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Electro Harmonix B9 Organ Machine

141 Customer ratings

4.2 / 5

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50 Reviews

Electro Harmonix B9 Organ Machine
$199
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JC
Good but flawed.
Jez C. 26.07.2014
First let me say that this has some great swirly Hammond sounds, really good fun. The flaws? Why no Leslie speed change switch? This is such an important part of a Hammond sound that to leave it out is criminal. The other big issue I had was with triggering, it's hard to get it to trigger consistently. Sort out these 2 issues and it would be a permanent addition to my pedalboard but for the meantime I'll carry on looking.
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A
Great sound but silly switching
Anonymous 01.01.2015
This could be a great pedal, but instead it's merely good. If we start with the good then the sound is great. It does a very very convincing organ sound by taking the guitar sound and processing it. It's difficult to work out what's going on inside the pedal but there's some compression, a little modulation and then it takes your guitar sound and spits out an organ sound. There are several variations of organ sound selectable by an indentured knob. At volume they all sound pretty similar and really just seem to change the EQ slightly. There is also a "click" setting which emulates the click when a Hammond key is pressed. You can vary the amount with a knob and it can be quite useful for a percussive sound in a funky setting. You can also add a chorus/flange type of modulation to give a Leslie-style wobble to your sound. When you put all these together with the excellent polyphonic tracking it's an excellent pedal to add organ-type sounds to a sond if you can only play guitar.

Now to the not-so-good. I'm always a little wary of EHX pedals as they never seem to had skimped a little on the build quality compared to top-level brands like Xotic or BOSS. However, you won't be using this pedal thatoften during a set so it will probably last as long as you keep it or until something even better comes along.

The worst thing is the silly way they have decide to deal with the output. There are two outputs. One is "dry" which always outputs a clean sound and the other is the effected sound which, when you press the pedal, brings the organ sound in. The silly thing is that they're BOTH ON AT THE SAME TIME. What I expected was that when you press the footswitch the output switches from the signal going through the guitar amp to send the organ signal to a PA. However, you get BOTH which means a horrible unaffected guitar signal goes to the PA when you're not using the organ sound. You end up having to use a clean sound on the guitar amp and just put everything through the guitar amp. I'm amazed they didn't think of this and at least put in some kind of option to let you choose how the routing works.

To summarise, as long as you can live with the silly switching, it's the most convincing organ sound I have heard yet from a guitar effects pedal. I like it.
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A
Let down
Anonymous 15.09.2014
Can't really complain since its a niche product... But I will anyway.

The problem is that the effect is not smooth, its hard to play dynamic. And it really does not sound that good. It has a few different sounds but none of them gets really useful. I found that I could get a much nicer, warmer organ sound when playing with the settings on my strymon mobius than the B9.
But maybe it's just me
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A
pluses and minuses
Anonymous 27.02.2017
This can perform wonders, especially in some songs. I play in a three-piece band, and on quieter numbers where I play arpeggio, it can add a really nice, subtle pad.
Sometimes, though, it just sounds awful, doesn't cope with chords and certainly doesn't sound even remotely as good as some of the video reviews available. Perhaps it really can sound that good, but I've never got it to match them.
Also when hooked up to two amps, weird things happen with the controls which I can't adequately describe, but it's not an easy thing to use.
I would recommend it, but only as a pad/filler for small bands.
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W
Jimmy Smith in the House!
WestcoastBlues 03.07.2018
Brilliant pedal - the range of organ sounds are great - tracking is fantastic - you do have to think a little like a Hammond player in terms of technique (3 note chords, drop the vibrato etc). Robust construction - great addition to your pedal board.
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PV
Good, but no cigar
Pasi V. 03.08.2014
I saw the demo of the B9 Organ Machine and my expectations were high. However, when I tried the B9 a couple of days I decided that this is not for me. Some sounds were good but too difficult to handle without some artifacts in sound. Also this is not true bypass device and it altered my guitar sound slightly when bypassed (brighter). Instead I am planning to add leslie simulator (Strymon Lex) in my effect arsenal to add some Hammond like sound...
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J
Electro Harmonix B9 Organ Machine
Joshua6273 28.01.2015
I haven't had the B9 Organ machine very long, but I'm enjoying all the new sounds I get from my Epi ES-339 and acoustic guitars plugged into my Roland AC-60 acoustic amp. There's a bit of a learning curve at least for me to the Organ Machine, but it doesn't take long. Great fun and a new way of expanding your guitar sound. The B9 can open a world of creativity in guitar playing.
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m
Fun product
mke52 22.06.2017
It's a nice product if you want the feel of an organ in a recording or a performance. it's however not easy to use and i advise you check out the many online videos. The way you strum or pick the guiitar has to be constant and light but with a bit of practice one can produce decent results
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I
Is it Better than a Midi Pick up?
Ian1853 15.01.2015
I love the sound of a Hammond....unfortunately my Keyboard skills are lacking, so have been using a Midi pick up for a long time.

After seeing the Youtube Demo was very interested; so interested I brought one there and then.

Sounds are truly stunning....how this box works is a mystery!
All the sounds are accurate (Not that keen on the Bell Organ) but...

You really have to play your guitar differently. I found it it more than a little frustrating getting the notes I wanted to hear to come out of the speaker. The main problem I think. is being a Guitar player, my fingers always want to add some vibrato to the notes, and this sounds sooooo wrong whensounding as a Hammond Organ. I have had the unit a while, and still find it very difficult to get the sound I want.
Granted this is certainly not a fault of the unit. It does what it says on the tin, but I do feel slightly empty that what I wanted to do with this pedal, just isnt happening.
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H
Sehr gut
Hernan 06.02.2015
very good to send the signal split and have another kind of sound.
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Electro Harmonix B9 Organ Machine