The Hohner Clavinet has been described as “an electric guitar controlled by a piano keyboard.”
Clavinets and Vibanets (Vintage Vibe’s modern take on this classic) use guitar-gauge strings and the sound is captured by magnetic pickups, then sent to an amp, just like electric guitars. When played idiomatically with the right effects, they are often mistaken for guitars!
Both the Hohner Clavinet C and the Vintage Vibe Vibanet models are presented with each of their pickup combinations. You can select the pickups individually, or combined, and they can be placed out of phase with each other (like a Fender electric guitar) for that instantly recognizable, funky sound.
The Hohner Clavinet C comes with two sets of electric guitar-style single coil pickups – one above the middle of the strings and one beneath the strings, close to the bridge. They are selected via switches to the left of the keyboard.
The PICKUP selectors found in the Clavinet C Patches emulate the controls on the real instrument.
- A selects the top pickup in the middle of the strings for a rounder tone.
- B selects the bottom pickup next to the bridge for a brighter tone.
- A + B selects both pickups.
- A – B selects both pickups and places them out-of-phase with each other for a classic funk sound.
The Vintage Vibe Vibanet is equipped with two shock-resistant single coil pickup arrays – also located above and beneath the strings. They are selected via switches to the left of the keyboard.
The PICKUP selectors found in the Vibanet Patches emulate the controls on the real instrument.
- LEAD selects the top pickup in the middle of the strings for a rounder tone.
- RHYTHM selects the bottom pickup next to the bridge for a brighter tone.
- FULL-TONE selects both pickups.
- PHASE selects both pickups and places them out-of-phase with each other for a classic funk sound.
