Continental 61 & Continental 73 Performance Keyboards - 2017 - 2022
Vox Continental 61 Performance Keyboard - 2017
The Original Vox "TC" Continental Organ - 1962-72
An immediate hit, the original 1962 single-manual Vox Continental organ stood out with its striking design and innovative features. Its stylish portable case, reverse color keys, distinctive red/orange lid and sleek chrome-plated "Z" leg stand made it a favorite among musicians. The organ's harmonic drawbar tone system, a feature inspired by Hammond Organ, also contributed to its popularity. The original single-manual Continental was used by the Beatles, Dave Clark Five, the Animals, Manfred Mann, the Zombies, Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Doors and Iron Butterfly among others both on stage and in the studio.
Initially produced by JMI/Vox in the UK, the original Continental organ's production was expanded to include EME in Italy and Thomas Organ in California after demand consistently outpaced supply.
Vox expanded the Continental line with the introduction of several dual-manual models, such as the Continental II/Super Continental (1965), the Continental Baroque (1968), the Continental II with Percussion (1969), and the Continental 300 (1970). However, production of Continental organs ceased when Dallas Industries acquired Vox in 1973.
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Original 1963 Vox "TC" Continental Organ
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Forty-Four Years Later....
Four decades after production ceased, Vox teased a non-functional mockup of a modern Continental keyboard at the 2013 Winter NAMM and Frankfurt Musikmesse trade shows to assess market interest. Four years later, the Vox Continental 61 and Continental 73 Performance Keyboards were formally introduced at the 2017 Winter NAMM show in Anaheim CA.
Vox Introduces a Modern Continental Keyboard
Equipped with a powerhouse library of digitally sampled rock keyboard sounds, the sixty-one note Continental 61 and seventy-three note Continental 73 faithfully emulated the sound and feel of the original Vox Continental organ, even including an illuminated digital touch control pad for drawbar control. Also included were the sounds of the Hammond organ, including a rotary speaker simulation, three styles of electric pianos, three traditional pianos, clavinet, harpsichord, multiple mallet instruments, nylon string guitar and various brass, string and synthesizer patches, among others. This vast, more than 10GB sample library was sourced from the Korg Kronos, Korg's flagship keyboard at the time. To sweeten the sound, the Continental 61 and 73 also featured a Korg 6P1 Nutube vacuum tube.
Marketplace Reaction to the Vox Continental 61 & 73
The inclusion of an expanded sound library, including acoustic pianos, electric pianos, clavinet and harpsichord was a real plus in the Continental 61 & 73 keyboards. This was seen by many as a continuation of a trend that began in the late 1960s with the Continental Baroque and Vox Riviera 400 organs. The lightweight metal body and a velocity sensitive waterfall action keyboard were also welcome additions.
Others were disappointed that the appearance of the Continental 61 and 73 had little in common with the original organ other than an orange top. The traditional reverse color keys, wood cabinet, chrome-plated "Z" leg stand and physical drawbars were all missing. While I understand the criticism, it's important to note that Vox wasn't trying to recreate the original Continental organ. Rather, they developed the Continental 61 and 73 as modern performance keyboards equipped with hundreds of sounds, including the classic Continental organ.
Vox Continental 73BK Control Panel
Version 1.0 Software (2017-2019)
Vox Continental 61 & 73 keyboards produced from 2017 through 2019 were equipped with first generation Version 1.0 software. This was superceded in 2020 by Version 2.0 software offering control refinements and an increased sound library. Vox offered the Version 2.0 update free to everyone who bought an earlier model.
The following section will discuss the features and sound library of the Version 1.0 software. The added features and sound library of the Version 2.0 software will follow in a separate section.
The Continental 61 and 73 keyboards had four sound categories: Organ, E. Piano, Piano, and Key/Layer. You could choose a category by pressing one of the four gray "Part Select" buttons on the bottom of the "Control" section of the control panel. Two sound categories could be stacked by pressing two Part Select buttons simultaneously.
Organ Category - Press the gray "Part Select" button for "Organ" to access the Organ category on the control panel. The "Type" button, located at the bottom of the Organ section of the control panel, toggled between three classic types of organs: CX3 (Hammond), VOX Continental and Compact (Farfisa). Each organ type had a series of numbered preset tones that were accessed from the Organ section of the control panel through the "Variation▲▼" buttons. Click here to view a complete listing of the organ presets.
Here are the other controls and features of the Organ section:
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Perc/MTB: This button had two functions. For the CX-3, it activated the harmonic percussion effect. For the Compact (Farfisa) organ, it enabled the Multi-Tone Booster. This control had no effect on the Vox organ. |
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Vib/Chorus: This button added vibrato to the Vox and Compact (Farfisa) organs and chorus to the CX-3. |
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Rotary: This button turned on the "Leslie" rotary speaker effect for all three organ types. Speed was controlled by the Bend Lever on the left cheek block. |
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Upper/Lower: This button toggled between unique drawbar settings for the upper and lower sections of the keyboard (CX3 and Vox organs only). |
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Split: This button enabled a split keyboard utilizing the drawbar settings set up in the Upper/Lower mode. It also allowed the location of the split point to be adjusted. |
E. Piano Category - Press the gray "Part Select" button for "E. Piano" to access the Electric Piano category on the control panel. The "Type" button, located at the bottom of the E. Piano section of the control panel, toggled between three classic types of electric pianos: Tine (Rhodes), Reed (Wurlitzer) and FM (Yamaha DX7). Each electric piano type had a series of numbered preset tones were be accessed from the E. Piano section of the control panel through the "Variation▲▼" buttons. Click here to view a complete listing of the electric piano presets.
Piano Category - Press the gray "Part Select" button for "Piano" to access the Piano category on the control panel. The "Type" button, located at the bottom of the Piano section of the control panel, toggled between three types of pianos: Grand, Upright, and E. Grand. Each piano type had a series of numbered preset tones that were accessed from the Piano section of the control panel through the "Variation▲▼" buttons. Click here to view a complete listing of the piano presets.
Key/Layer Category - Press the gray "Part Select" button for "Key Layer" to access the Key Layer category on the control panel. The "Type" button, located at the bottom of the Key/Layer section of the control panel, toggled between six types of sounds: Key, Brass, Strings, Lead, Synth and Other. Each type had a series of numbered preset tones were accessed from the Key/Layer section of the control panel through the "Variation▲▼" buttons. Click here to view a complete listing of these presets.
Control Section - In addition to the gray Part Select buttons previously presented, the Control Section of the Continental 61 & 73 included the Touch Sensors and the Scene memory controls.
The Touch Sensors operated on the principle of electrostatic capacitance. Rather than using mechanical switch mechanisms, the Touch Panel detected small electrical impulses from the skin of your fingers that were used to trigger electronic commands to certain keyboard controllers. When the Control button was set to "Organ," the Touch Sensors acted as virtual drawbars for the CX-3 and Vox organs. They also served as switches for the tone tabs of the Farfisa Combo Compact organ. When you switch the Control button to "Key/Layer," the touch sensors adjusted synthesizer parameters like Attack, Decay, Release, Cutoff, Resonance and LFO for sounds in that category. Finally, in the "EQ" position, the touch sensors turned into a nine-band graphic equalizer, allowing you to fine-tune frequencies from 63 Hz to 16 kHz.
The Scene controls allowed you to internally store and instantly recall up to 16 unique keyboard maps.
Effects Section - Located to the right of the main control panel shown above, the Effects Section offered Chorus, Phaser, Flanger, Compression, Drive, Wah, four types of digital Delay, five types of digital Reverb and an EQ defeat switch.
Master Section - Located to the left side of the main control panel shown above, the Master Section included the main Volume control, the Valve Drive controls for the Vox Nutube 6P1 vacuum tube, the Dynamics controls (adjusts the sensitivity and feel of the keybed) and the Octave/Transpose buttons.
AC Adaptor - The Continental 61 & 73 utilized an external AC adaptor/power supply (Korg KA-400VI, 510405544504) rated at 15 VDC. Vox advises that one should only use this AC adaptor and that using any other may cause malfunctions.
Version 2.0 Software (2019-2022)
The Version 2.0 software for the Vox Continental 71 & 73 was announced on October 17, 2019, replacing Version 1.0.2. It featured a newly expanded sound library and five new features and was available to all Continental 61 & 73 owners at no cost.
Expanded Sound Library - Version 2.0 software added 54 new sounds to the Continental 61 & 73 internal library. Click on the links below to view the view the expanded list.
Added Features - Version 2.0 software also added five new features to the Continental 61 & 73.
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Updated "Split" Function allows any two sounds to be split on the keyboard, not just the Vox and CX3 organs |
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The sound of the mechanical damper on piano settings can be enabled or disabled |
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Updated "Scene set" function increased internal scene (keyboard map) storage and instant recall from 16 to 64 |
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Background noise level characteristic of vintage Vox or Compact (Farfisa) organs was made adjustable |
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Tonal character of the Piano parts can be switched using the Bend Lever |
Stand
Vox designed a distinctive chrome plated tubular keyboard stand for the Continental 61 & 73, as shown in the image at right. The stand was adjustable, letting players set the height and angle of the keyboard for comfortable playing whether they were sitting or standing.
Why did Vox design a new chrome-plated stand for the Continental 61 and 73 instead of continuing with the classic "Z" stand from the original 60's organ? The new chrome-plated tubular stand for the Continental 61 and 73 was a necessary design choice. The original "Z" stand's stability relied on the original Continental organ's nearly two-foot depth. Since the new keyboards were only about 13 inches deep, a redesigned stand was required to ensure stability.
Volume Pedal
A Vox V861 stereo passive volume pedal was included with every Continental 61 & 73 keyboard. |
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Vox Continental 73 BK Limited Edition Keyboard - 2022
In February 2022, as the Continental 61 and 73 keyboards reached the end of their production, Vox introduced the Continental 73 BK Limited Edition.
To appeal to a wider audience, the Limited Edition featured a traditional semi-gloss black finish on its lid rather than the classic red/orange color. It also included wooden endcap inserts. While the V861 stereo passive volume pedal was included, the distinctive chrome-plated tubular steel stand was not and could only be purchased as an extra-cost option. |
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Continental 61.... |
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Continental 73.... |
| Measurements: |
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36.97" × 13.78" × 3.39" |
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43.43" × 13.78" × 3.39" |
| Weight: |
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15.87 lbs |
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18.52 lbs |
| PCM memory: |
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Approx. 10.5 GB |
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Approx. 10.5 GB |
| Key type: |
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Semi-weighted waterfall, velocity sensitive |
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Semi-weighted waterfall, velocity sensitive |
| Sound Engines: |
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Organ, Piano, Electric
Piano, Key/Other |
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Organ, Piano, Electric
Piano, Key/Other |
| Retail Price: |
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$2799 (2017)
$2299 (2021) |
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$3099 (2017)
$2599 (2021) |
| Street Price: |
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$1999 (2017)
$1599 (2021) |
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$2199 (2017)
$1799 (2021) |
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Additional Resources....
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Photos and editorial content courtesy Gary Hahlbeck
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URL: https://www.voxshowroom.com/uk/organ/continental61.html
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