Hohner D6 Clavinet

Only issue is adapting your playing style to get the very best from the instrument. Does require occasional tuning and maintenance which can be time-consuming, but is fairly straightforward (provided you know how to use a screwdriver!)

5 octaves, wonderfully playable and responsive keys, and the different pickup settings, along with the damper slider, provide a huge amount of variation from bright & cutting, thru nasal and gritty, to warm and mellow, to light and tinkly.

Let's get one thing straight - this is THE funkiest keyboard ever built. In combination with a wah you rule the universe, with envelope filters or phasers you're doubly incontinent.

To get the best from it, you really need to learn how to play it as a whole different instrument in its own right which means studying great clav tunes (I particularly recommend 'Headhunters' and 'Thrust' by Herbie Hancock, 'Music Of My Mind' and 'Talking Book' by Stevie Wonder, and pretty much any good 70s funk tune) to hear how it's best played.

A decent amp is, of course, essential. I use 70s fender twin, but anything valve with balls and plenty of clean headroom will do the trick.

It's pretty solid, and easily carried by one person, but, like anything of value and scarcity, needs treating with respect.

The holy grail of funk keyboards. I've gradually been collecting 'vintage' keyboards over the last few years (although I am primarly a guitarist) and have played/owned many of what are considered to be the best simulations of the clavi.
Take it from me, even the best simulation I've played (Nord Electro) comes nowhere near to capturing the true feel and sound of the D6, and certainly isn't nearly as much fun to play.
Obviously you've got to way up practicality, cost, noise (there is a faint hum produced by all clavis, in the same way all single-coil guitars hum to some extent), etc when looking these old keyboards (why lug around a rhodes, a wurli, a hammond and a clavi when you can have decent simulations in one package???) but, believe me, having the real thing is so much more fun and inspiring than some digital copycat, and, first and foremost, truly helps me to make great music.

Very easy to play. Plug it into an amp, just like a guitar. Runs on a 9V battery for quite a long time! The only hard part is working on it. Very time consuming! It takes a while to replace the strings or hammer tips. Tuning it isn't fun, either. Luckily, I don't have to work on mine very often.

I love the action. It has very light, waterfall type keys. These keys allow fast playing for those funky, rhythmic chops. The features are what make this keyboard great, there aren't really any! You can change the pickups around a bit and there is a damper switch (when the damper switch is all the was up, the sustain of the notes is substantially decreased). Its just pure funk made easy, no BS features you to distract you. Oh, and you'll definatly want some kind of wah pedal and/or envelope filter to go with it!

When i try to explain it to people who've never seen one before I tell them it is like a guitar in keyboard form. Thats basically what it is. It uses pickups very similar to a guitar's and the strings are essentially guitar strings. Also, for the best sound, play it through a guitar amp (I use a Fender Twin Reverb which I highly recommend).

Seriously, this thing is beautiful. Its amazing. Nothing comes close to emulating it. I don care what anyone says, you can emulate a rhodes (I know this because I have a mkI and the Rhodes sounds on my Roland RD-600 sound better than my real Rhodes!) and even a B3 pretty well (I also have a VK-7), but you CANNOT emulate this. There are too many variations between each note everytime you play it.

Mine is pretty sturdy, and I wouldn't think twice about gigging it. There really isn't much to get broken. I guess you could break a string or something, but i doubt it.

HAHAHA!! Yeah right. I think Hohner only makes harmonicas now (I have a cheap one). You can get parts from online companies, though.

I love this thing and I don't ever think I'll sell it (unless I find a cheaper one in better condition of course). The sound is classic. If you like playing funk music and you're thinking about buying one, DO IT!!! I promise you will not regret it! It is a thing of beauty and it is the only electromechanical keyboard for which I will never sacrifice sound for convenience by buying and emulator.

Well you have to tune it, but thats not bad if you install new strings. The problem with these instruments is there are some parts that wear out but its a really simple system so they can easily be replaced. Tip pads go bad after 30 years and the strings and the upper pickup tends to crack and short out.
Its heavy like all old keys.
Once its set up its there!

The action has to be the lightest and fastest of any key ever made! you can burn on this baby!

Is it realistic? It wails on any clav synth patch I have ever heard. Totally different animal. Extremely sensitive to key velosity. Lots of tone and you can get a wide range due to the dual pickup system and switching arrangment.

I would use it without a backup if its been rebuilt no problem.

the only parts you can get are from clavinet.com, but he has them all at a decent price.

Someone gave me this as a gift years ago and it sat around not being used. Aaaron at Clavinet.com got ahold of me to make retrofit humbucking pickups for it. Good thing I had it so I could design and try the pickups firsthand. Now we have sold a slug full of pickups for these, like mentioned previously the pickups break after a time and the originals are single coil and a bit noisey.
Once I re-built the instrument and put the new pickups in its getting heavy use, I even rent it out to some of the younger kids that gig and record. It normally resides on top of my B-3, if it was stolen I would have to get another although after getting queries form kids that have played mine wanting to buy one I found out they are going for about a grand. This instrument kills being used for bass lines and some funky chords.

I just purchased a Hohner D6 Clavinet online for only $520. It's from 1971 and after replacing all the hammertips, it plays like new. Just get a wah (Wah in Clavi go together like bread and butter), plug in, and break out the funk. If you can't figure out how to plug this thing in and play, you shouldn't be playing. It's an easy 10.

The D6 Clavinet features 60 keys, 6 pick-ups, a damper switch allowing you to mute the strings a little, and a volume knob. Fairly simple. It gets a 10 though because it is an original, real Clavinet and that's the most features that I believe were ever put on the clavi.

All I have to say is that this is clearly the funkiest keyboard ever invented!!!! The keys are a heavier plastic type of key and the action is obviously great since the keys have hammer tips that hit real strings!! There a tons of sounds that you can get out of this thing because you have 6 pick-ups to mix and match and also a wah to fool with. sounds bright, punchy, and FUNKY!!!!!!!

This thing is an absolute TANK!!! I'd say it's probably from 60-90 lbs. It's made out of thick wood and the bottom, back, and sides are covered in black tolex. It's like a piece of furniture. 10!!!!!

I've never dealt with them and hope to never deal with them because they now make harmonicas!!! There is a Hohner Web page dedicated to the Clavinet though (www.clavinet.com) and it explains all about it and you can also order hammer tips off the site. It's very helpful.

If it were stolen or lost I'd look for another one as soon as possible. I also have a fulltone wah for my clavi, a korg N5 Synth, an ernie ball volume pedal, a korg G4 Leslie Simulator(If you're not happy with ur organ sound, GO GET A KORG G4. IT's the best sounding thing ever), and a yamaha sustain pedal. I also play a Gibson SG Guitar through a tube screamer, Boss Fv-300H Volume Pedal, Korg DT-3 Tuner, Vox Wah, MXR 100 Script Phase, and an Alesis NanoCompressor, all through a Fender Deville 4x10. All I have to say is, out of all the things I own, My Hohner D6 Clavinet is BY FAR my favorite. Without this thing, my band would lose all it's funk!!!! I once again give it a 10!!!!