20 Facts About Clavinet

1.

Clavinet is an electrically amplified clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982.

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2.

Clavinet is an electromechanical instrument that is usually used in conjunction with a keyboard amplifier.

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3.

The Clavinet has pickup selector switches, and a solid state preamplifier that allows a line level output to be fed to an amplifier.

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4.

Clavinet grew up listening to Bach harpsichord music, which led him to design a comparable modern instrument.

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5.

Clavinet joined Hohner in 1954, at a time when it was struggling with manufacturing after the company factories had been seized by the Nazis during World War II.

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6.

Clavinet was particularly interested in producing an electric clavichord, and discovered that striking a hammer tip across a string mounted on an anvil allowed the player to hit the keys more forcefully and gain greater volume.

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7.

Clavinet was interested in using metal keypads and plastic keys as an alternative to wooden frames and action that had been used on electric pianos such as the Wurlitzer.

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8.

The only controls on the Clavinet I are volume and two tablet switches that selected a relevant combination of pickups.

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9.

Clavinet II had the same basic features as the Clavinet I, which replaced the built-in amplifier and speaker system with a preamplifier.

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10.

Clavinet D6, introduced in 1971, continued the case style of the C but is covered in black vinyl leathercloth and the upper surface of the instrument is teak veneer, which was cheaper to manufacture.

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11.

Clavinet is often played through a wah wah pedal or fed through an auto wah box.

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12.

Clavinet is strongly associated with Stevie Wonder, particularly his 1972 number-one hit "Superstition", where it provides the main riff and accompaniment to the song.

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13.

Clavinet has continued to record and tour with the Clavinet into the 21st century, and has several models.

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14.

Clavinet's main stage instrument is a customised D6 with modified preamps and high-quality film capacitors.

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15.

Clavinet was used in funk music, often played through a wah-wah pedal.

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16.

Bob Marley and the Wailers' "Could You Be Loved" is driven by a Clavinet riff played by Earl Lindo, as is Wonder's Marley-influenced track "Master Blaster ", played by Wonder himself.

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17.

George Duke regularly used a Clavinet when playing with Frank Zappa and solo, using the Castle Bar modification.

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18.

Late seventies hit singles to feature a Clavinet include Steely Dan's "Kid Charlemagne" and Fleetwood Mac's "You Make Loving Fun".

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19.

Clavinet bought his first Clavinet second-hand aged 17 for $150; the modification had already been made at the time he bought this.

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20.

The signal from the Clavinet is fed into a Dunlop Cry Baby wah-wah pedal, then into a Fender Deville amplifier.

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