Today’s post is part of a short series of articles relating to MODX drawbar organ sound:
I’m trying to recreate the experience of playing the new Yamaha CK keyboards with MODX. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush…
I received a few comments and ideas that are worth passing along. All of the basic principles and sonic DNA are applicable to Genos and PSR, I might add.
First up, what makes a good overdrive or distortion? My colleague Uli is pursuing a similar investigation and he is using an Electro Harmonix Lester K as a reference. Using a reference sound is a super idea.
So, I dug into my old bag of tricks — literally. I have four different references on hand:
- ART Tube MP
- Electro Harmonix Lester K
- Behringer GDI21 guitar preamp
- Fender Super Champ xD modeling guitar amp
As yet, I haven’t tried the Super Champ xD because it is a solid state and tube hybrid. I will need to find a way to isolate the effect of the 12AX7/6V6 power stage. That experiment will likely require high volume and there’s only so much my poor ears can take! [Be sure to protect your ears.]
I bought the ART Tube MP mic preamp a zillion years ago. Tube MPs are still inexpensive going for roughly $100 USD. I used the Tube MP to warm up the sound of my old Nord Electro 2, trying to file the edge off of its digital sound.
The Tube MP is really intended as a mic preamp having a 12AX7 vacuum tube gain stage. If you crank up the gain, you can hit the 12AX7 pretty hard and get gobs of distortion. The Tube MP distortion gradually increases with gain and is warm and smooth. By “smooth”, I mean distortion which is not grainy or fizzy. To me, grainy distortion has an uneven clickiness to it, like a fast-ticking geiger counter instead of an old analog TV receiving the sounds of the universe. [Really.]
That said, the Lester K overdrive — a digital simulation — is not bad. The Lester K overdrive gets good reviews and deservedly so. The Lester K overdrive has a pleasing smoothness.
The Behringer GDI21 is sometimes disparaged as a copy of the Tech21 SansAmp. Compare schematics and you will find differences. The GDI21 uses a pair of JFETs to simulate a tube preamp (12AX7).
Both GDI21 and SansAmp emulate the input stage and power amp effects of a guitar amp. There are lots of variations to dial in, but you pretty much get three flavors: Fender Tweed, Mesa/Boogie high-gain and British lead. Maybe the GDI21 is authentic on guitar, but I didn’t care for its sound when applied to drawbar organ. The Tube MP and Lester K are better references, IMHO.
Given all that, what is my favorite MODX (Genos) amp sim (or whatever) for overdrive? Here are my top three picks:
- SMALL STEREO (Preset: Overdrive)
- US COMBO (Preset: Rich clean)
- BRITISH LEAD (Preset: Dirty)
Judging from its distortion parameters, the SMALL STEREO is part of the MULTI FX pedal board chain. Thus, if you want to slap pedal effects on a drawbar organ, MULTI FX is a good way to go, giving you a pedal or two for free along with the amp sim. Uli is experimenting with chorus, too, and is giving MULTI FX a try.
The presets mentioned above are just starting points. Check out other settings in Part 3.
I grew up with the sound of 1960s Fender and that’s probably why I have a fondness for the US COMBO. I always wanted a Fender Twin Reverb (or Bassman) as a kid. Well, THAT dream never came true. [Might as well add a Vox Continental to the list of broken dreams, too.] 🙂 Twin and Bassman amps were the weapons of choice for combo organ back in the day.
The BRITISH LEAD conjures the sound of Wakeman, Emerson and others. Nuf said.
Have fun, tweak and don’t forget to boogie.
Copyright © 2023 Paul J. Drongowski