Taking Sides: Hammond vs Farfisa; Moog vs Mellotron

Moog wins because it's inventor was the most logically named man in musical history:

*"So why's it called a Moog?"

#"Must be named after some guy called Moog I guess"

*"What? Mr Moog?"

#"Well he knew lots of techno geek stuff so he was probably a doctor."

*"Okay, Dr Moog. What was his first name though?"

#"Erm, erm... uh... Bob?"

Farfisa = garage-y and funky and skanky, great for hip-hop and punk and RAWK

I own a Farfisa, and not just 'cause it was cheaper.

Moog = synthesizer, very versatile and powerful and also a little unpredictable (oscillators get CRAZEE!)

Mellotron = first sampling instrument...has an internal tape reel that plays back a sample of a sound (most commonly strings or choir sounds), ie not a synthesizer...also, requires more maintenance than any other keyboard instrument EVAH

I think it's unfair to put the Moog against the Mellotron, as one is a synthesizer and the other isn't. Oh god I'm such a music geek.

Anybody own any of theze bitches? I've got a Sequential Circuits 6-Trak (the first synth w/midi, but hey it's analog).

I own a helluvalot of keyboards, among them a broken-as-fuck Rhodes (currently at my friend Chris's hoping to get repaired in the future), a Farfisa VIP-200/R (with a built-in 'boom-kack' style analog drum machine...shweet!), a Crumar Performer, a Moog MG-1 (actually a Radioshack/Moog joint), a Roland JX-3P (from the end of the analog era, very nice), and a Yamaha CP-30 electric piano, which sounds almost exactly like the Rhodes when properly processed. My music-geek status is now completely known.

Oh yeah, and I SOOO agree with Sean.

Moog vs Mellotron is a bit more difficult of a battle. At the moment, I'd go with the Mellotron, just cos I've heard and played Moogs for wayyy too much in the past few years, it's losing it's freshness. Plus, didn't the Beatles make their own tape loops and run them through a mellotron? I know at least Lennon did in his home recordings....

..Of course, the first two pulse wave channels on "Mega Man 2" (NES) beat out any of 'em.

yawn

or 'Classic Cars vs Fiat Punto'
etc
etc

[insert winkeye emoticon here]

Hammond B3 - the real deal. Around 500 lbs, a tonewheel, like 18 drawbars for endless tonal combinations, always paired up with a leslie that goes for $600 in shitty condition nowadays.

VS

Farfisa - a combo organ, meant to be a portable "gigging-band" version of a real organ, reedy and trill, cut through the mix rather than beefed it up, but still a classic, even though I woulda went with a Vox Continental, myself.

And,

Moog synths - analog synths, with oscillators and filters and amps and everything, you can basically mold your own sounds from it and possibley strike upon something nobody else has.

Mellotron - The worlds first almost-kind-sampled-sound synth. Every sound on it is a loop of tape. Ingenius, in that caveman-makes-fire-with-2-sticks-instead-of-a-lighter kind of working-with-the-tech.-at-the-time sort of way, thus coming up with something pretty cool, but still really big and bulky.

4 completely different animals, like saying Brown Bear Vs. Manatee and Pirahna vs. Garter Snake.

But who am I to comment? I play guitar.

The Optigan kicks everythings ass.

Actually, Tom, according to my Illustrated Encyclopedia of Vintage Keyboards (no, I'm not joking, Tom has seen this book, I think I got it at Barnes & Nobles), the Moog is selling for the most nowadays. I'm betting it's because of techno people, or the fact that it's the one you and I would probably most like to own.

Mellotron's are generally going for about $3000+ on eBay and similar second-hand sources. Most 'Moog's that you'll find on eBay/whatever are really the Moog/Realistic (aka Radio Shack) Moogs, which sound neat but are among the most frustrating things you'll ever encounter, the little bitches! Nicer MiniMoogs end up going for close to $4K, depending on what kinda quality.

I personally could go for some ARP action, the ultimate for those squirty porno-funk sounds.

but do they use a Mellotron on "Stay Together"??

i can't help but think of Strawberry Fields when i hear this track

and fuck, helltime already said vox continental.

so, how BOUT that vako orchestron?

There are also, I'm sure many other reasons for why Moog's are more desirable. Not the least of which are:

a) Mellotrons weigh a fuckload
b) Mellotrons are a pain in the fucking ass to keep in good working condition. (If you've ever had the pleasure of keeping a reel to reel tape machine aligned and calibrated, imagine that multiplied many times.)
c) Moog's got name recognition sewn up on this one, considering that it was a much more available and known brand (and that it still exists now even if it's a totally different company or whatever). I mean the average non-musician/non-music geek who might have heard of the Mellotron either thinks of it as the flute sound in Strawberry Fields or the Moody Blues' string section. (Or I guess they know it in the context of PROG!)
d) Moog's got the street cred with bullshit hipster posers sewn up on this one too. (It's totally ANALOG, man. It sounds so WARM and THICK and PUNCHY. Nevermind the fact that I'm a talentless shithead who will never write or play anything interesting no matter how much vintage gear I am able to obtain and stuff into my loft in Williamsburg.)

I agree with a few others that Moog vs Mellotron is too Apples vs Oranges.

Some Mellotrons actually had tape loops of Moogs in their banks. Or combos of things like Brass + Moog or Strings + Moog.

Now, if it had been Moog vs ARP or something like that, then I'd have to start thinking.

On the other hand Farfisa trumps Hammond.

But I guess most of these guys also used the Moog which brings me right back to square one.

*Note: by "world", I mean "New Jersey"