Matt's Gearspace

Richard Wright's Compact Duo at Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains. Photo: TheTankman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Farfisa

Farfisa Compact Duo

Discontinued 1969Released 1966

A Compact Deluxe with a second, much plainer manual underneath (Dolce, Principale, Ottava), and the organ of early Pink Floyd. The power supply, preamp and a proper spring reverb live in a separate F/AR box, and many Duos have long since lost theirs. The first version's 2 2/3' plus 2' mixture tab is the most Vox-like sound any Compact makes.

Specifications

General

Manufacturer
Farfisa
Status
Discontinued
Released
1966

Keyboard

Manuals
2
Keys per manual
49
Key action
Waterfall
Keybed
Two 49-note manuals of unweighted plastic organ keys; the lower manual's two bottom octaves are the bass section, one switchable between bass and treble

Sound

Drawbars
Tab switches
Sound engine
Germanium-transistor top-octave divider organ; external F/AR unit for power, preamp and spring reverb
Organ models
Upper: Bass 16', Strings 16', Flute 8', Oboe 8', Trumpet 8', Strings 8', Flute 4', Strings 4' and a 2 2/3'-2' mixture (single 2 2/3' on the second version), Brilliant, Multi-Tone Booster; lower: Dolce 8', Principale 8', Ottava 4'
Polyphony
Full polyphony

Connections

Pedal inputs
Expression, Pedalboard

Features

Features
Two manuals, External F/AR power supply and reverb, Multi-Tone Booster, Percussion, Tremolo and repeat percussion (second version), Bass-range indicator lights

Size & weight

Colours
Beige
Weight
40.8 kg

Heard on

Artists and records that used it, as Farfisa tells it.

  • Richard Wright (Pink Floyd), A Saucerful of Secrets – His main organ on the early albums through Ummagumma
  • Clint Boon (Inspiral Carpets) – His main instrument
  • Hugh Banton (Van der Graaf Generator) – His first organ with the band, before the Professional

More from Farfisa

  • Farfisa

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    Manuals
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    Keys per manual
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    Key action
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    —1964

  • Farfisa

    Mini Compact

    Discontinued 1969
    Manuals
    1
    Keys per manual
    49
    Key action
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    —1966
  • Farfisa Compact Deluxe drawbar organ

    Farfisa

    Compact Deluxe

    Discontinued 1969
    Manuals
    1
    Keys per manual
    61
    Key action
    Waterfall
    Drawbars
    Tab switches
    —1966