The
Classic Sound of the Mighty B-3 Organ! The best of the old meets the best of the new! Hammond's
XK-2 faithfully recreates the fine, rich
tones of their legendary B-3 organ, and adds
the best of modern technology. You get
authentic tone-wheel sound with the expanded
capabilities of Hammond Harmonic Drawbars.
The Drawbars give you nine individual
harmonics, each with eight degrees of
volume, for a total of 253 million tones!
But along with all the cool modern
technological features, the Hammond XK-2
keeps it real, delivering not only the B-2
sounds but the easy and confident
playability of that classic instrument. An
added bonus? The compact size of the Hammond
XK-2 makes it easy to carry around!
Designed in
Conjunction with Hammond XB-2 Keyboard
Players:
Working in conjunction with
professional Hammond organists, keyboard
players, church and home organists
representing every style of music, Hammond
engineers designed the latest member of the
long family of quality Hammond instruments -
the XK-2. Hammond received numerous requests
from customers for a single-keyboard
instrument which not only has the classic
Drawbar tones but also the keyboard look and
feel of the B-3. The
XK-2 features a new 61-note keyboard
utilizing deluxe square-front keys to truly
recreate this look and feel.
XK-2, the
newest member of the Hammond Portable
Keyboard family: Since
the late 1960's, several Hammond portable
organs and keyboards were developed as
light-weight alternatives to the B-3.
Hammond Suzuki developed the digital, single
manual XB-2 and dual manual XB-5. Each
portable offered Hammond players an
alternative to carrying a B-3, C-3, L100,
M-3 or other Hammond organ. Each successive
portable featured the latest in available
technology and narrowed the tonal
differences to the original B-3.
"The
XK-2 represents the latest step in Hammond's
ongoing effort to digitally replicate the
classic B-3 sound," states Steven
Eaklor, Director of Product Planning and
Development. "The new instrument uses
Hammond's V.A.S.E. 11 (Versatile Advanced
Sound Engine) sound-generating system for
unparalleled realism not only from the
Drawbars but from the Vibrato, Leslie,
Reverb and Overdrive as well." Attempts
by other manufacturers at "sampling a
B-3" and adding Drawbars are not good
enough to satisfy Hammond portable organ and
keyboard owners interested in a replacement
for their aging Hammonds. The new Hammond
XK-2 provides for the idiosyncrasies of the
electro-mechanical Tonewheel Generator which
formed the basis for the classic Hammond
sound. The XK-2 offers the closest digital
reproduction of the classic sound while
offering many features not found in any
other keyboard or portable organ.
Foldback and
other B-3 Characteristics: The
XK-2 digitally generates the pure harmonic
sound of the classic B-3 including nuance
characteristics of generator crosstalk and
other important features such as adjustable
Drawbar foldbacks at the top and bottom
octaves, adjustable Attack (key click), and
adjustable overdrive. Sixty-four user
programmable presets, percussion 6 degrees
of chorus and vibrato, and other B-3
characteristics were designed into the XK-2
for maximum professional flexibility.
Some early Hammond organ models
lacked "foldback" found in the B-3
and similar models. These models had
keyboards which were wired differently
internally with the first 12 bass tones
normally found only on the pedals of B-3 and
other organ models with foldback. Other
later Hammond organ models had additional
tones above the highest frequency tone found
in a B-3. The XK-2 can easily be configured
to recreate these earlier or later organs to
suit the organist's playing needs by
altering the adjustable foldback points. The XK-2 is earning solid acceptance from touring
professional and church organists, home and
studio players worldwide by delivering the
classic Hammond sound and performance. The
original B-3 weighed approximately 400
pounds. The new XK-2 weighs just 48 pounds
and is the best choice for players requiring
top digital keyboard performance at very
reasonable cost.
On-Board
Hammond Drawbar Patch Library: The Hammond XK-2 contains a built-in library of 64 custom
Hammond drawbar organ patches. Factory
presets represent the most commonly used B-3
drawbar settings in Blues, Jazz, Gospel,
Country, Rock and other music styles. The
library is user programmable for Upper
Manual, Lower Manual and Pedal keyboard use.
Full MIDI
Implementation: The Hammond XK-2 can
perform in virtually any MIDI environment.
SEND and RECEIVE channels are programmable.
LOCAL keyboard control can be turned ON or
OFF, and the keyboard can be split into two
MIDI ZONES with separate SEND channels,
program numbers, and high and low limits for
each ZONE.
The XK-2 features 32-note polyphonic
and 16-part multi-timbral capabilities.
Performance and data information can be
saved to a MIDI data recorder via the MIDI
Data Dump feature. The XK-2 can be used as a
master controller for the Hammond GM-1000
MIDI Sound Module or any other standard MIDI
device. It can be used as a MIDI slave and
controlled from a Digital Piano or any other
standard MIDI keyboard, module or
controller.Bass, Treble, Overdrive, Overall Volume,
Reverb Controls: Bass
and Treble, Overdrive, Master Volume and
Digital Reverb controls are adjustable
through controls mounted on the front and
rear of the XK-2. These controls allow the
user to tailor the sound from the early
"mellow" Blues and Jazz, or a
later Hammond "bright" sound of
solid state organs, to the unmistakable
Hammond sound with heavy distortion for
Rock. The XK-2's Drawbar sound can be voiced
to represent older or later Hammond organs
through the selectable Drawbar Voicing
feature.
Advanced On-board Leslie Simulator
"An
essential part of the legendary B-3 sound is
the Leslie Speaker," says Warren
Brunsting, Vice President of Manufacturing.
"The XK-2 uses the new B.M.T.P.
(Balance Monitored Time Phased) digital
Leslie simulator. This new system is the
most realistic Leslie Speaker simulator to
be offered by Hammond and Leslie to date."
The XK-2's on-board Leslie simulator
is fully adjustable to suit user
preferences. The simulated upper horn &
bass rotor "Rise" (speed up) and
"Fall" (slow down) times can be
independently changed. The "Brake"
(stopping) time for both horn and rotor can
also be adjusted. Volume balance between the
horn and rotor can be tailored to suit the
user. Simulated Microphone settings can be
changed to simulate the different options
when miking a Leslie. The new B.M.T.P
digital Leslie simulator was designed to
offer the professional user total control to
achieve a specific Leslie simulation of
older single-speed tube amp Leslie's (21H,
22H, 45, 45, etc.), later two-speed tube amp
models (122, 142, 147, 145) and solid-state
Leslie's (760, 770, 925, etc) for live and
recording purposes.
