Hammond's Next-Gen Sk
The Skx Stage Keyboard is the most compact and lightest-weight full-featured dual-manual organ Hammond has ever made. Evolving from the company's acclaimed Sk range of keyboards, the Skx incorporates design recommendations from dedicated Hammond organists worldwide. The result is the best Sk yet — a serious professional instrument with three sets of Harmonic Drawbars, Vibrato-Chorus, Touch-Response Percussion, and digital Leslie — as well as a complete palette of the most coveted Keyboard Voices, such as Grand Pianos, Electric Pianos, Clavs, Orchestral and Percussive voices, and more, any of which can be combined with the Tonewheel voices, or with each other, in the Skx's dual Extra Voice divisions. In the Organ division, you have 32 ranks of Hi-Def Classical Pipe Organ voices, as well as meticulous models of two popular 1960s combo organs that play exactly like the originals.
Three sets of drawbars
Pro organists require an independent set of drawbars for each manual, as well as the pedal clavier. The Skx obliges, with three sets of real drawbars — like every classic Hammond organ — allowing you to register both manuals and the pedal in traditional fashion.
Dual independent Extra Voice divisions
The Skx features two independent Extra Voice divisions that allow you to layer different voices on one manual or assign a different voice to each. You can also combine the extra voices with Tonewheel, Transistor, or Pipe Organ voices. Balancing between the selected extra voices is easily controlled via the Skx's dedicated Mix/Balance knob. The inclusion of Hi-Definition Acoustic and Electric Pianos, Clav, Bass, and Accordion voices in the Skx complement its Organ tones, giving you the comprehensive foundation of a serious keyboard rig. The Skx’s sophisticated keying system replicates the feel of a weighted keyboard when playing piano voices, while remaining responsive to organ techniques. Beyond that are Orchestral Voices-Strings, Woodwinds, and Brass, many featuring Hammond’s exclusive ProChord, which brings complex voicings to single key play based on chords you supply. Further, to expand your Skx however you choose, an extensive library of extra voices is available for free download from Hammond's website.
Studio and stage ready
The Hammond Skx is designed to be easy to use onstage and off. You can define your 10 most-used patches from the 100 User and 100 Factory patches and assign them to the 10 Favorite quick-recall buttons on the control panel. For even more versatility, there are 10 new additional banks of Favorites available for instant recall. The Skx also has an expanded Extra Voice Library memory that lets you load in more voices downloaded from the Hammond website.
Vintage organ sounds, no moving parts
The Skx’s authentic Hammond tone is produced by a Virtual Tonewheel Generator that closely follows Mr. Hammond’s original design but is executed without moving parts in the digital realm. This provides all the unique sonic characteristics and imperfections that have come to define the classic Hammond sound. In the factory, the Skx is set to the same tolerances as a B-3 was during its production run, but digital control — including the Touch-Response Percussion found on vintage Hammonds — allows you to sculpt nearly every aspect of the sound. Beyond the tonewheel, Hammond's Wave Composition system adds the vintage Transistor Combo Organ Voices plus 32 ranks of Hi-Def Classical Pipe Organ Voices. No matter the genre, the Skx is ready to ace the gig.
The classic Chorus-Vibrato
As the Virtual Tonewheel Generator delivers tonal accuracy, the classic Hammond Mechanical Scanner is digitally modeled for the timeless Chorus-Vibrato effect. You can apply Chorus-Vibrato to each manual, and again, nearly every aspect of the effect can be customized, including the age-and-wear characteristics so coveted by discerning organists.
Definitive digital Leslie
Over seven decades of building Don Leslie’s rotary speaker system has given Hammond the edge in developing the definitive digital realization of this classic, which includes eight factory profiles of the most famous Leslie models plus eight user-definable profiles that allow you to tailor and register the response for instant recall. The sonic accuracy is astounding. With that said, should you wish to connect a physical Leslie cabinet, the Skx has a traditional 11-pin jack on its rear panel, and the onboard controls (including the optional CU-1 Half-Moon switch) operate exactly as you'd expect.
Digital effects
The Skx's Organ and Extra Voice divisions each feature an independent, studio-grade DSP multi-effects unit that includes Overdrive, Tremolo, Auto Pan, Wah-Wah, Ring Modulator, Phaser, Flanger, Chorus, Delay, and Reverb.
The soul of a legend
Sweetwater's advice: the Skx packs the soul of the legendary Hammond B-3 tonewheel organ, along with state-of-the-art technical refinements, into a portable keyboard you can tuck under your arm. If you've always lusted after those swirling vintage organ tones but don't have a road crew and a tractor-trailer, here's your chance. Hook up with the Hammond Skx and give your music some lovin'!
Hammond Skx Dual Manual Organ Features:
- Octave switching lets you independently raise or lower the upper and lower manual’s range by 1 octave
- Pedal Sustain allows the Pedal voice to smoothly decay upon release, similar to a double string bass
- Manual Bass allows the Pedal part to be played on the lower manual of the Skx
- Lower to Pedal couples the lower manual registration to the Pedal part
- Transpose lets you shift the entire pitch of the keyboard to match vocalists, soloists, and other instruments, or to simplify key changes
- Master Equalizer with Bass/Mid Gain/Mid Frequency/Treble
- ProChord allows complex voicings to be played with 1 finger
- MIDI Master Keyboard mode with 3 external zones on the upper manual; 2 on the lower; 1 on the Pedal Clavier
- Music Player allows WAV/MP3 audio files to be controlled and played through the audio outputs
- Rear-panel 11-pin Leslie jack for connecting a physical Leslie cabinet
- USB Type A port for saving/loading setups, system updates, downloaded Extra Voice libraries, and the music player
- MIDI in/out ports
- Audio: Line Out L, R, Headphones
- Footswitch, damper pedal, expression pedal jacks