Any love for the Yamaha Reface range?

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

These dinky little keyboards have been about for nearly a decade and I finally have a Reface YC incoming via ebay — The red organ one which gives the sounds of Hammond, Vox, Farfisa, Acetone, and Yamaha organs.

 

 

This is probably the perfect keyboard instrument for me as I tend to use organ more than any other keyboard sound on my recordings, and I don't have room to set up anything bigger. I can't wait to get my hands on it.

 

Anyone else a fan of the reface range?

 

Edited September 7 by Jean-Luc Pickguard

[meterman]

Yeah, imho they're really good value for money. I've owned a lot of the 'real' keyboards in the past (Hammond C3, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer 200, Vox Jaguar etc) and honestly the YC and CP are brilliant. 
 

Yes, there's only 3 octaves and they're mini keys, but you can always hook them up to a midi keyboard and get full size keys and extra octaves if you want.

 

The original Hammond M3 that was used on "Green Onions" by Booker T & The MG's only had two offset 44-note keyboards. A lot of players want at least 5 or 6 octaves but depending how and what you're playing, you can get away with three. And the Refaces have an octave transposition dial so you can do Doors-style piano bass, or pitch it up to get the higher octaves. 
 

I've seen Refaces in quite a few studios, they're definitely worth a go 👍

[Beer of the Bass]

I have the YC, it's fun to play, I could see it being great to pull out for the occasional organ part, overdubs etc, though I'm sure it would be frustrating to a real Hammond player.

I quite enjoy turning off the Leslie sim on mine and running it through a Marshall-esque guitar amp, that's an instantly recognisable British rock organ sound that can range from Caravan to Deep Purple.

The other thing I'd say is that you absolutely need an expression pedal attached to get full enjoyment out of it. The distortion effect in the YC sounds quite harsh and unpleasant when it's just constant on every note, but when you swell in an out of it as "real" organists do, it's much more satisfying.

[Huge Hands]

I've been watching them for years but have never pulled the trigger as I couldn't justify that much outlay on something I won't play much.

 

I've been hoping to get one cheap second hand but they seem to hold their value pretty steadily.

 

There is a broken one on eBay for £30 (or there was yesterday) but not sure I want to try my rusty electronics skills on it!

 

I know quite a few pro keyboard players that have them either to give them Hammond sounds on gigging, or just as a practice organ...

[Beer of the Bass]

The other thing I'd note with the YC, the control set is geared around the Hammond emulation and all the others are a bit of an afterthought. The classic transistor combo organs have fewer differently pitched stops available than a Hammond, but usually a couple of differently filtered options at each pitch, so there's a bright, thin 8' or mellow, flute-like 8'. The YC doesn't reproduce this behaviour at all, it's just the same set of Hammond drawbars with a brighter core tone. If you were specifically seeking to replace an older combo organ with it, that could be limiting.

Edited September 9 by Beer of the Bass

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

That's interesting. I particularly want to get a vox continental-type of tone as well as the classic hammond. I won't need it to be able to reproduce everything a real vox is capable of so I expect I should be happy as long as it gets me in the right ballpark.

[Happy Jack]

 

[Happy Jack]

On 08/09/2024 at 10:31, meterman said:

Yes, there's only 3 octaves and they're mini keys

But the octave-switcher is instantly accessible at all times. If you're a one-hand player (my soul band has a bass player, natch) then you can select where you want to pitch those three octaves at any time.

[meterman]

6 hours ago, Happy Jack said:

But the octave-switcher is instantly accessible at all times. If you're a one-hand player (my soul band has a bass player, natch) then you can select where you want to pitch those three octaves at any time.

It does put some folks off, but I think it's a cool feature 👍

[meterman]

10 hours ago, Beer of the Bass said:

I have the YC, it's fun to play, I could see it being great to pull out for the occasional organ part, overdubs etc, though I'm sure it would be frustrating to a real Hammond player.

I quite enjoy turning off the Leslie sim on mine and running it through a Marshall-esque guitar amp, that's an instantly recognisable British rock organ sound that can range from Caravan to Deep Purple.

The other thing I'd say is that you absolutely need an expression pedal attached to get full enjoyment out of it. The distortion effect in the YC sounds quite harsh and unpleasant when it's just constant on every note, but when you swell in an out of it as "real" organists do, it's much more satisfying.

A volume pedal for swells is essential with the YC. And you're correct, the distortion on the YC isn't anywhere near a real Hammond. Not even Nords get this right, despite the price of them.
 

For a time I had a Hammond XB-1 as my live Hammond, and the distortion varied from key to key, whether you were doing swells or not. I make do with a Nord 5D-61 now, which I run through either one valve guitar amp, or two in stereo if I'm recording it. The natural drive of the amps, although good, is not quite the same but close enough to record with

 

I'm lucky enough to sometimes have the use of a 1967 Hammond M102 plus Leslie 145, as an old boy in the nearest town lets me bring my portable recording rig over to record with it. He used it for years in a cabaret band but when you hear it in action it's instant late 60's. "Whiter Shade Of Pale" was done with an M102, as far as I know. Same with some Spencer Davis Group and Small Faces records. A lot of the UK groups used the smaller Hammonds. I had an M102 myself and depending on the Leslie setup, the tone is there 👍

[meterman]

10 hours ago, Beer of the Bass said:

The other thing I'd note with the YC, the control set is geared around the Hammond emulation and all the others are a bit of an afterthought. The classic transistor combo organs have fewer differently pitched stops available than a Hammond, but usually a couple of differently filtered options at each pitch, so there's a bright, thin 8' or mellow, flute-like 8'. The YC doesn't reproduce this behaviour at all, it's just the same set of Hammond drawbars with a brighter core tone. If you were specifically seeking to replace an older combo organ with it, that could be limiting.

The Farfisa and Acetone simulations aren't bad, it's only really the Vox that I struggled with when I bought it. A period of experimentation led to an acceptable compromise. 
 

These are a couple of hundred quid and will fit in a backpack, I'm more than happy to accept the differences between the combo organs for the price. 
 

I paid £1600 for my first Hammond (a C3 with a Leslie 147) and once I'd struggled to heave it upstairs to my 1st floor flat, I couldn't take it out on gigs. So glad things like the YC exist. I might have bought one if they'd been available back then.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

My Reface YC arrived today. It's in near mint condition with the PSU & midi adaptor cable.

 

I had a bunch of Andertons loyalty points saved up so I put them towards the yamaha reface gigbag. I had investigated other options for storing/carrying the keyboard however anything cheaper than the yamaha bag was always way too long, wide or deep. There was a fishing rod bag on aliexpress that looked like it might be suitable, but it would be a tight fit and there would have been no room for the PSU.

 

I'm really enjoying the sounds from the YC.

[Woodinblack]

I have a Reface DX, which I used quite a bit for gigging as it was on the microphone stand, although later on I just went for sample playing as it was easier!

Great little thing though.

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

When I was looking for a Reface YC, I saw a YC and a CP separately listed on ebay which were being sold as 'spares or repair' where the unit powers on and the lights come on but no sound is output.

 

Having read the relevent manuals I have discovered that if you press the lowest D (second white key from the left) and keep it pressed when turning the keyboard on you can deactivate the internal speakers, and if they have already been deactivated the same operation will reactivate them.

 

I wonder whether some refaces have been sold at a knockdown price as non functional when they are actually fine due to the owner inadvertantly switching off the speakers?

 

Edit - A Reface YC sold today for £125 where I suspect this might have happened.

Edited September 16 by Jean-Luc Pickguard

[Quatschmacher]

On 10/09/2024 at 23:23, Jean-Luc Pickguard said:

My Reface YC arrived today. It's in near mint condition with the PSU & midi adaptor cable.

 

I had a bunch of Andertons loyalty points saved up so I put them towards the yamaha reface gigbag. I had investigated other options for storing/carrying the keyboard however anything cheaper than the yamaha bag was always way too long, wide or deep. There was a fishing rod bag on aliexpress that looked like it might be suitable, but it would be a tight fit and there would have been no room for the PSU.

 

I'm really enjoying the sounds from the YC.

Analog Cases do a Reface case which is smaller than the Yamaha one, though doesn’t have the dedicated compartment for the power supply. Still fits though.

[Quatschmacher]

And yes, I got the CP and CS for my daughter and they are great. 

[SumOne]

I'd also highly recommend the Yamaha CK 61.  As far as I can tell, it is basically the Reface YC, CP and some of the stuff from the DX and CS,  all in one 61 key full-sized keys keyboard for about 2.5 times the cost of one Reface.  Sounds good, decent keys and controls, good in/outs, built in speakers, bluetooth, lightweight. 

[Woodinblack]

There are a number of things that provide that sort of thing, I think the use case for the reface is when you need something you can put anywhere, or just carry in a small bag with you. I have even used it on a tray on my microphone stand

 

[meterman]

4 hours ago, SumOne said:

I'd also highly recommend the Yamaha CK 61.  As far as I can tell, it is basically the Reface YC, CP and some of the stuff from the DX and CS,  all in one 61 key full-sized keys keyboard for about 2.5 times the cost of one Reface.  Sounds good, decent keys and controls, good in/outs, built in speakers, bluetooth, lightweight. 

That was my reasoning for buying the Nord 5D61 whenever it came out (10 years ago?) - all the acoustic and electric pianos and organs, plus the Mellotron samples and orchestral samples and the synth patches, with a 5 octaves all in one keyboard. 
 

Having said that, I bought the YC and CP anyway for even easier transport. I do wish Yamaha had included Mellotron strings and flute in the YC but you can’t have everything!

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

Had a reface decksaver delivered today for my YC to keep the dust off.

 

These aren't model-specific so will fit any of the reface keyboards.

 

[dave_bass5]

I found out about these during the first lockdown. I was just looking for a controller for my son to use and came across the DX. After a few days I loved it so much I got a MODX, and that was the end of bass playing for a while. 

Problem with the DX is I just wanted something go could sit on the bed and work sounds out with. While I could get Piano type of tone out of it, I just didn't like anything else (loved my old DX7 back in the day, but after hearing FM-X, the old 4 operator system just sounded pants to me).

Managed to swap it for a CP and found that to be perfect. I even got a travel bag for it. Of course once I got that i never touched the Reface again. Still sitting in the wardrobe waiting for me to take it out somewhere 😀