Hammond XK-2

Software is version 2 I believe. This thing is a breeze to use. Great presets -- you can also go manual with each preset. Overdrive, reverb, drawbars, etc. The manual is okay -- I think it could be a bit better. Pretty simple to use though without consulting the manual -- I'm impressed with the product.

The keyboard action is much like that of my B3 -- It lacks the "hush" feel to the keys (the keys feel a bit springy) -- but still quite nice. The waterfall keys are awesome...glisses are quite easy -- Midi capabilities to add lower manual and pedals -- pretty cool. The overdrive is a bit "grainy" for my taste -- get a good tube preamp -- sounds awesome through a the "blue tube" -- the reverb is good...quite authentic sounding. The leslie sim is passable in live band play -- it is quite generic when played as a solo instrument. Nothing substitutes for the real thing. Get a leslie, or purchase a motion sound.

The sound of the instrument is quite realistic. I know there are critics everywhere -- and everone has a different opinion. I play blues mostly, and this board works quite well for this application. The presets are great, and you can adjust settings on the fly with each preset....makes it like working a real B3...Chorus and Vibrato are quite believable. Feels and sounds close enough to the real thing that you can leave the other 400lbs. behind on the B --

So far so good. Has not acted up in anyway. It is built quite well -- and the wood cabinet is quite attractive.

Have not had to call hammond support yet. Thank God!

If it were lost or stolen (first i would hunt down the thief!), I would probably upgrade to the XK-3 (just for the sake of upgrading) -- if the price of the XK-3 did not go down, I would find another XK-2...I have been playing professionally for quite some time and have played just about every board under the sun, this is a great board.

On one hand, the presets cook. On the other, editing, setup, MIDI, etc. are tough. And saving and accessing. A lot of button pushing and figuring out badly worded stuff in the manual. Trial and error. I will say, however, it's all fun to learn while you play around. Basically, it's a plug and play keyboard that sounds pretty good without much noodling...but when you go to noodle...all the settings are there but it takes a long time to get anywhere.

This is all great for the money. Digital leslie fakes up your sound so you will want a real leslie or a dynacord/motion sound approximation. But when you start out, onboard leslie's an interesting thing. I did figure out how to MIDI in an old Casio CZ-5000 and use it as a 61-key lower manual. It works, it's cool. It took me some hours of experimenting and poring over two poorly written operating manuals to figure this out...just saying, be ready for this process...

Great settings for gospel, rock, blues, jazz. Presets named after players or bands (i.e. one setting is "Purple," another "Booker," "Jimmy1" & "Jimmy2," etc.). The keys play great (waterfall, baby). Vibrato, chorus, percussio, all good stuff. Leslie sim just sounds weird to my ears.

Not sure yet. Keyboard is great if you use the presets. If you get more complicated, you gotta remember more button-pushes but it's eminently do-able.

The support is a crock. Wish they were more customer-friendly. The XK (used) has never acted up, but the expression pedal I got for it ($150) puked out and you gotta pay postage, it's a long drawn out process. Thankfully the keyboard also has the 1/4" jack for a cheapo expression pedal too.

It's not a B-3, and if B-3 players can get over the fact that this is a digital duplicate and isn't the real thing, they'll love it. Seriously. nothing can replace a B-3. If you're laying that task on this keyboard you'll be unhappy. But for everyone else, your backs will be saved because you aren't lugging around a B-3, so that's a plus, and you can get a pretty reasonable approximation of the classic Hammond sound (and the infinite variations used by your fave players). XK-3 is quite an upgrade, I hear, but is it an upgrade worth $2500? This keyboard can be had out there in the used market for $600-$1000, and in my mind, a great value. For the XK-3's price, it had better do everything this keyboard does plus wash my dishes and shovel my snow. XK-2 is worth the price. If this keyboard were stolen I'd probably think hard about a Nord Electro but I'd end up finding another XK-2 used because the Nords cost enough more that this one wins out.

Using software Ver. 2.1 (no newer version recognized yet). The presets are fine mostly, but easy to edit/change. The manual for this product is adequate, but it does not say anything at all about how to update software, which would have been nice. (If Hammond-Suzuki intends to lay out new software on the web-pages.

The polyphony is OK - more than I have fingers, which should be sufficient as long this instrument is used as a pure organ. As a former B-3 player I find the keybord onboard this instrument exactly like the one on the "real thing". Extremely wellfunctioning. The necessary MIDI capabilities are present - and they are very easy to use.

The instrument is mostly very realistic - but as a matter of fact no B-3. (But it's much easier to handle). Especially the harmonies above the center C sounds a little weired. (Hope they'll give it a software update soon). The Leslie Simulator is of course not a real leslie - and therefore it cannot sound like one.But it is OK via a PA on a gig.

Seems reliable. Solid as a rock.

Not yet necessary.

Affirmative. I would by this product again. I have been a keyboard player for more than 40 years.

Alright, the ease of use is alright..I am 19 and I bought the keyboard last year on ebay for 700 dollars...with an SKB Hard case and the EXP-100 pedal..lucky me! Well it didn't an instruction manual ..an good luck trying to find a PDF online or one from a local store..You may have better luck than I did. It took me about two months to get acquainted with everything fully. I had never had a top of the line keyboard before with many 'truly functional" options. I played it out of an old danelectro amp and decided that I needed a Leslie..I searched and searched on ebay and scored myself a brand new leslie 122xb for 450 dollars..and only 140 miles away! For the next year I figured everything out and it sounded great

The keyboard action was awesome..Down the street there is a Hammond shop that I've always got to go in and jam on the old b3's and a100's with the 122's and 147's..The Perfectly in shape B3's played like the XK-2 but the Xk-2 always seemed like it needed a little more character to suit my taste. Hammond did it's best though..it's not like they could beat all the XK-2's and throw them down stairs and put them in a smoky jazz bar for 20 years...With the polyphony..I never noticed any key dropout...I doubt you will.As effects go...Its great..Reverb,Overdrive....sucks., Key click is great..you can adjust the volumes of upper and lower manual and decay speeds. Vibrato and Chorus never reallly struck me..to be honest they suck. they are actually horrid. In combination with the digital leslie..and chorus and vibrato get washed out to the point where its pointless to use. The leslie sim. however..was descent..I never used it ..Well, I did a few times against my will..but that's about it. The Midi..I never used I was never familiar with it..but I did hook two Xk-2's up at once and it was great..two separate manuals..Transpose is cool..if you don't know your scales..I think the transpose feature these days is wrecking kid's motivation to learn scales in different positions..Because I know it did to mine...Forget transpose. Overall the features were very similar to the Hammond...but the means of changing them does not really support live playing.. So I always had the first 8 programs saved to my liking..the other ones were there if I needed them..

I think for the past year I have been in disbelief that I own the keyboard..I saved up for a very long time...and I finally got it..When I plugged it in I did not care how it sounded....But as the days went on I became very critical of its sound..It had a very dry digital sound to it. It's a very realistic compared to a casio. Onboard effects are alright..again the overdrive is useless...but the reverb isnt too bad..there are four different modes of reverb of which you can set a level. The keyboard was very responsivve to my playing..the glisses and palm smears were just as easy as the mighty B3. Those lightning fast machine gun one note runs were great to do...bounce back was perfectly genuine. Velocity and aftertouch...pointless..though you can set the keyboard to have velocity sensitivity if you were to use it as a master to another midi keyboard. This keyboard is great for any type of band.

I have never had a problem with it...I have dropped it down stairs, mind you in my skb flight case..and turned it on and played away for the rest of the night..I have emailed hammond once before and they responded a few days later...nice people and very knowledgable.

Overall value..I stick in the middle. I have since sold this keyboard to get Nord Electro 73..I advise you do the same.. I am not putting down Hammond at all...I was just expecting more.

If you don't want to change anything, and just want to use the presets, it's great!. The presets are the best sounding part of this Hammond. The presets give you a more realistic B3 sound, as opposed to the drawbars, which are different than a B3, and not as functional. You just can't match the sounds from the presets with the drawbars. To really get full use out of this organ, you got to read the manual ; if you want to edit anything.

The keyboard action is smooth and springy, like playing air compared to weighted keys. The waterfall keys make it cool for key sweeps, so you don't cut yer hands. The builtin Leslie effect is sweet! Pretty real sounding! Only a real B3 player would notice that it doesn't have to speed up to reach fast speed, There are two speeds -normal and fast, as well as a Stop "brake" for the Leslie effect. My biggest gripe is here- on my XK-2, when the Leslie effect is turned on, the volume drops. Not a lot, but on a 1-10 scale, it drops to 8 from 10. I tried to increase the volume on te Leslie, but it's maxxed already. I don't know if anyone else has this problem, but this is my only gripe with it.

This organ is as close as I could find to an authentic B3 sound for a portable keyboard. Using the presets, you can get the Jimmy Smith tone , the Deep Purple tone, or the Hammond church tone. I am using a Roland KC500 which is cool, but if I had it to do over, I would get a Motion sound Pro Leslie with seperate boxes-the hi freq spinning horn w a separate low freq bass speaker for the Leslie effect.. You could also use a real Leslie, but then you face the same issues as using a real B3- old, probably very used parts, and hard to get around.

I use this for jams all the time, and have never had any problems. I will mention here that I am a new keyboard player, and this is my first keyboard, playing guitar as my primary instrument. Yeah, I dived right in, but I wanted the Hammond B3 sound, and this is as close as I could find to the real thing, after shopping around for a few years. so far, so good. As i stated previously, the only problem I've had is the volume drop when switching on the Leslie effect.

I did call the local Hammond rep who I met at the music store whern I bought it, regarding the Leslie effect.volume drop. While he was very cooperative and friendly, especially when I ordered an expression pedal, he couldn't help me with the volume drop. He said he had never heard of this problem before, and I was past the warranty when I brought this to his attention. It wasn't important enoughto me to pursue-financially, or by shipping it to the authorized Hammond repair for weeks to let them tinker with it. Everything else works perfect, and I like it that way...

So far, I haven't seen anything else on the market that I would prefer over the XK-2 for authentic B3 tone. maybe in 5 or 10 years, but now- this is it!
Also, I DID get a deal on it, as it was a floor model and had a small chip on the wood, which got me $200 knocked off the price. The only point I am taking off is for-you guessed it-the Leslie effect volume drop.

This is an update of my original review of the Hammond XK-2 (2/2/2001). My overall opinions on ease of use are much the same as before, although on reflection I now feel that the owner's manual doesn't go into sufficient detail and explanation about the lower manual and pedal sections, how to set up the sounds for both of these sections, and how the split operates. A more detailed explanation of how to add an additional keyboard (or even another XK-2) to create a virtual two-manual would have been very useful as well. I have recently split the XK2 over two keyboards ? with upper manual on the XK2 and lower on a slave midi keyboard ? and it works well, particularly if ? like me ? you have the Hammond expression pedal EXP100. However, I would definitely like more info in the manual about the set up as I'm sure I could get even more out of it than I'm currently getting. But, overall, the XK-2 is easy to use.

This is an update review of the Hammond-Suzuki XK-2. My overall opinions of the XK-2's features are the same as before.

This is an update review of the Hammond XK2. My views are much the same as before. However, since my original review was submitted, the new Korg CX3 has been released. I've yet to play this keyboard, but having seen and heard one in action, and spoken at length to its owner, there is no doubt that the XK-2 now has serious competition. Certainly, with its twin sets of drawbars, one for each manual, the new CX3 seems well in front of the XK2 for stage set-up of a twin-manual organ. I personally prefer the sound of the more mellow XK2, particularly if it's played through a Leslie cab. If you're looking at buying a Hammond clone, both organs need to be properly accessed.

This is an update review of the Hammond XK-2. In my original review, I mentioned a little glitch that had begun to emerge: having had the XK-2 on for a while but not using it , odd drawbars would suddenly come up over the top of a preset without me touching anything. This alarming glitch actually worsened the more I owned the XK-2, and, worse, it started to happen at gigs. Eventually I contacted Hammond UK. Their service department was most helpful. After a number of discussions and the keyboard going in for repair, it turned out that my XK2 was one of the first to come into the UK. At some stage since I bought my XK-2, a version 2 software update was made. The drawbar glitch seems to have been corrected on the new software, which has now been installed on my XK-2. So far, so good, though sadly I'm going to have to dock a point for reliability, as the glitch was very irritating, and affected one or two gigs.

Darren Brown at Hammond UK has been utterly terrific in all my dealings on this keyboard, and particularly helpful with the drawbar glitch. Top-notch support.

I still rate this keyboard a great deal, but there's no doubt that it faces serious competition from Korg's new CX3.

Very easy to use, it is very easy to edit the patches because the parameters are simple with not too much meaningless values... And you have the drawbars and direct control buttons for the leslie, vibrato, chorus, percussions, manual select... everything !

I don't know the polyphony, but it is enough (full ?)
The built-in leslie allows to program presets that you can recall in your patches. This leads to quicker patch editing.
It can be used as a MIDI controller as the keyboard is velocity-sensitive with a nice soft curve allowing very hard or very soft keyboard play.
The XK-2 can be tuned like B3 or like a standard synthesizer.
You cab choose between 3 tonewheel sounds.
One drawback: the drawbars send MIDI control data but the format of these controls is not very simple.

The sound of the organ is very realistic, the chorus is FABULOUS !
The leslie is not perfect...

No problem with the reliability, I used it several times on stage. I never had the smallest problem with it.

I never had to repair anything...

IT's hard for me to compare with another equivalent gear because I never owned anything else like this, but this is a very good solution when you can't afford the real thing.
If you can get a real Leslie speaker, don't hesitate, it will be almost perfect !

Being a former owner of a B3 the XK2 can be play like a B3. I use the drawbars to change sounds just like I did with my B3. Plug it in to
my leslie 145 and start cooking.

Nice having digital reverb and distortion when it is needed. I have not used it with MIDI. Primarily I use it with a vintage Leslie 145
that screams for 50s-60s-70s style rock music live. Also sounds great
playing jazz and older style organ music.

With my Leslie 145 it screams just like my B3 did without the extra
weight. Waterfall keys are exactly like my old B3 and play beautifully.
Only gripe is that there is a weird sound in the above middle C octave
relating to harmonics that does not sound right. Have not seen any
upgrade to the XK2's software to correct this. Otherwise it sounds
great live and on recordings.

I would use it on gigs without backups, if it is out I am not making
music.

I deal with the dealer I bought it from, and have no problems with unit. No upgrade options as of yet.

If lost or stolen I would definitely buy another one. I have been
playing professionally for over 30 years and this is the next best
thing to a B3 without the weight. With my Leslie 145 it gives me a warm to screaming Hammond sound to my band and the music I play.

I never even read the manual. I'm sure there are bells and whistles I'm not aware of but for Cripe's Sake a Hammonddemands to be played so that's what I did right out of the box.

It has more Polyphony than I have fingers > It's not a paino so the cancel from limited polophony and sutain/gissendos is a non issue.
I've owned Leslie 145s and 147s(and a Hammond B-3 and 2 M-3s) In a solo or studio setting there may be a percievable difference between a Leslie Cabinet and the built in simulator in this wonder but in a combo setting nobody can tell
MIDI wise-I run a NanoPiano Alesis when I don't fell like lugging the Studio Logic 88 key controller and it works great!!!! I use a sustain pedal and in the Organ mode it fires up the Lelie speed and with the Nano it adds sutain. If I had this in 1974 I'd've been in hog heaven.

The Hammond Keys are great. It works great for Rock, Jazz, Blues, Funk,Gospel. Anything a Hammond B-3 sounds good on this works for.
The presets are sweet-THe reverb and overdrive allow a little extra seasoning to taste. I love to crank the reverb up during certain passages in my solos.

1 and 1/2 years of lugging it around in a gig bag and no troubles yet.
I don't tow an extra car behind me when I drive to gigs so I figure "God Willing" the Hammond will get me through, also.

I've had no contact with Hammond but they've a wonderful tradition of making wonderful machines. This unit is no exception.

I'd buy another in a heartbeat if this one were stolen. It's my favorite keyboard of all time and I started back in 1969 with a Vox Jaguar (I still have it) I've owned 3 other Hammonds, Rhodes, Wurlitzers,Hohners,Univoxes,RMIs and others. THis is the best thing going. After all.....It's a Hammond.....

Having read some of the previous reviews of the Hammond XK-2, others have got there before me: ? the waterfall keys. These, without doubt, lift the XK-2 miles above any previous Hammond impersonators, modules, soundalikes, etc. And I've played many of them ? Korg's CX3 and BX3 Hammond impersonators from the 80s, Roland's VK 09, Hammond's own XB2 (which I had for eight years), Roland's VK7 (shop demo only, I liked it) and Hammond B3 samples from EMU's first version of the Vintage Keys module.
Once you've adjusted to them, the waterfall keys allow palm smears, glisses, etc, etc, to be performed very easily, and encourage you to play in a more authentic Hammond style. Having occasionally played original tonewheel Hammonds (such as the A100 and M100), the feel and styling of the XK2's waterfall keys is extremely authentic. Ten out of ten for the keys themselves.

The XB2 was always a tricky beast to play on the fly. To get the best out of it, it required a lot of set-up of the presets and other controls prior to playing live ? fine in the studio, but a bit of a pain when gigging. The XK-2 has certainly addressed this problem and I much prefer playing it live. I particularly like the POD (priority on drawbars) feature, allowing me to select a preset, then add additional drawbar settings over the top. Essentially you're able to play using the drawbars, but having a preset as a basis for your sound. Most top Hammond players constantly adjust their drawbars while playing ? the XK2 allows you to do this. Knockout.
And compared to the XB2's presets (which in version 1, that I had, were little short of disastrous), Hammond have really worked hard on the XK-2's library presets. The first two or three banks are usable straight out of the box, although I've gradually been tweaking and rearranging them in the last few months. If I have a criticism (and it's been noted before in a previous review), it's easy to change presets within a bank of 8, but it's tricky (three buttons to hit in a particular sequence) to step from one bank to another. Therefore on stage, I tend to keep my top eight favourites in Bank A, and my next 8 in Bank B, and rarely step much further, although they are there should I want them.
The instruction manual is easy to use and a vast improvement on the old XB2s. Within weeks I'd been able to get a tremendous amount out of this instrument; two years after I'd got the XB2 I was still struggling and tweaking.
So, overall, an easy keyboard to master and the waterfall keys really make a difference, giving an authentic Hammond touch to your playing. Tremendous.

I'm unclear on the polyphony. Other reviewers are suggesting 16, which could be the case. So far it hasn't proved a problem for me, and I haven't noticed any dropout. Keyboard action is good, possibly not quite as fast as the XB2. Rapid single-note repeats aren't quite as easy, but then I'm still adjusting to the waterfall keys and how the velocity percussion triggers with them.
The keyboard split button is terrific, perfect for quick stage use, as are the volume, reverb and overdrive pots, which are easy to adjust with the left hand. It does take a bit of adusting to the way the reverb and overdrive controls take over from a preset's settings, but once you've mastered that technique, you're away.
The vibrato and chorus section is easy to use, although at times it's not as convincing as it should be. It does need some prior work (setting parameters, etc) to get the best out of it.
The in-built Leslie is a vast improvement on previous Leslie simulators I've tried (and much better than the XB2s). I like the five different Leslie options and the variable parameters (speed, rise, fall, miking positions) that are available. Overall the simulator is more than acceptable, and I've actually been using it live, but nothing, repeat nothing, is as good as playing the XK-2 through a proper Leslie. I use a very rare Leslie 310 (a solid-state two channel Leslie amp with a 122 horn and a bass rotor simulator), warming the sound a little through a VKP1 (a rare 19-in rack British valve keyboard preamp). Of late my Leslie channel has gone down, and I've been using the XK-2 through the clean channel with its internal Leslie. It's acceptable, but to my ears still not top dollar.
On my XK-2, the pitch bend wheel is not as smooth as the XB2s, but again this is a matter of adjustment since I really liked the XB2's wheel.
I haven't really used this keyboard for Midi because I don't need to within the jazz/blues/funk quartet I now work in, so I can't comment here. In my old band I used the XB2 for some Midi work, and there were problems and compromises. It may be the same with the XK-2, but I couldn't say for certain. Primarily I bought this keyboard for its ability to produce Hammond sounds without the vast weight and inconvenience of an original tonewheel. It does this job extremely well.

Very good Hammond B3 samples (but then you'd expect it). I've managed to reproduce the bulk of my tweaked and honed XB2 presets on to this instrument and come up with many more by either working on the drawbars or making adjustments to the library presets.

I find the overdrive too "tizzy" for my ears, and prefer to use my valve preamp. However, the overdrive is useful to add a touch of grunge to my basic sound. If I have a complaint, it's that I cannot connect my valve preamp to the XK-2 other than in-line to the Leslie. (On the XB2, there were effect in/out 1/4in jacks, prior to the reverb and internal Leslie. I miss these effect in/outs on the XK-2).

The organ works extremely well for jazz, blues and pop. Much more of a live performance keyboard than the XB2,it's nearly as as stage friendly as the Korg CX3, although you have considerably more options to play with.

So far, no major problems. When you first turn it on, the priority on drawbars appears to come in over whatever preset comes up on the screen, which is slightly disconcerting, but simply select a new preset and you're away. However recently while recording and not using the XK-2 for a little while but with the power on, POD has occasionally taken over a preset without me touching anything. Most odd. Also, while on headphones, I've occasionally noticed a slight hum which seems to come through the phones when the chorus/vibrato is selected. I've had to re-boot to clear it.

I would definitely recommend using this keyboard with an anti-surge mains device to avoid any spikes causing damage to the components.

I have been able to depend totally on this keyboard so far. I haven't needed to consider taking a backup to a gig.

So far I've had excellent customer support from Hammond UK. They couldn't have been more helpful. They seem to really rate this instrument and are keen to foster good customer relationships. They've offered me some very helpful advice on mounting the keyboard within my rig, while the custom semi-flight case they supplied on request (made to their specification, I believe) by Buster (UK) is very good.

While admittedly being an extremely expensive keyboard, the Hammond XK-2 is a king among Hammond soundalikes. True, the samples can sound a tad too clinical and I prefer the sound through my valve preamp and my Leslie, but even through a clean channel and using its internal Leslie, the XK-2 is an impressive bit of gear. Apart from the aforementioned lack of effects in/out 1/4 in jacks, I really rate it.
If I had the time, money, and 20 roadies to shift an original tonewheel monster around then I'd do it, but the XK-2 ? particularly with its waterfall keys ? is a more than adequate substitute, particularly through a Leslie.