Historical products: Farfisa (Italian: Fabbriche Riunite di Fisarmoniche) is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy, founded in 1946.

They were used by a number of popular musicians, including Sam the Sham, Country Joe and the Fish, Pink Floyd, Sly Stone, Blondie, Suicide and the B-52s.

The relatively inexpensive Italian labour allowed Farfisa to sell their products cheaper than the competition, which led to their commercial success.

The Farfisa brand name saw a brief revival in the late 1970s as part of the new wave movement, and the final models were produced in the early 1980s.

[1] Farfisa was established in 1946, following the mergers of Settimo Soprani, Scandalli and Frontalini, whose businesses had suffered during World War II.

[3] Following the introduction of the Vox Continental combo organ in 1962, Farfisa decided to quickly build a competing instrument using the technical expertise they had gained from working with Lowrey.

[4] The relatively cheap labour in Italy, compared to the UK and US meant that Farfisa were able to produce a greater quantity of combo organs at a cheaper cost, and consequently, they were picked up by many amateur and semi-professional groups.

[8] These superseded the earlier Compact models based on germanium transistors and were styled like the Vox Continental, including chrome stands.

[9] At the height of its production, Farfisa operated three factories to produce instruments in Camerano in the Marche region of Italy.

[9][11] In response, Farfisa advertised that its latest organs at that point could emulate a Hammond and had a full set of drawbars.

[16] Unlike later organs, the Compact series is not fully transistorised, and includes high-voltage tube circuitry for the reverb unit.

[17] On most single-manual models the tone controls and a bass section volume are located on an indented panel on the rear of the instrument.

Later models also incorporate tremolo, percussion and repeat functions for both the upper and lower treble manuals independently.

[9] The organs are contained in a metal cabinet covered with a skin plate and plastic edges, chrome folding legs, retractable carrying handles, and a removable music rack.

There are four voice stops (flute, clarinet, reed and strings), all at 8', a two-speed vibrato and an optional swell pedal.

The Fast 4 has a larger five-octave keyboard, with an additional light / heavy vibrato option, two mixture stops and five percussion controls.

[26] The Professional series were the most sophisticated models made by Farfisa, first announced in August 1968 and designed to compete with the Hammond.

Contemporary advertising emphasised that these series of instruments did not sound like other combo organs and could be used for soul and rhythm and blues effectively.

The vibrato uses a phase shifter circuit that is placed after the main oscillators, as this was the only way to make individual controls for each voice work.

[29] In 1975, Farfisa introduced the Stereo Syntorchestra synthesiser, that combined a polyphonic string ensemble with a monophonic analogue synth.

It was Farfisa's largest and most feature-rich non-organ instrument, as an analog synthesizer featuring vocal, brass, string, and percussion sections, including a built in chorus, phase, modulation and aftertouch.

The Commander reprised part of the design of the VIP 205 in updated form, while the lightweight and simple Bravo's sound was a move to compete with emerging portable keyboards and synthesisers.

[34] Richard Wright's use of the Farfisa was integral to Pink Floyd's early sound, and was his main instrument on the albums from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (1967) to Ummagumma (1969), as well as live performances, such as on "Careful with That Axe, Eugene".

[36] The Farfisa was last used on The Dark Side of the Moon (1973),[34] but Wright reintroduced it to his keyboard setup on David Gilmour's 2006 tour, featured on the Pink Floyd song "Echoes".

[37] Hugh Banton from Van der Graaf Generator originally used the Farfisa Compact Duo, before switching to a Professional after the band's gear was stolen.

He applied his knowledge of electronics and contacts as a former BBC engineer to customise it with a variety of additional effects pedals, including distortion and phasing.

[38][39] The Grateful Dead's Ron "Pigpen" McKernan's first keyboard with the group was a Farfisa Compact, before switching to a Vox and then a Hammond.

[34][11] Blondie's Jimmy Destri used the Farfisa as his main instrument, and included stage tricks such as playing it with a hammer.

[48] The Post-rock group Stereolab used various Farfisa organs extensively throughout their career, beginning with a Bravo model they found cheaply in a second-hand store.

[49] Green Day used a Farfisa organ on the song "Misery" from the album Warning, played by their bassist Mike Dirnt.