Yamaha C-55 Electone Organ Demonstration - The Specials Ghost Town Clarinet Organ Sound!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 มิ.ย. 2023
- Steve Christie demonstrates the Yamaha C-55 Electone Organ from 1978.
All meandering music (apart from 'The Sooty Show') by Steve Christie.
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Filmed and Edited by Louisa Revolta
Recorded and Mixed by Steve Christie at Vintage Keys Studio
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Amazing instrument. So versatile! At 03:10 - My heart jumped out of my chest! 🤣
From 1978 I spent my youth with almost the same Yamaha organ : great memories !
man, that wah brass can really wake the dead. and by "wake the dead" I mean summon Satan and unleash all hell on earth
Yamaha makes the best keybeds. When everyone else was going through Pratt Reed for those awful j wire harpsichord keybeds, Yamaha thought “maybe people would like a little resistance and a consistent, robust feel”. I’m so glad they exist.
Haha, The 'Wah Brass' sounded like a firework display!
Hopefully lots of people will get a chance to sit on your magnificent organ real soon.
Love your playing, your humor, and those lovely Electone sounds.
Thank you:)
Now i feel old i remember unboxing them when they first arrived in UK.
Really enjoyed this tour of the C-55. I have a D-80 which is similar but adds a 3-octave SY-style monosynth. These old Electone organs were amazing machines.
Cool!!
I had one up until recently when it basically blew up. Didn't know how to repair it and the electronics shop lost interest
Electony's final verdict: "I like these fader-switches cuz they are coloured like my favourite sort of sweets is - and just looking electilicious!" I don't disagree; all the best and thanks for sharing :-)!
The broken Wah Brass fader can be useful... using some effects you can get good noise music from it.
Finally! Been looking forward to this one.
Zany and informative as always.
Appreciated!
Really interesting tutorial/explanation
I've seen one on fb mp for 50€ but I think buying such a huge instrument would definitely mean being thrown out w/ the organ by my parents 🤣
Thank you for your work! James
Thank you James!
I was just recently given a yamaha electone c40. I wish there’s a TH-cam channel that does tutorial how to play this.
You ought to do a little blurb on the amazing YAMAHA Leslie cabinet with the carousel speakers that David Gilmour so loved on Animals. I wish I hadn't sold mine!
Thanks! I’ll check this out and see what we can do. We have one of Dave’s old 910s here which we are hoping to feature in a video soon.
Hello Steve, that C55 Electone keyboard by Yamaha is such a really Masterwork of ageless electronic engineering which performed by you, turns into a huge Sonic Diamond !!
Thank you Jesus! Great name for a band ‘Sonic Diamond’
@@VintageKeysStudio Yes Steve, for sure it is a "Sonic Diamond" !!
Very interesting.
Always loved that tune and band.
BTW an old Clavioline washed up on the shores of the bay and it is indeed a Selmer!.
Bloody hell! What a find!
@Vintage Keys Studio
The keyboard/gubbins could do with a refit but the amp is in lovely condition, even has it's old cover!.
The amp is identical to your one so Selmer did indeed make them, I'm not sure why you're isn't branded Selmer?.
An O.E.M thing and different sales areas.
Super cool instrument. Makes me want to go listen to some Yuji Ohno right now
Looks like everything works OK, just goes to show how well made yamaha's were and still are
I bought a new C55N in about 1981, (£2000), like the C55 but with additional solo control on the presets. I often used the strings through the symphony tremolo and the flutes through the Leslie. Preset 1 on the upper was designed to sound like a Hammond with percussion. Direct Leslie cabinet output too. Great organ, I’m sorry I gave mine away.
Ahh yes - we did have a C55N about 10 years ago, but it was too big for the space we had so we had to dump it too. Somewhere there is a huge organ graveyard
i just get one one mont ago, got it in exchange for a guitar, im in love with this organ, this video hel me to pull the trigger.
Ha! My dad had a B-35, first time I heard "Stereotype" I thought erm, well I can't remember, but I KNEW.
This organ is a part of the PASS models (Pulse Analog Synthesis System iirc) which included many organs from the smallest A series (A55, a few others) to the E series full size consoles which includes the E70, E75, etc.
The letter tells you the general specs, usually. Each later letter usually has everything of the letters above, if not an upgraded version of whatever the letters before had.
A - 37 keys per manual
B - 44 keys per manual w/ electric tremolo (no leslie)
C - 44 keys per manual w/ leslie type tremolo
D - 49 keys per manual, in the case of the D85, and earlier D80 and DK40 models you get a 3rd smaller manual on top.
E - 61 keys per manual, 25 note pedalboard (No third manual on any of the E models, except the EX-1.)
There's also the EX series which included the stage model version of the E70 (EX-2) and the giant EX-1.
Interestingly enough, over here in America the letter system isn't used, so the D65 becomes the 405, etc.
I'm really not sure why they did it like that.
There's a great brochure that shows a lot of these models called "Think of a Sound", and can be found on the organ forum.
Great vid!
Thanks so much this is great info! Cheers :)
(2 of 2) read other first...either way okay.
[my notepad I wrote a while back].
You will want to use this web page as a reference- *Hammond S6 - Crasno Electronics* . s6 video and demo record on that page. (Schematics listed below MOD, below) I have a 1955 S6 with Hammond 3 spring necklace reverb and AO-35 reverb amp. Absolutely you can play modern music on it. I set a band in a box Yamaha keyboard on top with decent drum beats. It's an incredible solo w/ right hand and jam left hand on top keyboard. The knee volume is actually more dynamic and quicker to change levels versus a foot pedal. About the chord buttons, you clean the contacts by rapidly moving back and forth an inset lever directly under chord buttons (looking straight up from the pedals.
THE MOD!: 1 wire mod, You'll need to reference this S6 PREAMP/ AMP SCHEMATIC- web.archive *DOT* org/web/20040525091507/users.rcn *DOT* com/clonk/ChordOrgan/Schematics/Figure6 *DOT* gif
MOD- The chord buttons can sound like the heaviest thundering, but very controllable smooth guitar like distortion with the flip of of a switch spdt ( single pole double throw switch), The mod is 1 wire change.
On schematic locate:
V20 12au7 tube [v= valve aka tube]
Locate Pedal output wire at V20 pin 2
Now the mod is simply moving the pedal signal _back_ one tube stage, thus doubling the gain. The tube stage is V20 pin 7.
Yes, V20 is a dual triode, so the pin 7 is the adjacent stage directly before the pedal into pin 2 V20.
WIRING THE SWITCH: [Note SPDT= Single pole Double throw, a 3 terminal switch, where center terminal '2' is the 'in'+1 or 'in'+3]
If you want a totally invisible switch, you can change the " PEDAL BALANCER " control knob on the organs front panel [the 1 meg potentiometer R265 ], change to a *1 meg SPDT Pull pot switch* and wire it, [or a separate SPDT flip switch, your call...btw, you can mount the switch in a tiny metal box and velcro it under the key desk], Anyway, wire as:
-------------------- lift pedal signal wire from V20 PIN 2 and solder to center [terminal 2] on the 3 switch.
------------------- run wire from the switch's terminal 1 to V20 pin 7
------------------- run wire from the switch's terminal 3 to V20 pin 2
It is very worth while getting an S6 service manual. It also has playing tips. Fortunately I printed the full manual when Klonk uploaded it. For some reason it was removed, but I found the schematic above on the way back machine. It being Klonks, they saved some of it anyway.
@@paulj0557toneheadive got a killer guitar amp i built out of an AO35 reverb driver amp I bought off of ebay. Those things are quite close to a vox ac15 and aside from the preamp stage, which i reconfigured to use an EF86 small signal Pentode tube, i mostly left the rest of the amp stock. Its a beast.
Thank you Mr. Fat(y).. Please continue the pursuit, these machines deserve the attention.. I happen to be of similar ilk.. 3 Hammonds and now a Wurlitzer. What to do?
la verdad sos un capo
Yeah, I used to love tinkling the old ivories meself......30 years, man and boy. Quite taken by those swaders.....I could play with them for hours!
Brilliant and love the word ‘swaders’!
I saw one of these at the local thrift for around 100$(?) but these are so cool
2:25 - sounds like an ice cream van!
That does it.. i gotta have one!
Sounds a lot like my Farfisa Compact Deluxe. I had two of them. First one was beat up but I played the crap out of it. Second one was mint condition. Stupidly sold both. Bought a new Rhodes Suitcase 88 with it. Loved that but ...
Can you please make a video on Yamaha YC45D. A very versatile instrument much ahead of its time, used extensively in Bollywood by many composers.
All the ArpeGiggilow's flushed out the AutoWah setting, freeing it from fireworx... nice
I always wondered what the different tones of an organ like this would sound like if you could detune them all slightly against each other like a synthesizer might do
"You may hear a screaming sound in the background"; that's the neighbours again (or, at 11:32, it could have been the Martians)!
Wow, A real Fad,fad,fad, Kick drum you've got there in that beasty organ of yours....., same for the Bass Pedals 2.
Its a shame the Fadwa Is still bussy with trying to kill it'self by means of "self sacrifice"........
Thanks Steve, another great vid !
Thank you:)
Mustn’t press that one 😂😂😂😂
No…please…you must always press THAT ONE
made me laugh
They're not Darth Faders?
When they played "Ghost town" on Top of the Pops, The Specials used a Yamaha B75N
I remember seeing an advert in a magazine around 1980 for a Yamaha C605 which i think was the flagship model, I cut the advert out and kept it for years I was fascinated by all switches and buttons . Have you ever come across one ?
Sadly not - I think it was an updated one of these though with better arpeggios etc, certainly looks pretty similar
@@VintageKeysStudio some really nice sounds on these old organ's, love watching your chanel its always good fun 😁
After the C55 model range came the C55N, which was a slight facelift and included the big drum fill-in button that lit up green. I believe the C605 was in the next range after the N series.
I got another leslie. Lol. Man i just cane back to sample that WAH BRASS... there's a sound that's been illegal for years!,
I love these old Electones, we had one at school, I cant remember the model but it was great. Easy to play and set up, if my only space for instruments wasn’t on the third floor and limited access through the bar of a busy pub, I’d be re homing unloved instruments off marketplace. Managed to squeeze my EL90 up there after taking it to bits, it has no fatty fat fat pig rhythm either, wasn’t worth the effort.
Well you've answered a 41 year old question, of what instrument played that clarinet sound. I wondered if it was a synth, but never thought it to be off one of these.
There was quite some technology in those old organs. How much were they new, do you know?
Rather a lot of money - i would guess at over a grand, considering a Thomas organ of the same period was £1350ish
Hope you try the 1-wire mod on the Hammond S6 Chord Organ you have sitting there. Easy (recommend making it bypass able with spdt switch): MOD: Lift pedal signal wire from V20 PIN 2, and put it on V20 PIN 7. done. It's a beast!
Thanks I had not heard of this before - will try it out! :)
@@VintageKeysStudio I stumbled into the mod originally because half the dual triode tube was weak so I moved it back one stage. The gain sends the chord buttons into speed metal guitar territory. Have fun with it. It's great! I sit in front of the chord buttons (which you clean with recessed slider under key desk) and play quazi Sabbath meets Slayer...but it's more than that really, the sensitivity of the buttons allow for less notes if you press with less force. That and your L &R foot working the pedals, you've got a viable instrument.
You can also put a pot or 'resistor decade box' between the signal wire and V20 PIN 7. I'll reply again with the service manual link (w/ gaps or spelling 'dot' or whatever). I'd downloaded and fortunately printed the whole manual 15yrs ago, but was removed from web. Bummer. However I found the schematic and chassis layout on the Way Back Machine. I put info on a 'notepad' doc. I'll copy and paste in next comment.
BTW my '55 ebony S6 came with AO-35 reverb amp W/ 3-spring 'necklace reverb'. The greatest reverb ever imho. S6's benefit so much from reverb. Including the mod, but if you are jamming legato at breakneck speed with a drum track, dry is fine. lol Hey make a video if you like it. Short learning curve. Rock on \m/ \m/ !!
@@paulj0557toneheadone wire mods of that type are also commonly done to increase gain on simple small wattage tube guitar amps like Fender tweed era Princetons, Deluxes, and many others. Some of those old amps would leave one half of a dual triode completely unused making them ripe for experimentation. A one wire mod can be used about anywhere you have two stages in parallel, the wire connects them in series so the gain is increased exponentially instead of additively. Its great for getting a bit more dirt out of the earlier circuits.
In "Single Finger Chord" mode, hold any black pedal for minor chords, any "white" pedal for 7th chords, or both at the same time for m7.
Thanks for the info
Lovely, the speaker mutes blew on my D-65, have no clue what parts are needed to fix, apparently could be 1 of 4 resistors. 1 person quoting silly money to come to me to fix it. Great sound, not so great through the headphone out. Might need to open it up to look for charred pieces.
I used to have a C605p portable organ wish I never got rid of I also have a Yamaha YC25 combo. By the way have you had your hair cut.
Fantastic - yes my hair was press-ganged recently
your intros are humanity's (one-fingered) answer to ai's 'taking all creative jobs soon'🐽
I thought they used a YC-45, tbf. That might have been Madness, though
Do you think it's possible a Video on the E-75 in the future? Is the definitely THE BEST Electone. Cheers
If we can find one or someone will let us access one, yes definitely!
The yc-45d has to be the king... with portamento and all the wavky synth tones... it’s the best kept secret!
Animal Farm, by George Orwell "ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS"
I used to have a 1964 Bird Organ - you can see the specials using one on whistle test. have you come across this model ?
Yes, we have a broken one with matching amp and stool, awaiting repair - our late friend Don Shinn used to play one with 60s UK band The Soul Agents
@@VintageKeysStudio Excellent ! sadly, i had to scrap mine when my parents house was sold :-( I spent quite a bit of time restoring it, mainly failed carbon rod resistors on the oscillators, and a few dividers had stopped.
lovely sound, and i liked the 12 top-end oscilators as opposed to a single 2MHz divider.
I have a scan of the service manual - let me know if its of any use 🙂
@jonathan_ansell - yes a scan of the service manual would be amazing! Thank you - please send me a message via our website vintagekeysstudio.com.
It is a pretty big undertaking restoring one of these, especially with only the half a schematic I have here. It’s got a lovely tone to it though so I want to get it finished sometime. You can hear it on ‘Gospel Train’ by the Soul Agents. Cheers Steve
We used to have that model at home when I was in my teens. I wonder what's wrong with your Wah Brass? I found it was a great novelty voice for playing "If I Only Had a Brain" from The Wizard of Oz. BTW, if you ever have it apart again, I remember an organ repair engineer telling me that the tremolo speed control had live mains voltage running through its terminals, so be careful! (that was on a B-20 model, though, so not sure if the C series was the same or not.)
Yes the tremolo (aka Leslie) speed control does have mains through it so yes folks, be very careful indeed!! Thanks John for your warning!
I think i have something similar out in the shed. Does yours have the ear shaped speaker?
I don’t think it does
@@VintageKeysStudio for one year. I think 74. The engineers at Yamaha produced a speaker shaped like a human ear to see what it sounded like. Big and weird it does sound huge.
From memory, I think it was called the "Natural Sound" speaker. (Pretty sure our B20BR had one.) I think that name inspired the NS-10 studio monitors that became ubiquitous for recording engineers. @@zeusapollo8688
This thing sounds like an ice cream van, or a fairground.
Random question - who’s in b&w photo on the wall? (HS?)
That’s the late great organist Don Shinn, Family friend and patron of the studio.
14:05 and also King by UB40?
Im so sad my keys got ripped off and my farfisa was my first real one sentimental and historical value. It still had some little pieces of maskin tape on a few keys ball point pen marks of the note letter
Had a cig lighter burn mark by the mute arm too
I just got a Model c-40 but i know nothing about it. It would really help if you could show me or just tell me❤
If we had one or access to one, then sure!
👍
What kind of speaker driver is face down on hammond?
Not sure of the make - may be an old Goodmans - it is going into the ondioline at some point
Its a yamaha one, i opened mine a couple days ago
The D85 was the daddy
sounds quite similar to a Solina F225 that I had. Its a shame that so many organs like these get binned as hard;y anyone wants them, same with pianos . i once saw a lovely Gem combo organ in the electrical skip at my local tip in Sussex. They wouldn't let me take it , all I got was a photo.
At 20:20 you had a good thing going. Creativity released. Movie score time.
Thank you very much :)
whats the song at 4:35?
A variation in the organ part from Ghost town while I was finding the right sound, I think
PLEASE HOW MUTH IS IT ??
The RA100 leslie has adjustable high speed... i have mine modified as a "gas pedal.." where i adjust the speed via expression pedal... which is not as cool as it sounds.
:)))) wah-haha
The tune at the end sounded a bit like the Noseybonk theme (a Hippo called Hubert)
I loved Noseybonk!
I saw one of these in a thrift store for a hundred bucks. I am still kicking myself for not buying it.
Love theme to an imaginary 70s porn flick... ahhh... and other immoral classics....
You have shown us quite a few organs in your videos, and I have enjoyed it quite a lot, but one thing that annoys me is that you have never played any of them like they were supposed to be played. You always focus on the ridiculous things like arpeggiators, and wacky presets. I suppose this is out of fear of being labelled "easy listening musician" but I would like to hear some music where the organs are balanced and nice sounding. Of course you cannot play anything recognisable without getting demonetised but you can always improvise something.
I do play improvised stuff quite a bit but my videos are meant to educate on the functions of the organ. There are usually lots of functions to talk about so it would make very long videos if I were to demonstrate everything properly. There are plenty of other videos of organ showroom/klaus wunderlich style music on TH-cam. Playing old standards on organs is something that I am not really into, but thank you very much for your feedback and for watching this far! I will try to play something nice for you soon! ;)
Woo!