IF THE ORGAN IS JUST GONNA BE USED FOR PRACTICE, YOU REALLY DON'T NEED A LESLIE.
ALL THE LESIE DOES IS GIVE YOU THE SPINNING SOUND THAT MAKES THE HAMMOND ORGAN SOOOOOO POPULAR. BUT IF YOUR JUST USING IT FOR PRACTICE IT REALLY SHOULDN'T MATTER.
JUST MY OPINION.
HOLLA
CATRON/TheReturn
I have to respectfully disagree. I own an organ without a Leslie that I practiced on regularly (I don't anymore because I don't have room for it here at school). Yeah, while you don't technically
need a Leslie to practice, there are things you can practice with a Leslie that are critical to gospel organ that you can't do with a regular tone cabinet.
First, learning when to switch slow and when to switch fast are critical skills. They make such a difference in your sound and are just as much a part of playing the right notes.
Second, learning how a Leslie is going to respond when you do certain runs, grinds, licks, etc. is also critical to playing skills.
Third, a good Leslie is going to have sound intricacies that aren't going to be so apparent in a regular tone cabinet. Understanding these intricacies and learning how to exploit them are also critical.
All together, you can practice with a regular tone cab, but, IMHO, you are going to limit yourself to basic skills on the organ. Having a Leslie will greatly allow you to practice so MUCH more than with a regular tone cab. Unless you just aren't interested in Leslie sound, you should get a Leslie as soon as you can afford one. You can always have a Leslie and a Hammond tone cab hooked to the same organ so you can switch between the two or both.
There is a reason the Hammond sound is so popular - it's called the Leslie. The Hammond and Leslie are like Tom & Jerry... like Thelma & Louise... like Bonnie & Clyde - you don't see one without the other. Let one go, and it's just not the same. Without it, Hammond would probably not have the cult following they have now.