Organ Sound ELECTRO-HARMONIX B9 ORGAN MACHINE

Richard Sinkler · Post by **Richard Sinkler** » 18 Jul 2014 10:06 am

Now that you mention it Erv, I did the same when I had the Pog2. This is what I used. I used the 2nd loop for my distortion pedal. I really wasn't impressed with the Pog2, and sold it.

David Wessner · Post by **David Wessner** » 18 Jul 2014 10:09 am

Erv, I have the B9 ahead of the Lex.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 18 Jul 2014 10:16 am

David,
That's how I have mine set up also.
On my B9, it seem's like I was getting sort of a bleed through (not really a noise) so I put in a noise gate pedal to cancel it out. Are you having any trouble along that line?

Richard,
This is the unit I use. It also has a "B" loop which I might use for a resonator pedal.
Erv

Dickie Whitley · Post by **Dickie Whitley** » 18 Jul 2014 5:17 pm

Erv, when you mentioned how you did yours, I went to look at the Boss lineup to see what you might have. I figured it was the one you show in the pic, made more sense to have 2 loops available. Saw it at one place for about $80, guess it to be about the same anywhere else. Thank you for the info, much appreciated.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 19 Jul 2014 6:46 am

Dickie,
Yes, it works out great.
Both the B9 and Leslie sim are right there at a touch.
What I like about the Boss unit is there are volume controls for both loops.

Tony Palmer · Post by **Tony Palmer** » 20 Jul 2014 6:49 am

A lot of these posts are from guys trying one out at home or watching a youtube demo.
Until you use it live, in a band playing at med-high volume you don't get the true perspective.
It's an "effect" and a very very good one. Use it judicially, think of organ like licks....NOT standard country pedal bends.....and it will blow minds! My band loves it....but I keep it very discreet. It nails the sound for me on Bob Segers Beautiful Loser, for example.
Overuse it, and/or play your normal steel style and you will be run
out of town I guarantee

I would even go so far as to saythis could be the most "dangerous" pedal to come on the market!

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 20 Jul 2014 7:01 am

Hi Tony:

I agree 100%

I had a MIDI steel driver many years ago and did a fill in gig and was using various patches when the singer turned to me and said
"I thought we hired a steel guitar player" $:\$ I got the message.

Lenny

Tony Palmer · Post by **Tony Palmer** » 20 Jul 2014 10:53 am

Ha! Good one, Lenny. Hey we're all challenged enough not to overplay our regular steel sound (for good reason.... overplaying borders on obnoxious) but imagine a steel overplaying a whole song with one of these pedals....yikes. I'd leave the room in a hurry.
But, again, they really do the trick in the chorus of a song, then back to steel.
Love it!

Bobby Snell · Post by **Bobby Snell** » 24 Aug 2014 7:09 am

NPD!

On the strength of Len's demo, a B9 was added; I already have RT-20 in the 2d Bigshot loop and put the B9 in the 1st loop.

So with just a little chance to dial in the effect, put it on 2, no click, no mod and used it into the RT-20 for 1 song at Sat's show. Was pretty impressive. Freeze function sets this apart from just a tonal device, but it is also a little tricky to use with a volume pedal.

I'll echo the "sparingly" and "pads, no solo" comments, at least for my own abilities.

Charlie Thompson · Post by **Charlie Thompson** » 24 Aug 2014 7:34 am

David,
Are you using it with a volume pedal?

Bobby Snell · Post by **Bobby Snell** » 24 Aug 2014 2:10 pm

I'm thinking it will work better right out of guitar, before VP, before anything else.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 26 Aug 2014 4:33 pm

The "key click", that percussive attack that made the B3 famous, is what really sells this unit, IMHO. You can't get that with a POG, or any Leslie simulator. I also agree that if all you're going to do with this thing is soft pads and typical steel guitar stuff...you're wasting your money, and will eventually dump it.

Play it like a B3 player; Jimmy Smith, Joey DeFrancesco, or Jimmy McGriff, and it'll be great. But if you want schmaltzy church-organ type sounds, stick with the POG.

admin · Post by **b0b** » 26 Aug 2014 6:46 pm

play 3rds and 7ths

Bobby Snell · Post by **Bobby Snell** » 26 Aug 2014 6:57 pm

Put in line right out of guitar, before VP, and it is much easier for me to use. Now, the click sounds right, and I can make volume swells for effect. Any other effects (roto, delay, reverb) are downline on the board, and even a little OD wouldn't hurt.

Donny's right about thinking like an organist...it will be fun to work out some famous signature licks from the past.

Russ Wever · Post by **Russ Wever** » 26 Aug 2014 10:53 pm

Donny Hinson wrote:The "key click", that percussive attack that made
the B3 famous, is what really sells this unit, IMHO. . .

Key Click has been a part of Hammond tonewheel organs
since the first model A came around in 1935.
Actually, in the era of the B3s production, they attempted
to lessen the amount of >Key Click that was heard.
The feature that set the B3 apart from its Hammond
predecessors, making it the most reknown of the Hammond
models, was >Harmonic Percussion, which was introduced in
the release of the B3 model in 1964.
~Rw

John Billings · Post by **John Billings** » 27 Aug 2014 12:33 pm

Remember if you're going for that hot Jimmy Smith sound, he used his Leslie and his Hammond's Cabinet Vibrato at the same time. Together! You can simulate the Hammond Cab Vib using a Fender "Vibrate Oh!." or a vibe pedal.

Dan Fullmer · Post by **Dan Fullmer** » 27 Aug 2014 3:02 pm

My Yamaha Motif does a better job.

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 28 Aug 2014 7:45 am

I like to carry a pipe organ around, myself.

Donny Hinson · Post by **Donny Hinson** » 28 Aug 2014 4:24 pm

Erv Niehaus wrote:I like to carry a pipe organ around, myself.

Erv, here's just what the doctor ordered...

http://www.britishpathe.com/video/the-w ... lest-organ

Erv Niehaus · Post by **Erv Niehaus** » 29 Aug 2014 8:11 am

Donny,
That one I can handle!!

admin · Post by **b0b** » 29 Aug 2014 9:38 am

Back to the subject, please!

Bobby Snell · Post by **Bobby Snell** » 31 Aug 2014 5:45 pm

This pedal does a few things quite well, the bandleader likes the effect, so I'm having fun with it.

Steel->B9->VP->RT20(Leslie)->Delay->Reverb->Amp

Of course, now it's been introduced, it will have to stay in the bag of tricks...always be careful what you wish for.

It's really expensive for how little I will use it. It seems to have a limited range, doesn't handle certain chords, and is typical EHX build. YMMV

Jay Fagerlie · Post by **Jay Fagerlie** » 1 Sep 2014 7:01 am

This guy is having fun with it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhQpuYiX-4M

David Wren · Post by **David Wren** » 2 Sep 2014 7:33 pm

I used mine this weekend for the first time, at an outdoor gig... plenty of volume from my new Quilter "Steelaire" amp......

The band went wild... and now we are adding Procol Harem to our country set list...

Kudos to the EHX folks... they did their homework on this little guy.

Pretty soon they won't even need anyone to actually pick the strings.... ha ha ha

Bobby Snell · Post by **Bobby Snell** » 10 Sep 2014 4:16 pm

Folks seem to find it entertaining!

I saw a post somewhere about using a compressor in front of it...made a little difference at low practice volume, seemed to increase sustain time while evening out the levels on attack. A little tricky balancing the levels, and I'm not too experienced with compressors so we'll see.

Steel Guitar ->Comp ->B9 ->VP ->(rest of board, amp).

Will have a chance to play with it more at more volume tomorrow night at rehearsal.

The B9's are popping up around town...

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Organ Sound ELECTRO-HARMONIX B9 ORGAN MACHINE

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