Yamaha YC73 Drawbar Organ & Stage Keyboard, 73 Key

Following the introduction of their CP73 & CP88 stage pianos last year, Yamaha has added a new stage keyboard to their line-up - the YC73. Clearly aimed at competing for market dominance head-on with Nord's Electro or Hammond's own SK Pro, the Yamaha YC73 features a BHS (Balanced Hammer Standard) keyboard: matte black keytops and separate organ plus two 'keyboard voice' sections. These sections can be split or layered across the keyboard as required and your favourite settings (live sets) can be stored for convenient recall when playing live on stage.

The sound of the drawbar organ in combination with a rotary (Leslie) speaker was very popular in 1950's-70's music and can be heard on thousands of famous jazz, funk, pop and rock songs from that era. In recent times the sound has once again become an important part of most professional and semi-professional keyboard player's setups. Manufacturers are competing to maintain their spot on stage by producing keyboards known as 'clones' or 'clonewheels' - which is a take on the original way in which Hammond instruments made their unique sound by the use of Tonewheels.