Hammond organs

[xtian]

I see many Hammond organs for sale cheap in my area. I imagine buying one, converting the amp to work with guitar, and using the wood to make speaker and head enclosures.

I.e.: http://chico.craigslist.org/msg/1729601888.html

Anyone do this?

[David Root]

That looks like a great project.

Nice thing about the organ mfrs in the 50s/60s, they were very picky about tubes, both pre and power, so any tubes you find with organ mfrs names on them WILL be good! Like Hammond, Conn, etc. And there are lots of them still around because these organs used lots of tubes.

The only instruments I have any interest in other than guitar & bass are drums, saxophones and organs, especially Hammond B3s.

Is there a way to get close to the tone of an old B3 other than an old original? Leslies you can still get and they can be reproduced these days I think.

[M Fowler]

That's the same organ I took apart for parts had a crap load of 12AU7s, 5UG, 12BH7, a few 12AT7. My wife uses the seat, I kept the speakers and baffles as well as all electronic components the wood is thin vineer not good for anything.

Mark

[Bear]

If the organ is functional, it's always a shame to gut it, at least a bit. Tone-wheel Hammonds are sacrilege to tear apart if they can be made to work. Organs with oscillators for tone generation are a bit more dime-a-dozen, but can still be cool. Compared to the intrinsic value of an organ that isn't a total lemon, the savings versus buying fresh amp parts isn't always huge.

By all means, though, on a non-desirable organ feel free to pull the speaker for guitar amp use, especially old Jensens and the like. Sometimes an affordable modern speaker dropped in will work better for the organ. And the optional on-board Leslie speaker rotors, IMO go ahead and mount them in an external cab so you can run a speaker cable from the organ or your favorite guitar amp.

[sdorer]

I've done exactly that with great results. Hammond organs can be great but they are not all precious. Don't rip apart a B3 or C3 for pete's sake but they wont be listed as cheap on Craigslist anyway. I did have to add a resistor when I replaced a field coil speaker with a modern speaker. The components Hammond user are top notch. It is a great project.

[Richie]

what the other guys posted, their are many brands that are useable and loaded with tubes,amps etc., but some model hammonds don't destroy them. Nothing sounds as good as the hammonds when they are working like they should and good cab.. A sound that gives you chills.
Thier are many old pieces of tube gear you can usually pick up cheap,and fall over when you see whats in some of them. old motorola stereos, 3 seperate amps, EV alnico 15" speaker, EV crossovers,horns tweaters, metal based EL34s 5Ar4, picked one up for 15.00. One of the best sounding OTs i've heard used in an amp.

[M Fowler]

This organ pictured and mine were not the holy grail of Hammond organs if it had been I would be playing it in my band. I would rather play a Hammond B3 then play guitar but the only ones I know of the farmer will not sell and he is a great organist so I understand why he isn't selling the B3s or the his Leslie's.

Mark

[DonMoose]

May I suggest a Wurlitzer with the tube oscillators and octave dividers - 40 12xx types and a nice 7868-based power amp.

The reason I like it is that with all that heater current available, you can try a mess of different preamps all at once, or go for the KT88 outputs. The divider strings are 12BH7s - rare, but not popular for tone.

The one I'm gutting had a rotating speaker setup (5" dia on a swingarm) that I'm hoping to squeeze into the old RCA cab I'm hoping to use.

The Hammonds DO sound nice, and there is adequate heater current for any typical preamp, but the actual chassis boxes are cramped and no control-panel-friendly.