The Last Bass Outpost

Gear Discussion Forums => Guitars Etc. => Topic started by: Basvarken on January 05, 2016, 04:00:46 PM

Title: Guitorgan
Post by: Basvarken on January 05, 2016, 04:00:46 PM
You can never have too many knobs on your guitar...

(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_rScBRKlTdoE/TCbgdW1-VNI/AAAAAAABMi8/HFux6Uc71G4/s1600/Screen+shot+2010-06-26+at+10.19.07+PM.png)
Title: Re: Guitorgan
Post by: Dave W on January 05, 2016, 07:05:53 PM
Too complicated for me!
Title: Re: Guitorgan
Post by: clankenstein on January 05, 2016, 08:34:06 PM
I wonder what it sounded like?
Title: Re: Guitorgan
Post by: Dave W on January 05, 2016, 08:42:24 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZ6Djp-IHlw
Title: Re: Guitorgan
Post by: clankenstein on January 05, 2016, 08:48:47 PM
Crikey ! Thanks Dave. :)
Title: Re: Guitorgan
Post by: Pilgrim on January 05, 2016, 08:58:52 PM
Wolfman Jack would ask if it pulled in the moon, the stars and the outer planets!
Title: Re: Guitorgan
Post by: slinkp on January 06, 2016, 02:17:50 PM
Too bad he only noodled around playing leads on one sound!  Surely with all those controls you could get something else from it?
Title: Re: Guitorgan
Post by: Dave W on January 06, 2016, 09:10:23 PM
You might be surprised at the number of guitorgans made in the 60s and into the 70s, although none of them were ever big sellers. I hadn't heard of this brand before. There were several with a shape roughly like an ES-335. Probably the best known was the Vox. Here's a demo of one where you can hear soem of the different possibilities.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gWc8Do6JSQ
Title: Re: Guitorgan
Post by: Highlander on January 07, 2016, 01:28:21 PM
I think my views on knob-twiddling are reasonably well known, and that's getting dangerously close to Chromium Joe territory... ;D
Title: Re: Guitorgan
Post by: Alanko on January 08, 2016, 02:56:26 PM
There was a member over on TDPRI who wound up buying a gutted MCI Guitarorgan. They didn't know what it was; simply an ES-355 copy with each fret cut into six sections and all sorts of square holes cut out of the body. Apparently MCI started off with a good Japanese copy and worked from there.

The demos I've seen on youtube tend to have the phenomenon whereby it sounds like all the notes are on at once, but quietly in the background. I think this is the same sort of 'leak' you get with transistor organs, like Farfisas, so I imagine the technology is much the same.

The beast I want to know more about is the WEM Project 4/Fifth Man guitar. Prior to any guitarorgans, or at best parallel with the Vox one, WEM came up with some odd sustainer technology that they built into one of their models. The instruments themselves have chunky magnets either side of the strings at the heel of the neck, and a crude hexaphonic pickup arrangement in the bridge. I have no idea how any of that worked, and I cannot find any resources online beyond anecdotal evidence.

Apparently the magnets promote sustain, but I don't see how that would work! If anything I can see two chunky magnets introducing wolf tones and sustain issues if anything.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v118/turquoisemoleeater/More%20Guitars/WEMFifthManProject4guitar_zpse78ebe03.jpg)
Title: Re: Guitorgan
Post by: chromium on January 08, 2016, 06:49:00 PM
I think my views on knob-twiddling are reasonably well known, and that's getting dangerously close to Chromium Joe territory... ;D

 :mrgreen:

You'll be pleased to know I've sold off almost all my old Roland guitar synth stuff...

...but I still have the BC Richs and other sources of knob-twiddling-bliss :p

(http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k125/0chromium0/forums/bc-rich/1213131529.jpg) (http://s87.photobucket.com/user/0chromium0/media/forums/bc-rich/1213131529.jpg.html)