ANYONE HAVE HANDS ON EXPERIENCE WITH THE FERROFISH B4000?

[vinsynth]

I have minimal piano ability but I can fake it in the mix. I have more proficiency with synth and organ. I am without an organ keyboard at the moment save for the few organ voicings on my Korg SG Rack. I am intrigued by the Ferrofish B4000 and was wondering if anyone out there used one or has one at the moment. Any advice is appreciated. I recently bought and sold the Yamaha Reface YC mini-keys organ simply for the mini keys which I found annoying. How much more could they have charged to put a standard key bed on the unit??? It was a decent "organ-izer" for the money save for the lousy keys.

 

[Biggles]

Until you get a response here is a video for you to watch.

 

[vinsynth]

Until you get a response here is a video for you to watch.

Thank you for your help.

 

[happyrat1]

I own a Ferrofish B4000+ but I bought mine about 6 years ago for around $250 USD. I'm not sure I'd be willing to pay current prices for one these days.

I am by no means an organ purist but it seems to me a fairly decent emulation of Hammond technology and many other brands in the presets as well.

That said, it does have a couple of quirks.

While it has stereo output it uses a 1/4" TRS connector to output the 2 channels rather dual 1/4" TS connectors as is the standard. This necessitates buying a TRS to dual TS adapter cable to hook it up properly to a mixing board.

I also have some reservations about build quality. While it's built into a sturdy metal case, the drawbars are a very flimsy plastic and could easily snap off during transport if not properly stowed away. Also my unit generates some ear splitting static if it is physically moved while powered up and connected. It may be a loose wire inside but I've never opened mine up to look. It also has a deafening turn on thump so make sure the speakers are off when powering up.

Again, mine was a very early production unit so some of these issues may have been addressed.

The organ simulation though, I would rate as really quite good.

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

BTW, if you'd kept the Reface, you'd be able to MIDI up the Yamaha with your other keys as controller and essentially use it as a module which is what you are currently looking for.

Why didn't you just MIDI them up instead of selling off the Yamaha?

Gary

 

[vinsynth]

I own a Ferrofish B4000+ but I bought mine about 6 years ago for around $250 USD. I'm not sure I'd be willing to pay current prices for one these days.

I am by no means an organ purist but it seems to me a fairly decent emulation of Hammond technology and many other brands in the presets as well.

That said, it does have a couple of quirks.

While it has stereo output it uses a 1/4" TRS connector to output the 2 channels rather dual 1/4" TS connectors as is the standard. This necessitates buying a TRS to dual TS adapter cable to hook it up properly to a mixing board.

I also have some reservations about build quality. While it's built into a sturdy metal case, the drawbars are a very flimsy plastic and could easily snap off during transport if not properly stowed away. Also my unit generates some ear splitting static if it is physically moved while powered up and connected. It may be a loose wire inside but I've never opened mine up to look. It also has a deafening turn on thump so make sure the speakers are off when powering up.

Again, mine was a very early production unit so some of these issues may have been addressed.

The organ simulation though, I would rate as really quite good.

Gary

Thanks Gary. Food for thought.

 

[Les L.]

I have minimal piano ability but I can fake it in the mix. I have more proficiency with synth and organ. I am without an organ keyboard at the moment save for the few organ voicings on my Korg SG Rack. I am intrigued by the Ferrofish B4000 and was wondering if anyone out there used one or has one at the moment. Any advice is appreciated. I recently bought and sold the Yamaha Reface YC mini-keys organ simply for the mini keys which I found annoying. How much more could they have charged to put a standard key bed on the unit??? It was a decent "organ-izer" for the money save for the lousy keys.

I bought a Ferrofish about a year ago and really like it. It's not a B3, but considering the difference in price (and weight!) it's a pretty decent substitute. I have mine midi'd to a Sipario midi router to do all the program changes. Finding and changing program on the fly is a nuisance. The only think I really find lacking is the Leslie simulator. It's not horrid, but nothing can replace the sound of a physically rotating speaker. For that reason, I bought a Motion Sound Pro-3x and have been running the Ferrofish through that, out to a bass amp, and then to my PA. I was actually pretty surprised by how well built the thing is; metal case, solid controls etc. Like anything, I won't stand up to abuse, but I've not had any issues. A previous post referred to some ugly power-down noise...yeah, turn volumes down before you turn it off.

 

[thesoundsmith]

I have minimal piano ability but I can fake it in the mix. I have more proficiency with synth and organ. I am without an organ keyboard at the moment save for the few organ voicings on my Korg SG Rack. I am intrigued by the Ferrofish B4000 and was wondering if anyone out there used one or has one at the moment. Any advice is appreciated. I recently bought and sold the Yamaha Reface YC mini-keys organ simply for the mini keys which I found annoying. How much more could they have charged to put a standard key bed on the unit??? It was a decent "organ-izer" for the money save for the lousy keys.

Another option? The Yamaha CK series - 88 for $1500, 29lbs, the 61 is 999 and 12 lbs. Sounds good, nice pianos and guitars, battery power option, the 88 is playable, haven't tried the 61, different keybed - and great user interface.

 

[biodaddy]

I bought a Ferrofish B4000+ dirt cheap and it's ok for what I need it for but the online "manual" is miserable as most are.
I am struggling with how to save a created sound to a preset. Any idea beyond the babble in the manual would be appreciated.
I actually have a decent leslie from it, possibly as good as my Neo Ventilator considering when you add the band with distorted bar chord guitar and a tone death sound man. Then it's spot on since I wont be in the mix at all anyway

 

[delaware dave]

I bought a Ferrofish B4000+ dirt cheap and it's ok for what I need it for but the online "manual" is miserable as most are.
I am struggling with how to save a created sound to a preset. Any idea beyond the babble in the manual would be appreciated.
I actually have a decent leslie from it, possibly as good as my Neo Ventilator considering when you add the band with distorted bar chord guitar and a tone death sound man. Then it's spot on since I wont be in the mix at all anyway

No offense, but if you believe that the leslie on the ferrofish is possibly as good the Neo Ventilator then: 1) you are without clue 2) whatever you're smoking I'll purchase 1 pound, sight unseen... ( on credit of course because whatever you're smoking must be extremely expensive).

storing a preset:

"By long pressing the Store key you store a preset. Select the
location by using knob A and B, and then press Preset again
to execute. The name of the stored presets are “user 0001” etc.
The names and categories of own presets can be renamed by
using the PC software."

Seems pretty straight forward to me

 

[biodaddy]

Thanks for the reply. They could have made the program display a little larger.

The leslie is very good if you take time to ding with it. My Neo stays home now with my midi theatre organ synthset up and the Ferrofish goes with the stage rig which isnt as important since it's people ( in America) who only want Sweet Caroline, Dont Stop Believing and the other 13 karaoke songs they think they know how to sing.
I do a dueling piano show and there, organ is a "no no" anyway so the Ferrofish is a perfect tool.