THE KEYBOARD MUSEUM

Finally scored a D6 and had it worked out by Ken Rich. Very dynamic and quiet-will end up on many recordings from Electric Dog.

circa: 1965

Everyone knows the sound of the Vox Continental, but the Baroque is a little more obscure. Purchased for very little cash because the power plug was broken, it has been refurbished and sounds like a dream. One keyboard resembles a Vox Continental, the second featuring piano, vibes, harpsichord, mandolin and other tones made popular by the home organs of the sixties. Another added bonus is the knee lever, which doubles as a pitch bend or a wah-wah.

1976-England



This is my beloved '76 Mellotron 400, bought from an old lady in Northern Tennessee that only played it on Sunday. I had another one in '79 that was in my truck when it got stolen in '87. I don't feel bad, because this one is a million times better. Everyone who hears it loves it. It is loaded with Flutes (Strawberry Fields), Strings (any Yes song), and Cellos. It sends me to another place.<

Oddly enough, this was the only keyboard that one could rent at the time I was a kid. Years later, I found this in the paper for $50. Before I had a poly synthesizer, I put a flanger (electric mistress) on the Farfisa and faked one. Sounded good.

When I got the deal for this baby at a swap meet, I just about passed out. I have been looking for a pump organ in a suitcase for the last 10 years. These were orginally used for wartime church services in the field at battlegrounds. It has knee levers which bring in the loud stops. The pedals work great. And it is almost in regular tuning though a little sharp!

Got this at a guitar shop in Santa Cruz for very little bread. It has a portable chord organ sound, but looks very art deco, once again in an Italian way. Used it on several records already. Great gold legs.

A rock and roll staple from the sixties. I got this one for 50 bucks before the price went up. I am really glad, since I use this axe alot. Took it on tour and 5 keys broke. Now to find the replacements.

Was lucky enough to get this Rhodes for only 300 bucks. It is a late '70's model, with the sliders for the volume, bass and treble. The stereo vibrato is the ticket. This is a good one, though would like a early '60's as well. I play a lot of Steely Dan on this baby.

Found it at a swap meet for 40 bucks. It sounds like a Hohner accordion without having to pump the bellows. I like the 'almost a Pianet' look it has going.

This is a baby version of the chord organs I used to play and hate as a kid, because it wasn't a Hammond. Sounds more like an accordion or on best days a harmonium. But I found it in Philly for $7.50 and figured it was worth it. It has 6 chords on the left-C, F, Bb and G, D, A.

This Hammond M3 I bought in '78 by selling my Fender Strat. I didnt even have a Leslie for it for another year. It actually has a 10" speaker in the body that you can play through to get a no chorus sound. It is like a B3 with less notes and no presets. This one is about a '61

This is my Mini-Moog that I bought in 1977 for $700 bucks instead of buying a car. My friends told me 'you can't drive a Mini-moog.' I never sold it even when it was the most uncool thing to play. Makes the best bass line sound. Robert Moog sold more of these than any synthesizer. That is until the Yamaha DX-7.

Got this organ for $35 from a tech in an old band. This is a classic 60's organ on just about every track anyone ever did the "Swim" to. It doesn't really work right, but looks great. Another Italian keyboard.

This little pump organ is great sounding and very portable. You can’t fold it up like some of them, but it easily fits in the front seat of a car. Found at an estate sale in the Southwest, it has ended up on many tracks in spite of the typical sharp tuning of these instruments.

Got this one at the swap meet for 20 bucks. Needed a lot of work, the particle board was broken and needed to be replaced. It still needs a new base-notice how it is sagging. This sounds like a real professional toy piano.

A guy I did a session for gave this to me after seeing in his garage for years. Another great Italian Keyboard, the 'pull out' stops for changing octaves and vibrato setting are very cool. On the top are buttons for different tones.

This is the original Brothers Figaro created keyboard, fashioned into the furniture from a 1950's bar-set, and put together with extra gear we had hanging around the Electric Dog Studios. Being an emulator, the Parlaphonic contains recreations of most of the keyboards featured in this museum. It is featured on all PBR recordings. Watch for the Parlaphonic MKII in the nearby future.

Bought this from a drummer friend of mine when I saw that it was the old style electric piano companion to my Yamaha SK-20. The pitch is a little off and it needs to be repaired, but it has a great bad 60s harpsichord tone.

This is a weird RMI type Italian electric piano, like something Dr. John would play. It has a piano, honky-tonk, and harpsichord sound. Just waiting to put it on the right track. Came with a cool old gig bag type case for 30 bucks.

This was the first and only new accordion I've bought. With its hand made reeds, Italian styling and 10 microphone pickup system, it quickly became my main accordion for touring and recording. I know my Roma accordion is jealous, but as it is residing in my Parlaphonic, it is never is too far away.

This was my workhorse, having the distinction of being on almost ever record I have played on, until I got the Bugari. It is a very inexpensive Chinese version of a Hohner. You can see the wire that connects to the Barcus Berry pickup, as this was my main road beast as well. In 1987, Tim Scott gave this to me and told me to play. I did and have had a career ever since.

This great little keyboard not only has a really usuable Hammond sound with sliders for 8 drawbars,and a cheesy string ensemble tone, it includes a one oscillator polyphonic synth. It all goes through an ancient chorus unit. Great control for mixing and decay of all tones. I used this board so much, it finally blew up on me at a gig, spitting and sparking as it went.