Vintage B3 Organ Model controls in MainStage
The Organ Model controls change the basic tonal quality.
Organ Model parameters
Maximum Wheels slider: Set the number of tonewheels that are emulated. Reduce the value to minimize processing load. Reducing the value diminishes some overtones, so keep the number high if you’re after an ultra-realistic simulation.
Tonal Balance slider: Change the mix relationship of the higher and lower tonewheels. Use positive values for a lighter and brighter sound. Experiment with different tonal balance and equalizer settings. See Vintage B3 EQ controls, for further information.
Lower Manual Volume slider: Set the relative level between the upper and lower manuals (and the pedalboard).
Pedals Volume slider: Set the relative level between the upper (and lower) manual and the pedalboard.
Shape slider: Alter the waveforms of the tonewheel generator to produce sounds that resemble the tones of Farfisa, Solina, or Yamaha organs. The Hammond tone generators produce pure sine waves (albeit with a few artifacts), whereas some other organs deliver distorted waveforms. The Shape parameter is placed after the filters that follow the sine generators.
Move the Shape slider to the right to make the tone brighter (and louder).
Move the Shape slider to the left to make the tone duller (and softer).
Bass Filter slider: Adjust to suppress the treble of the pedal draw bars which can sound bright within the context of the combined upper/lower/pedal sound. At the maximum position you hear only a solid bass organ fundamental in the bass register.
Extended bass switch: Add another low octave to the playable range of both the upper and lower manuals.These additional low octaves, and the ability to independently transpose both manuals, are not available on the original B3.
Ultrabass switch: Turn on to disable duplication of the 16” drawbar in the lowest octave. Turn off to mirror the original B3 behavior. The on position results in a sound that resembles that of early tone wheel organs like the B, BV, and BCV, which had no dedicated tone wheels with a complex waveform for the pedal. This is also known as “Bass all the way down”. See Use multiple or multichannel controllers with Vintage B3.
Note: Ultrabass and Extended Bass can be combined, but Ultrabass has no effect on the added lowest octave. This octave always has a duplication of the 16” drawbar tone.