Hammond XK-5 Overdrive - Group pedal test

/ @nickfoleyuk In this video I get 5 or 6 Overdrive stomp boxes and test them against each other to see which feels and sounds the best on my Hammond XK-5 through a Leslie 145.
On test we have pedals from Ibanez, two from Boss, Lounsberry, Aria and The Rat!
I hope that you find this useful folks and agree with my conclusion, if you don't please let me know - in fact if you want to get in touch just message me!
More info on all things Hammond on www.hammondforhire.com , see you there!
Thanks for reading, Nick
(PS: I accidentally said the top Leslie Mics are Shure SM58's when they are SM57's!) More from me exclusively at / nickfoleyuk

[@CrackerboxPalace777]

Lounsberry best by far! Wonderful demo. The _other_ way to grind your Hammond is to swap the stock V21 for a more substantial treble driver, and drive the Leslie amp hard into glorious valve overdrive 😀

[@nickfoleyuk]

Crackerbox Palace Studios Thanks mate. Check my other videos and you will see that we installed an Atlas 60w driver to replace the stock v21. Thanks again for your input

[@simonrinaldo3957]

Great video thanks for posting this one, it is good to hear the comparisons. With my modified B3 (into 145 or 147) I don't really need an overdrive pedal as it can sound dirty enough without. Live I often use a Nord C1 into the Lounsbury Organ Grinder into 145 or Ventilator and this is right on the money. Like you found, it retains all the frequencies and is really controllable. Gregg Lounsbury has done a really top job with this pedal.

[@aaronvanderhorst6773]

Very nice video! Incredible that the aria overdrive actually was the best one from the guitar pedals. Maybe cut some low frequencies from your leslie drum mic, like below 40HZ. When you set it to fast I could hear/feel the wind on my headphones hahaha

[@johnclark1925]

I loved this video, I am a guitarist starting on keys this month. I am excited by the new instrument… this has inspired me… 😎🤘 One of the reasons many guitar ODs will sound boxy is guitarists need that mid frequency hump like a Marshall gives… it gives cut… the keys meanwhile have so many more frequencies that need to be brought out, especially the low - mids. One option is to use an eq to boost a valve amp into gain and at the same time you can set it to emphasise the specific frequencies that bring all the harmonics out.

[@nickfoleyuk]

How are you getting on on keys John?

[@lucap9937]

I tried a lot of overdrive pedals my viscount legend, and I had the same impressions on the Ts9 and the blues driver.... I find that the Xotic BB preamp does a great job, and it can handle a hot signal without distorting too much, at least at low gain. It has a unique gain structure, not “gritty” but “creamy”. And i noticed what you mentioned, the drive is behind the organ sound so it retains a great clarity. T Rex Alberta II would be great if it had more output volume and a quarter of the gain....

[@donniblanco5239]

God I luuuuv that Hammond SOUND !!! 😁😁😁😁😁

[@thiagobernardi7615]

Love the vídeos. How about Hammond with other effects like wah and tape echo for a next video? I play a V2 Korg CX3 which i love and i'm looking to expand the possibilities

[@gihgasperoni7703]

Simplesmente o incrível!!!!!

[@MountPik]

18:28 sleeves 🤗

[@ashfaq1999]

Amazing 😊

[@chrisstrobel3439]

My vote is run it through a Marshall 50w -Lexi stack 😜

[@BlondieSL]

On that XK-5, are there separate outputs for upper keyboard and lower keyboard so that one COULD put the outputs into a Stereo configuration and/or put each keyboard through its own processing pedal??? (same goes for bass pedals if not a Midi attached one, which of course, can be separated to its own amp, etc).

[@darrenthompson3696]

Put that through a phaser with the overdrive it sounds incredible

[@hammondvoodoo9555]

If you add these drive pedals to a Leslie 145 which already delivers a frequency response that fits with the organ, then the range of drive pedals is quite big and it's only up to the player's taste what to use. It's much more interesting to go straight into a mixer and/or PA speaker/headphones. If you want to have a great sound without a tube-amp-driven Leslie speaker, it's actually really difficult to end up with something that makes you happy in long run. I've owned and listened to many pedals and tube preamps over last 20 years, even custom-made ones. Honestly, I still haven't found the right thing. At the moment, I'm looking forward to another custom solution that seems promising - let's see. In most cases, preamps tend to mess up the organ's frequency response due to their tone control circuit. Though, all those years ago everyone would've been happy to even come remotely close to the sound quality of any combination shown in the video.

[@nickfoleyuk]

Hammond Voodoo Sage advice there mate, thanks.

[@JimmyCaswell]

Great video - how are you hooking them up? Are you using the standard line out from the XK-5 or doing something clever with the 11 pin leslie cable?

[@nickfoleyuk]

Standard line out into a quarter inch socket on the leslie that has tapped into the pin outs in the amp. The half moon still works but only does the Leslie speed.

[@sjl-nb1kw]

4:50 Jazz... LOL!!!

[@leowirth1102]

Hi, great video! Very interesting can you do such a video for C3 or A100? Greatings Leo

[@nickfoley7348]

Leo Wirth I have done, look back at my earlier videos.

[@mcdude0192]

Maybe you should try the Schaffer Replica on your C3 that is what Derek Sherinian uses to boost his tone. HOWEVER, he uses it with Marshalls so his tone isn't super transparent BUT I think the Schaffer Replica could work well with your c3 rig.

[@nickfoleyuk]

Thank you , I’ll have a look. There’s also ProfKon too which looks interesting.

[@EdsonNardiNardao]

Hi ! Great job , awesome video. I have a Sk1 and it has problems with the overdrive since this is a discontinued instrument it is not easy to find parts to get it fix , any tip on where to find a parts to sell ? Tks

[@nickfoleyuk]

Ooh that’s a tricky one, im not sure

[@xs10tl1]

These came on with AutoPlay, and I thought this was a Tube organ. Are the output levels for each tone generator adjustable?

[@nickfoleyuk]

I think they are yes. There’s lots of config that can be done.

[@puresoulg]

That's the part I don't like is, when you lose the Bass SMH I just recently tried this with a TC Electronics TUBE pilot Playing a Hammond XC3

[@peppermintpasta]

Hi you mentioned a gain modification for this pedal. would you mind telling us what that entailed? Thanks.

[@nickfoleyuk]

Hi , I believe you have spoken to Gregg on this?

[@peppermintpasta]

@@nickfoleyuk yes! He built me a fish paper version!

[@louiscornale5667]

Excellent but how about wooly bully

[@louiscornale5667]

How do u. Connect them to the organ ?

[@nickfoleyuk]

The organ has a quarter inch Jack output so you connect them like you would any pedal. My leslie 145 and 3300 both have quarter inch inputs (the 145 is modified) so that they can go in line like a guitarist would do.

[@angthekeys621]

​@@nickfoleyuk mono output? In case of an hammond clone with stereo out we should connect only the left mono right?

[@nickfoleyuk]

@@angthekeys621 yup. Left is usually marked left/mono

[@nickfoleyuk]

(Any modification work please make sure you consult a qualified electrician obviously)

[@matts4025]

8:10

[@mcdude0192]

No demo of the rat?

[@nickfoleyuk]

I’ll have to try again with the Rat, it was just to noisy and it effected the signal too much even in bypass.

[@mcdude0192]

@@nickfoleyuk Thats totally fine! Completely understandable

[@MegaCraptacular]

The Lounsbury is the only one designed specifically for the Hammond the others are guitar pedals.

[@B3burner]

There’s 3 different systems for achieving overdrive on the XK-5. Sad that you say it still needs help from outboard aftermarket pedals. I’m not suggesting you’re wrong. Just saying that too bad the XK-5 can’t just stand alone on its own.

[@handmadeindustrial]

Tried a klon clone with success

[@mcdude0192]

Not everyone has 5000 dollars tho. Maybe a clone like a Tumnus would do

[@handmadeindustrial]

@@mcdude0192 klon clone cost me $50 for a kit.

[@f-tech5497]

disappointing. Even the built-in tube distortion of my old XK3c sounds better.Not to be mistaken. Most of your videos are great, but this simply doesn't meet my taste. Best Regards from Germany