VOX Continental 73 BK 73-Key Stage Keyboard

VOX Continental 73 BK 73-Key Stage Keyboard

The VOX Continental 73 BK stage keyboard offers the sounds you need the most, all in one unit: PIANO, E.PIANO, ORGAN, and KEY/LAYER (including brass, strings, and more). The front panel controls have been designed around these four parts, so first-time players can easily pick it up. With its simple and intuitive layout, players have instant access to master effects, EQ, and the Nutube vacuum tube-powered valve drive.

The unit is manufactured using metal components for a sturdy design, while still being easy to play with its light-touch waterfall keyboard, all packaged in a slim, compact, and lightweight body. With its excellent portability, this is the perfect companion for keyboardists who want an instrument that’s easy to play wherever you go.

Instant access to the sounds you want, with four independent sound parts.

The VOX Continental 73 BK features a part select button that makes it easy to switch between the E.PIANO, PIANO, KEY/LAYER and ORGAN parts to use the sounds you need right away. Individual front panel controls for each part let you select the variations, set the levels and more. Settings for these four parts are saved together in a single scene. Press both part select buttons at the same time to layer and play both parts together.

Intuitive touch control for drawbars and EQ

The nine-line LED display to the left of the panel makes it easy to see the setting status, and it also works as a controller. Three control targets are selectable using this touch sensor, and when ORGAN is selected, this mainly works as a drawbar to shape that sound. When KEY/LAYER is selected, this is used to make the filter and EG settings. When EQ is selected, you can control the overall tonal balance over nine bands.

Nutube on board for an authentic vacuum tube sound.

This unit features a vacuum tube distortion effect that works especially well with organ and electric piano sounds. The Nutube vacuum tube-powered valve drive lets you create rich harmonics that are impossible to create using modeling, for a warm vacuum tube sound with smooth distortion. You can use the dedicated button to turn valve drive on/off. The amount of effect used can be adjusted in detail using the knob, and you can see how much effect is applied by looking at the brightness of the LED that lights the Nutube.

DYNAMICS knob lets you adjust the balance between your key touch and the sound generated to match your preferences.

The balance between your key touch and the sound generated determines how the instrument responds to what you play on the keyboard. Your preferences will vary considerably depending on whether you play jazz music (which requires a delicate touch with expressiveness) or rock music (which calls for loud volumes with a strong key press), a gap that’s difficult to fill using only the velocity curve settings. For this reason, this unit features a DYNAMICS knob that gives you even more detailed control over the volume and how the sound changes according to how hard or soft you play the keys. Turn the knob counterclockwise to get the full range of inflection with velocity, and turn the knob clockwise for a stronger sound with more uniformity in volume. This makes it easy to choose the setting you want according to your playing style.

Light-touch keyboard with waterfall keys brings down the overall weight of the unit.

The VOX Continental 73 BK features a light-touch keyboard with waterfall keys that are suitable for playing glissandos. The keyboard is also semi-weighted, giving the keys a stable playing feel when using piano or electric piano sounds, offering for superior key touch. Owing Due to its keyboard and lightweight body design, the instrument weighs 8.4 kg (excluding the included wooden side panels), which brings it under the 10 kg class while still being a 73-key stage keyboard. This instrument can be easily carried with the SC-Continental 73 soft case, (sold separately).

Scene memory lets you save your preferred settings.

The VOX Continental 73 BK lets you register up to 64 scenes (4 scenes × 4 banks × 4), which include combinations of sounds in four parts, the master effect and settings for the EQ, and so on. These scenes can be easily recalled using the buttons at the bottom of the touch control. You can also connect a USB flash drive (commercially available) to the USB port on the back of this instrument to save and load up to 100 sets of scenes, so you can always use the same settings by bringing the USB flash drive to the place where you’ll be performing with the VOX Continental 73 BK.

Master effects on board for solidifying the overall sound.

Three series of master effects plus EQ are available. The first stage is an insert effect to the master, with six selectable types including chorus, phaser, and wah. You can turn the effects on/off and make basic adjustments to the parameters. The second-stage delay and reverb are sent from the master, with four types of delay and five types of reverb. The third stage includes a nine-band EQ that can be set using the touch controller. The final stage features a valve drive circuit with Nutube, these settings can all be saved to the scene memory. The final stage features a valve drive circuit with Nutube. All of these settings can all be saved to the scene memory.

A VOX V861 pedal is included, specially designed for use with this unit.

A volume/expression pedal (V861) is provided for use with this keyboard. The V861 features a compact, sturdy aluminum housing with a high-class black anodized aluminum finish, and is equipped with two INPUT/OUTPUT jacks and one EXPRESSION jack for controlling the volume or wah effect.