Farfisa
Farfisa (Fabbriche Italiane Fisarmoniche — "Italian accordion factories") is an Italian musical-instrument company formed by the merger of three accordion manufacturers; it moved into electronic instruments in the late 1950s and introduced its combo organs in the early 1960s as an answer to the Vox Continental.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-farfisa.md]
The combo-organ rival
Farfisa is the Hammond story's great counter-example: cheap, transistorized, portable organs that took the sound of the electric keyboard to bands the B-3 could never reach — on price alone.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-farfisa.md] Key points:
- The Compact line was introduced in 1964, produced at Aspio Terme; cheap Italian labour let Farfisa undercut the competition, which drove its commercial success.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-farfisa.md]
- Popular ranges: the Compact series, the Professional, the FAST and the VIP.
- Users spanned Pink Floyd, Sam the Sham, Country Joe and the Fish, Sly Stone, Elton John, Blondie, Suicide, the B-52s and Philip Glass.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-farfisa.md]
- As the Hammond's popularity rose in 1970s rock groups, Farfisa declined — and responded with Hammond-emulating models, electronic pianos and synthesisers; a brief new-wave revival in the late 1970s ended with final models in the early 1980s. The company survives as a consumer-electronics maker.^[raw/articles/wikipedia-farfisa.md]
The contrast is laid out in B-3 vs Combo Organs: portability and price vs depth of tone.