincing.