Nord Electro vs. Hammond XK-3

Having had both the vintage B-3 and the new B-3 Hammond organs, I wanted a good sounding, lighter weight portable organ keyboard suitable for easy transport to my gigs. I considered the Hammond XK-3, the Nord C-1 and the Nord Electro 3....I chose the Electro 3.

Overall, I rate the Electro a 9 of 10 - it has the exact modeling of a vintage Hammond and a Leslie speaker, has additional piano sounds, and sounds terrific with ANY keyboard amplifier. I rate the XK-3 with it's digital Leslie, only 5 of 10, because it needs a real Leslie speaker to sound it's best.

Pros: I chose the Electro 3 because it weighs only about 14#, has the same terrific Leslie speaker simulation as the C-1, and weighs less than half of the XK-3 and the C-1. Additionally, the Electro 3 has the same improved keyboard that is used on the new Nord C-2, and is about $500 less than the XK-3, and about $1,100 less than the C-1 and C-2. Although it does not have mechanical drawbars, the electronic drawbar lights are more exact and especially more visible in a dimly lighted club or other venue. The Leslie simulation is terrific and significantly better than the XK-3, and so is the distortion control and the feel of the keyboard. The octaves can be shifted upward or downward above and below the split point, unlike the XK-3. The adjustable parameters are much easier to make on the fly than on the XK-3.

One big plus over the XK-3 is that effects such as, tremelo - panning - wah wah - flanger - phaser - chorus...are included and can be applied as desired - none of these are on the XK-3. The other big plus over the XK-3 is the stellar grand and electric piano sounds aboard and downloadable from Nord's piano archives. Other sounds like strings, horns, are also aboard and downloadable. These are all instantly accesible as an option to the organ mode (which also includes 2 other popular vintage pop/rock organ emulations)

Cons: The Electro does not have the full range of parameter adjustments that the XK-3 has. The percussion also does not sound quite as authentic as the XK-3. It does not have the flexibility of midi controllers that the XK-3 has; It does not have dedicated pedal drawbars, nor can you attach a pedal board to it; there is no control to remove the 'foldback' in the lower and upper octaves as the XK-3 has; It has less programmable presets than the XK-3; No option to choose the sound of various Leslie models; It does not have a dedicated 2nd set of drawbars - only one set plus the presets; There is no option to attach a Leslie speaker as the XK-3 has.