I recently installed and started using the Arturia stuff. I have been using nothing but the Jupiter 8V... something I've always wanted to do with a chosen device, but never had the restraint to do so. At some point however, I had to check some of the newer stuff arturia now includes that I hadn't seen previously... and that Farfisa!!!??? WHAAAAT!!?? That thing is so amazing I canNOT believe it!! I have known about Farfisas for years but never actually looked into the models... I expect the Arturia one is the most famous or used?. Anyhow, the local guitar store had a Farfisa Slalom (I think that's what it was called) which I believe was made in the 80's... I remember seeing it and bein like, "WOW a Farfisa!!" I first took note of the instrument sometime in the mid 90's. I noticed it often listed in/on cd-jackets of various indie bands (i.e. American Analog Set's The Fun of Watching Fireworks) but man, I got such a boner when dicking around with the Arturia. I can not imagine having one, and just how absolutely amazing and limitless it is. Just such nonstop, quality, and mega-inspirational sounds come out of that thing... you almost can't get something bad to come out of it. Anyone else have thoughts? Last edited: Sep 13, 2017
I had a Farfisa keyboard that I bought off a friend in about 1979 for $20 because I wanted something in my dormroom to play. The top cover was for some odd reason missing and the low G didn't work, but it still had that Farfisa sound and I enjoyed it till I trashed it a few years later when it finally gave up the ghost and I just didn't have the gumption to resurrect it from the ashes.
I wish Arturia made a Pink Floyd emulator too. I think Richard Wright uses the Farfisa Compact Duo on this one. Indeed a magical sounding instrument. heres a copy paste from a gearslutz thread on the most famous models used: Fast 5 = Jackson 5, Black Keys Compact Duo = Simple Minds, Pink Floyd Professional Series = Sun Ra, Tangerine Dream, Jean Michel Jarre, Van der Graaf Generator VIP = Tangerine Dream, Led Zeppelin, Simple Minds
Whoa. Nostalgia rush. The infamous FartPhaser keyboard. That takes me back a bit. It's the device that got my off my ass and into building analog synths from component parts. Unsurpringly, my rat's nests of transistors, caps, trim pots, transformers, bridge rectifiers, various pieces of wire and fixed value resistors sounded nothing like a Farfisa. Yeah, they definitely were not "the shit", merely shit. But if it were not for the lowly Farfisa, I would probably have wasted years on trying (and failing) to de-hum bl**dy Hammonds.
Cool, sounds very interesting! I'm sure they don't sound like shit, you are probably just a modest person! I was trying to get into building tube amps for a while, but never got around to actually do it. It became to big of a project for me. But I really like repairing electronic devices, the "satisfaction/money spent" ratio is a lot higher then building stuff from scratch. At least for an amateur like me. Actually my girlfriend says I seem a lot happier when I repair stuff then when I create music. How about you @DarthFader ? Last edited: Sep 13, 2017
ahhh the good old days... the price is pretty out of sight these days for a combo.. if you can even find one in working condition fortunately there are still a good number of Rhodes MKI , MKII's out there.. before I try to locate one of these farfisa'd beauties.. I would if I could .. someday you shoulda seen my boner the first time I de-oxited the pots on my amp... try it sometime... perhaps your gf will enjoy the results as well
Well I do like to have a boner every now and then, but I try to not get too excited when dealing with high voltage tube amps. One wrong move and and your boner is a gonner! That's why, for safety reasons, I always tie my dick around my leg when repairing stuff.
pmsl The one great thing about fixing high voltage tube amps - wearing a static discharge bracelet is the last thing on my mind. Ground myself on the chassis? Yeah, right. NOT Yeah, @Helter Skelter There's something very relaxing about the aroma of hot solder and warm waxy capictors. Beats the heck out of a perfumed candle. Nonetheless, if someone has a solution for getting rid of the stink of singed carpet before the GF finds out that I dropped the soldering iron on her best Axminster again, I'd be most deeply grateful.
boners... yeah.. they never get old... well, hopefully i can keep them as i GET old. But wow, some of you are next level and know electronics. The most I have done with that is build a couple guitar pedal, fuzz distortion and tremelo kits. @superliquidsunshine damn dude... that's a real bummer. So was yours like the arturia?.. or no. @DarthFader @ Shart-Vader :D... can not even imagine building some actual keyboards... but it's like verything else. You start out learning 2+2... then 2X2... then inflection points and areas under the curve. I was studying electrical engineering for a semester... for the sole reason to make elec music devices... but I wasn't ready to switch my degree and commit... and ya' know... most of us here, I imagine are intelligent, and not wasting time watching tv all day... and there's all kinds of things we'd like to do, but at some point you realize, you can't do ALL of it... so might as well choose a few things and do em well. I went that way with music in general... after highschool (due to listening to Tortoise, Isotope 217, etc.) I wanted to play multiple instruments. Then learn recording and mixing... and then I got into Drum n Bass and dance genres... NOW I wanted to do that... and finally, I sold most of my acoustic stuff and hardware devices and went full blown electronic music production... now I am going back and picking up drums and guitar and application of theory. I doubt I will try to learn electronics again though. Great comments everyone. @krakdhaus yep... that song :D
Posh carpet problems? A little bit of essential oil of perhaps lavender or frankincense might help purify the air. It was a Farfisa Compact, and even though you could see its naked guts without the cover on and the bad low G, it still sounded very, very cool, just like this one demonstrated by the madman in this video. Wait for the cat solo at the end.
What an absolutely spiffing idea, old bean. You have rescued moi from a right royal drubbing at the hands of SWMBO. @GreatJobChamp I like where you're coming from. You have both musical and fundamental elecrical and electronic chops. Good stuff.
oooh flashback. farfisa vs. vox i have a Farfisa Fast 5, but it needs some service which i didn't have time/funds for yet. iirc, some keyboard contacts are a bit corroded, scratchy pots, etc. other than that its in pretty fine condition for sth that's nearly 50 years old... Last edited: Sep 15, 2017
@ehrwaldt kunzlich I like your organ, a bit compact but its how you use it that counts! You should give it some love, a bottle of electronics cleaner spray and an old toothbrush is all you need. Your organ will thank you! Scratchy pots you just have to spray electronics cleaner and then twist the knobs back and forth a bit. You can often do this without even opening the thing up, the spray will get pulled into the contact by capillary action. Be careful to not use a spray that removes oil, or the pots will get stuck. The scratchy keyboard contacts might be trickier and require opening up to get at the contacts, which could be potentially dangerous if you touch the electronics. Even if you unplug the cord, there could be voltage stored inside the capacitors that'll kill. So you should only do this if you know what you are doing. Or if you know how to bleed the capacitors. But its quite easy to just not touch anything and use the plastic toothbrush for isolation when cleaning and you'll be alright. Last edited: Sep 15, 2017
it's not a matter of how-to for me. time/patience is the limiting factor :/ i had it open for some time before i put it to storage. the thing is: this beast is compact! its almost as heavy as a rhodes and there's not much unused space in the casing. the keyboard contacts are buried under tons of wires and boards and then, cleaner spray doesn't cut it. the contact hairs have to be cleaned manually one by one for each key. maybe some day...
