Organ Models

[sonicfoxbody]

hey Sonic,have you played a C1 yet?

Yes I have, loved it, and I think it's worth the $2,700 price tag at Sam Ash however I'm not going to pay that. I'm patiently awaiting for the right one to roll around on ebay, they truly sound great, the traditional Nord 'red' color is definately a attention seeker and flashy in my opinion, pair it up with a set of pedals and I'm ready to go.....

[X-66]

I never met a Hammond I didn`t like; God must have inspired it`s inventor, it`s such a work of genious.  Why is it that a Hammond sounds the best when it`s malfunctioning?  The instrument is so complex in it`s sound production, that every person who plays it can sound diffrent; unlike a pipe-organ for instance, where a sound is either on or off, you have thousands of tone combinations possible with the drawbars.  Add a Leslie or two, and some cabs in a big room, and it sounds like the Angel Choir!  I love your site, I`m looking forward to learning a lot.....  John

[RMS2003]

X-66, you make an excellent point. Hammond's are so old now that no one really remembers what they sounded like when they came straight out of the factory. The tone we have grown so accustomed to hearing is from aging components. Many people leave the old paper wax caps in their TWG. I've heard a few people say they didn't like the tone after recapping their TWG. The wax caps are so old they have long ago drifted from their original values. This can drastically affect the tone. Worn out tubes can cause distortion at low volume. Lack of oil in the Leslie motors can cause the rotors to rotate slower than normal. All of these factors play a part in how your organ will sound.

I personally love the sound of tube distortion and a sluggish Leslie. Others like the clean tone and a well maintained Leslie.

[BimmerFan99]

I love a clean tone.  Nothing bothers me more than a muddy, distorted organ.  I like hearing more distinction in the sound when I make minor adjustments on the drawbars.

[GSM]

The folks I bought my A100 from purchased it from the original owner in the hopes they could chop it.  I guess they didn't realize an A chassis isn't good for that mainly because the pre-amp sits under the tone generator as opposed to behind it in the B and C chassis.  I haven't ever measured the width, but I can see how the A100 might be narrower due to the thickness of the wood sides on the B3. 

I believe DocJohn was referring to the original model ''A" (mid 1930's), and not the A-100 series.  The model, A is shaped just like a B-3, except, like Doc mentioned is a few inches more narrow.  Those organs are so old, that there are not many around(but I happened to play one just a few days ago.

I've owned at one time or another, most of the consoles and tube leslies that hammond made...Including the model A, and as mentioned there are so many factors that change the color of tone, that each one does have a unique sound.  Old timers will tell you that CV/BV are actually the best sounding hammonds, but it just doesnt have the flexibility with percussion and all.  I do have two  B3's that I use for recording in the , but we do also have a B2(unmodified so it has ratchets) and it is a great sounding organ.  I live closer to St Louis, than Chicago, but I've talked to old hammond dealers in Chicago, and many of them consider the B3000(a glorified model H) the console the ruined Hammond.

By the way, when I was a hammond hunter, God gave me great favor, I've owned over 40 or so. ..I've purchased c-3's for $250, and leslie for $75, and I turned down A-100's.  The most we ever paid was $1,000, and that was for a mint condition 1958 B3,tone cabinet, and leslie.  That was the one and only time we ever paid a grand for a hammond.  Now I just have the (2) B3's, a B2, and a m2

**the worse thing you can do, is not play a hammond...secondarily, is to not oil, or overoil, out of all that I've owned, I never put a trek unit, or transistor amp..some of them organs 70 years old, and still playing strong

[DirectingOrganist]

The C3 is my personal favorite but I like the B3 and the B3000 is ok

[themidiroom]

I never met a Hammond I didn`t like; God must have inspired it`s inventor, it`s such a work of genious.  Why is it that a Hammond sounds the best when it`s malfunctioning?  The instrument is so complex in it`s sound production, that every person who plays it can sound diffrent; unlike a pipe-organ for instance, where a sound is either on or off, you have thousands of tone combinations possible with the drawbars.  Add a Leslie or two, and some cabs in a big room, and it sounds like the Angel Choir!  I love your site, I`m looking forward to learning a lot.....  John

I find it quite interesting that Mr. Hammond never intended his inventions to be run through a Leslie speaker.  I've read many times that he actually didn't like that sound.  Later on, he must have realized how much everyone else loved the Hammond/ Leslie sound and he didn't fight it anymore.

[under13]

I find it quite interesting that Mr. Hammond never intended his inventions to be run through a Leslie speaker.  I've read many times that he actually didn't like that sound.  Later on, he must have realized how much everyone else loved the Hammond/ Leslie sound and he didn't fight it anymore.

I think thats how the story goes. Without the leslie, hammond would be nowhere as popular. When was the last time you've seen a hammond w/o a leslie? Pretty rare.
With the exeption of a few recordings, you will never hear a hammond w/o a rotary cabinet on a song

[themidiroom]

I think thats how the story goes. Without the leslie, hammond would be nowhere as popular. When was the last time you've seen a hammond w/o a leslie? Pretty rare.
With the exeption of a few recordings, you will never hear a hammond w/o a rotary cabinet on a song

I believe the original intent of the Hammond organ was to be an alternative for pipe organs.  It never quite acheived that but it became an entitiy of it's own with the help of Don Leslie of course.   

[under13]

I believe the original intent of the Hammond organ was to be an alternative for pipe organs.  It never quite acheived that but it became an entitiy of it's own with the help of Don Leslie of course.  

yup. Thats why the drawbars each represent pipe leangths. He better be glad that the black church, and the Jazz cats started using them, or else he would not have made it very far. You cant really replace a pipe organ with a hammond.

[themidiroom]

yup. Thats why the drawbars each represent pipe leangths. He better be glad that the black church, and the Jazz cats started using them, or else he would not have made it very far. You cant really replace a pipe organ with a hammond.

The black churches that could actually afford to spend $2500 on an instrument in the 60's   That was like buying a car.

[under13]

The black churches that could actually afford to spend $2500 on an instrument in the 60's   That was like buying a car.

good point, but by the 60's there were hammonds that were aready 25 years.

[themidiroom]

good point, but by the 60's there were hammonds that were aready 25 years.

True, but it wouldn't have been a B3 which was what everyone seemed to want.

[under13]

True, but it wouldn't have been a B3 which was what everyone seemed to want.

Thats when they started selling fish dinners. They had to pay for that organ somehow. And they did have financing

[BimmerFan99]

I find it quite interesting that Mr. Hammond never intended his inventions to be run through a Leslie speaker.  I've read many times that he actually didn't like that sound.  Later on, he must have realized how much everyone else loved the Hammond/ Leslie sound and he didn't fight it anymore.

Oh, I think he fought it until the end.  He never liked it and made so much fuss about it that Don Leslie never had to advertise his speakers.

Here's some more info: http://www.mitatechs.com/leslierumors.html

[themidiroom]

Oh, I think he fought it until the end.  He never liked it and made so much fuss about it that Don Leslie never had to advertise his speakers.

Here's some more info: http://www.mitatechs.com/leslierumors.html

I'm basing my assumption on the fact that there were a few Hammond branded Leslies in the early 70's using Leslie's rotosonic drum.

[under13]

I'm basing my assumption on the fact that there were a few Hammond branded Leslies in the early 70's using Leslie's rotosonic drum.

That was after he retired

[themidiroom]

That was after he retired

That's a shame seeing as much of the Hammond's popularity was due to "that" sound.

[BimmerFan99]

Well, I could understand Laurens Hammond's standpoint.  It was his creation after all, but if he really wanted to make money, he had to follow the market.  Mr. Hammond owed many of his profits to Leslie.

[GSM]

I'm basing my assumption on the fact that there were a few Hammond branded Leslies in the early 70's using Leslie's rotosonic drum.

M...thats funny, part of my collection used to be the  X-77(which again is a glorified model-H....model H,B3000,and X77 pretty much have the same inerts...and sound!!)...I was not comfy putting one in a church, so I kept them at home, but my wife likes them as furniture pieces.  i currently dont have any hammonds at our home, but she's been on me to find an X-77 to match her living room decor....as for the leslie, the x-77L, i found it useful for parts for my tube leslies

 http://www.myplanet.net/x77dude/photos.html