I am an old-school Hammond organ player and BIG time fan, since my parents bought me my first Hammond L100 in the early 1960s. I took organ lessons for many years back then, (from local Tulsa organ teacher Janelle Whitby.) That was back in the day when every respectable shopping mall had a piano/organ dealer and you couldn't walk in the mall without hearing organ music wafting in the distance. And Furr's Cafeteria at Utica Square had live organ music for your dining pleasure! Today, when I am in a playing mood, it sounds like Saturday night 1958 at the Tiki Nook Lounge in my living room.
My love of the Hammond tonewheel organ has never waned, and today I have a 1964 Hammond A102 with Leslie 251, and a late 1970s Hammond Concorde 2307 with Leslie 710 in my living room. (You can't discuss Hammonds without also including the marvelous Leslie speaker, which also appeals to guitar players too.) I play both these instruments daily.
Any other Hammond tonewheel organ fans in Tulsa? Most all of us know the "sound" from classic rock/blues/gospel/jazz (or current digital simulations) although we may not know it was the Hammond.
If you are lucky enough to own a vintage Hammond organ like myself and have repair/maintenance questions, I may be able to answer or at least steer you in the right direction.
I'm a fan of the Hammond/Leslie sound, especially the B3 but couldn't tell you how to play one.
I've known a couple of Hammond afficionados, one still plays around town, I'm not sure if he's still got a steady gig at the Continental or not, that's the last time I saw him. I believe he's got an A-102. He's done session work with some national acts and I think went to school w/ Swake.
Steve, check your inbox, I'm sending you a PM.
quote:
Originally posted by Conan71
I'm a fan of the Hammond/Leslie sound, especially the B3 but couldn't tell you how to play one.
I've known a couple of Hammond afficionados, one still plays around town, I'm not sure if he's still got a steady gig at the Continental or not, that's the last time I saw him. I believe he's got an A-102. He's done session work with some national acts and I think went to school w/ Swake.
Steve, check your inbox, I'm sending you a PM.
Deep Purple, Procol Harum, Emmerson Lake & Palmer, Jimmy Smith, Santana, Eric Clapton, Beatles, Lenny Dee, Billy Preston, Earl Grant, Booker T Jones, Jeff Palmer, Ethel Smith, Allman Brothers, and on and on...the Hammond organ sound is a mainstay of American pop music of all genres for the last 60 years. I have an A102 in my living room. The M3, B3, C3, A100 organs were all the same basic guts, the only difference was the furniture cabinet and the presence or absence of internal power amp, reverb, & speakers. The technology and build quality of these organs was absolutely phenomenal, not likely to be seen in a U.S. made product again. Those that have received proper care are still going strong today, some 32 years after the last B3/A105 was assembled around 1974. My A102 & Leslie 251 will probably outlive me by 100 years, given proper care. You still hear stories today of people that inherit these organs and think they are just junk because they don't know how to properly start the organ! (They don't start with a single on/off switch; they have a torque-producing start motor and an A/C synchronous run motor with a specific starting procedure, sort of like starting an old car with a foot starter or a crank.)
Anyway, if anyone has an old Hammond and wants maintenance advice or has questions, I will be glad to offer my 2 cents. I hate to see these marvelous instruments neglected or hauled to the dump out of ignorance of simple starting or maintenance. All of the long-time professional Hammond repairmen in Tulsa have passed on, but Hammonds live on in local churches and homes where the owners realize the true gems they possess. It's either learn about them and fix them yourselves these days, or do without. Fortunately, Hammonds and Leslie speakers were so well built that normal oiling and periodic vacuum tube replacement is all that is needed for a well-maintained organ. (Yes, vacuum tubes are still available today, either NOS U.S. or foreign product.) Hammonds and Leslies were built to be repaired when needed and last multiple lifetimes, not discarded at the first sign of component failure as modern electronic instruments are today.
I have been down to the Jazz Hall of Fame a few times for various events, and hope to meet Chuck Cisell one day. I would like to ask him to promote more organ jazz at the Hall. To see a local concert by a contemporary jazz Hammond organist such as Joey DeFrancesco would really be a dream come true for me.
I find it really ironic that today's digital keyboard manufacturers (Korg, Hammond/Suzuki Japan, etc.) try so hard to emulate the original electro-mechanical "Hammond sound" with all of its characteristics, but can never quite hit it. I understand the new Hammond/Suzuki B3 comes very close but at a $30,000 price tag. Not many folks today can afford the new digital Hammond organs. When all of today's digital keyboards are in the trash dumpsters, the original 1934-1975 Hammond organs will still be here, making that wonderful unduplicable tonewheel sound. If you are lucky enough to own a Hammond A, B, C, D, A100, M, M100, E, E100, L100 or T series tonewheel organ, cherish it, maintain it, and it will outlive you by many years. The likes of these fine hand-built instruments will never be produced again.
Steve, it's like tube amps for guitar. You can buy effects-loaded amps which emulate tube amps, get effects pedals which will do it, or do what I do and wait around until a real tube amp comes along.
quote:
Originally posted by Conan71
Steve, it's like tube amps for guitar. You can buy effects-loaded amps which emulate tube amps, get effects pedals which will do it, or do what I do and wait around until a real tube amp comes along.
Exactly. Both my Hammond A102 & Leslie 251 are all-tube amps & pre-amp. Wonderful, warm sound that can be bright when desired or dirty/gritty if overdriven. About 24 vacuum tubes in all among all the amps in my setup, and I have never had any trouble finding replacement NOS U.S. made tubes as of yet. And most of the Russian made new tubes are quite good as well. Hammonds and Leslies don't put much stress on the tubes at all unless you overdrive or intentionally distort, and the tubes will last for many, many years.
I find it quite humorous how today's digital instruments try so hard to emulate the sounds and capabilities of tube equipment. They got it right the first time. And tube amps have the added bonus of just being beautiful; they are works of electron art just to watch in action.
I noticed in your last post a mention of Booker T. Jones. I love Booker T. & the MG's. I've got their best of collection- plenty of great Hammond stuff in there. I've lost count of who all else he sat in with over the years.
Didn't Boston also rely heavily on a B-3 Hammond?
quote:
Originally posted by Conan71
I noticed in your last post a mention of Booker T. Jones. I love Booker T. & the MG's. I've got their best of collection- plenty of great Hammond stuff in there. I've lost count of who all else he sat in with over the years.
Didn't Boston also rely heavily on a B-3 Hammond?
I believe "Green Onions" was recorded using a small spinet model Hammond M3 or M100, sans Leslie, using only the Hammond vibrato & chorus effects. When people refer to the "B3" Hammond sound, the sound is most likely from a tonewheel Hammond organ, be it a B3, C3, A100, M3, M100 or L100 organ. They were all tonewheel generator models and produce the distinctive Hammond sound.
I am sure Boston also used Hammonds/Leslie, most all popular bands of the era did. The sound has never faded from favor. You see a lot of live acts on TV today using the Hammond/Leslie. There has been a particular rise of its use in country music acts today. A classic, distinctive sound thanks to Laurens Hammond and his original 1934 Model A organ. The tonewheel Hammonds have "soul," an almost human-like breathy quality to the tone that in the hands of a competent player, is unique and unmistakable.
And every Hammond organ is unique. Their components age at different rates, and you can have two identical organs, manufactured on the same day, but today sound very different. Marvelous instruments.
Hi! I'm not in Tulsa, but I recently bought a Hammond Concorde organ. I believe it is as 2312 model. After playing it several days, it has developed some problems. The internal Leslie has quit working. Some of the notes on the drawbars and stops are dead. The percussion voices do not have the dead notes; just the drawbars and presets. I am trying to get information online to try to look at it myself. Most of what I am seeing is that cable connectors cause a lot the problems with the Concorde; or capacitors; any tips? Thanks
quote:
Originally posted by Walter
Hi! I'm not in Tulsa, but I recently bought a Hammond Concorde organ. I believe it is as 2312 model. After playing it several days, it has developed some problems. The internal Leslie has quit working. Some of the notes on the drawbars and stops are dead. The percussion voices do not have the dead notes; just the drawbars and presets. I am trying to get information online to try to look at it myself. Most of what I am seeing is that cable connectors cause a lot the problems with the Concorde; or capacitors; any tips? Thanks
Hi Walter, I have a 1964 tonewheel Hammond A102, and a 1978 Concorde 2307M. My A102 is relatively trouble-free but here are my tips about the LSI (Large-Scale Intregated Circuit) Hammonds of the late 1970s such as the Concorde and Elegante models. Your 2312 Concorde is the same as my 2307M, just different furniture cabinet styles.
Removing the back panel of the Concorde, you see six circuit boards across the back/top of the console, these are the "sine wave filter boards." The plug in connectors of these boards will give you 90% of all problems on the 2300 Series Condorde models. Remove each circuit board, clean the board connector edges and plastic plugs with Caig Deoxit D5, and reseat the boards. You can also clean the contacts on the boards proper with a simple pink rubber eraser, if oxidation is heavy, as this was the procedure in the original Hammond service manuals. Don't go overboard with the eraser so you don't rub off the metal (tin) contact film on the board. There are also 3 similar filter boards for the percussion voices vertically mounted, located below on the bottom shelf, near the console bass speaker. If you are having problems with persussion, do the same for these 3 boards. When the contacts on these boards fail over time due to oxidation, a group of 5 contiguous notes for a drawbar will fail, and affect both the manual drawbars and the presets. If that is the case, it is surely a contact problem for the sine wave filter borards. Cleaning the contacts on the sine wave filter boards will fix this. I know as I have lived with this for 30 years!
My 1978 Hammond Concorde 2307M has had no problems that I can not solve with circuit board contact cleaning. I have to do this about once every 18 months, but that is the price to pay for a 30-year old Hammond LSI organ. I have also had to clean the contacts on the main power amp and the reverb tank and circuit board, to solve general static problems through the speakers. After I do the cleaning, she sounds magnificent for another year or so.
The internal Leslie on my 2307 still sounds great, and I have my Hammond Concorde plugged into an external Leslie 710. If your internal Leslie rotosonic has quit, make sure the motor stack in the organ is properly oiled, and all plug contacts are clean. It may be a problem of a worn out/unoiled Leslie motor. It could also be a dead mercotac contact for the Leslie rotosonic drum. Mercotacs are a cheap replacement. And check the drive belt for the rotosonic drum; it may be so worn and frayed that it is not making proper contact and turning the drum properly.
One word of caution. If you have to remove any of the cardboard covers over the manual/percussion divider boards, BEWARE!!!! These housings are full of the dreaded black foam that desintegrates over time and can cause damage to electrical components if it drops down onto circuit board wires. Use extreme caution when removing these housings, and scrape off and dispose of all the old foam you can.
Steve; thanks so much for giving me all the tips on cleaining the sinewave filter boards. That really did help. I want to also clean the amp power supply contacts and board. I am guessing that the power supply circuit board is
one of the two boards behind the power supply with the four canister capacitors and tranformer on top of it.
Where are the power suply contacts? I'm not sure if I know what or where they are.
Thanks again
quote:
Originally posted by Walter
Steve; thanks so much for giving me all the tips on cleaining the sinewave filter boards. That really did help. I want to also clean the amp power supply contacts and board. I am guessing that the power supply circuit board is
one of the two boards behind the power supply with the four canister capacitors and tranformer on top of it.
Where are the power suply contacts? I'm not sure if I know what or where they are.
Thanks again
I was simply referring to the circuit board on the power amp that you mentioned and the board for the reverb. Clean these as you would the sine wave board connectors. About once every 12-16 months, I spend an entire afternoon on Concorde maintenance, pulling boards, cleaning connectors, and going through half a can of Deoxit spray, oiling the Leslie motors, etc. I do this at the same time each January that I oil the tone generator in my A102. One afternoon a year to keep both my Hammonds going strong and providing countless hours of enjoyment for me and friends for the rest of the year!
In my 30 years of owning my Concorde 2307M, I have never had any major electrical component failure except one. About 10 years ago I had a 380 IC chip go bad for the upper manual "A natural" keys. All "A" keys on the upper started sounding very warbly and out of tune. Replacing the 380 IC fixed it. There are at least 36 of these 380 IC chips in the Concorde; they are on the manual divider daughter boards for the upper, lower, and percussion. (The boards mounted vertically inside the cardboard housings that are full of the dreaded black foam.) The 380 chips are very hard to find nowdays, and very expensive when you can find them. I bought a 1976 Hammond Grandee (the stripped down version of the Concorde) and parted it out mainly for a supply of these IC chips if I would ever need to replace another one. I also saved the spare power amp, reverb, Auto-vari 64 unit, Leslie motor stack, and a multitude of circuit boards from the Grandee, so I am well-fixed for spare parts for my Concorde, should I ever need them. The hard part for me is just finding someone knowledgeable to do the repair labor. I am no professional tech, but I have learned a lot over the years just from owning Hammonds and watching others work on them.
If you like the sound of the Concorde, be glad you have a 2300 series and not the earlier 2100 series. The 2100 series was notorious for problems and failure. Hammond solved most of the problems with the upgraded 2300 series. If you can, play your 2312 Concorde through an external Leslie. The Concorde is prewired and switched for an external Leslie 700 or 710, solid-state, 2-channel models. Just plug in the 9-pin jack on the back, and you are good to go with no Leslie kit or other connections needed. You will be amazed at what the external Leslie adds. My 2307M Concorde and Leslie 710 will "blow the roof off the house," if I would let it! (Don't bother with a Leslie 700; it is just a rotosonic drum Leslie with no treble horn. Get a 710, which has the all-important treble driver and rotating horn, 90% of the marvelous Leslie sound, in my opinion.)
I love my Hammond tonewheel A102/Leslie 251, but I also love my Concorde 2307M/Leslie 710 just as much. The tonewheel Hammonds give that classic gospel/blues/rock organ sound and are a joy to play, but the LSI Hammonds have their own sound too, and provide a much better emulation of a theater or pipe organ than a tonewheel Hammond ever could. I love them both.
As I said, I have a large parts stash for the Concorde, and may be able to help you out if you need a hard-to-find part. I also have an original factory service manual for the 2100/2300 series Concorde, with info and schematics for every circuit board in the console. Parts and manuals pop up quite often on EBAY, just search "Hammond Organ."
A bit of Concorde trivia: All Concordes had a serial/model number plaque located on the underside of the lower manual, to the right of the pedal clavier light. If yours is missing, there is a second plaque located on the bottom shelf underneath the power amp. You have to remove the power amp to see it. This was placed there by Hammond in the event of theft. It is hard to imagine someone stealing a 400+ lb. Concorde today, but good to know for insurance/ID purposes if your external plaque under the manuals is missing!
Steve; thanks again for all the information.
I have gotten all the static out of the speakers by cleaining the amp connectors, etc.
with deoxit.
I want to also clean any cable connectors inside the organ as a preventative measure.
Looking inside, I don't see how the top of the organ is supposed to lift up. I see a warning sign on the back board that says do not lower this board unless top is locked in upright position. Is there a lever or something that you turn to release the top of the organ so it will raise? Thanks Walter
quote:
Originally posted by Walter
Steve; thanks again for all the information.
I have gotten all the static out of the speakers by cleaining the amp connectors, etc.
with deoxit.
I want to also clean any cable connectors inside the organ as a preventative measure.
Looking inside, I don't see how the top of the organ is supposed to lift up. I see a warning sign on the back board that says do not lower this board unless top is locked in upright position. Is there a lever or something that you turn to release the top of the organ so it will raise? Thanks Walter
Facing the organ from the front, grab the top on the far left front and far right front faceplates, on either side of the music light, and give it a good jerk upwards. The top is not screwed or latched down, it is just held in place by "snap clips" and the sheer weight of the thing! The entire top panel, including the music light and AutoVari 64 rhythm unit will swing upwards, hinged at the back. Inside on the left is a sliding metal bar lever that drops down into a hole to lock the top in the upright position. This exposes the rhythm unit, manual divider boards, preset boards etc. With the top locked open, you can then lower the sine wave filter board panel in back for more access.
Also, with the top locked open, the panel with all the percussion/animation/sustain/Leslie tabs will also swing up and open, just like the top panel. Grab the top of the metal railing and gently jerk upwards. (It is held in place by snap connectors like the cabinet top is.) This will give further access to the drawbars and drawbar wiring. It is always a good idea to clean the metal slider contacts on the drawbars with a liberal spray of DeOxit. Spray and then work them in and out to lubricate and remove built up gunk.
The upper and lower manuals are also hinged and will swing up should you ever need to replace keys or access manual wiring. You have to remove several bolts from the underside. I have never had to do this, but I read the procedure in the service manual.
That's one good thing about the Concorde; Hammond gave thought to maintenance access so most major components are on swing-out panels or hinged for easier access and can be serviced by one person. There is also a swing-out panel on the lower back that has some percussion boards, the piano filter board, etc. on both sides of the panel. The entire Leslie Rotosonic drum unit also slides out too for maintenance.
More trivia: With the top panel open and locked upright, you will find the small preset circuit boards on the left side for the upper and lower presets. Contrary to popular opinion, the manual presets ARE changeable. At one time, you could buy blank preset boards and wire/jumper them to your liking, plug them in, and customize the presets to your own taste! The procedure is covered in the service manual. Mine are all the original factory ones, but it is possible to change the preset voices, just not as easy as the tonewheel organs. Plus, you can combine multiple presets on the LSI organs; you can't do that on the tonewheel models. You may be able to modify the existing boards or find some NOS blank boards to customize the preset voicing. I can send you the service manual instructions on how to do this if you wish. A good place to look for NOS parts is Organ Service Company of Countryside IL. The guy that owns this business was a former Hammond factory employee and bought Hammond's entire stock of organ parts when the original Hammond Organ Company closed in 1986. That's where I bought my original factory Concorde service manual, and he may still have some in stock.
By the way Walter, the Internet has been a wealth of information for those looking to preserve great classic Hammond organs. I am a member of the
http://www.zeni.net/pipermail/hammond/
discussion forums, but this list is mainly for tonewheel Hammond owners and fans (A,B,C,D,A100,RT,M,M100,L100 series organs of 1934-1975 vintage.) If you post a question on this list concerning a LSI Hammond such as the Concorde, at best you will be ignored; at worst you will be told to cart your Concorde to the nearest dumpster! These folks are very opinionated. I love and appreciate the Concorde 2300 organ as much as the classic Hammond tonewheel models.
If you have any further questions about your Concorde 2300, post it here under this thread and I will reply with my 2 cents, for what it's worth. I log on to TulsaNow about every 2-3 days, so my reply may be delayed somewhat, but I will surely get back to you.
Steve; Appreciate so much your interest in the 2300 Hammond. I do really like the sound of it.
I believe mine is a 2307 rather than a 2312. It has the black and walnut console with stainless steel pedals and trim. Don't know the difference between the 2307 and 2307M. This one had a 700 Leslie with it. The speakers all worked on it but the Rotosonic wouldn't spin. Organ tech in Texarkana took it to get it working. I think its going to take some patience to get this one straightened out.
cleaning the sinewave filter boards; main amp cable connectors and circuit board got rid of all dead notes and speaker static. In the meantime; the main channel and Leslie Channel went dead. This happened while I was playing it. The only way to get any sound out of it now is to have the Leslie console tabs on and the Leslie Chorus tab pushed down at the same time.
Otherwise it has a faint sound. The faint sound does increase if you push the expression pedal, but it still sounds faraway and distant.
You can also push the expression pedal vibrato "off" switch with your foot and volume will come up with the Leslie tremolo tabs turned on. After opening the organ and cleaning additional connectors, the lower manual is now completely dead. I have jiggled everything I can think of and still nothing.
This organ had not been used in a while, so I guess I'll have to have some patience with it.
Are there any internal fuses in the amp that could be causing the main channel/Leslie issues? I thought at first it was the amp, but with it still works with the Leslie and chorus tabs pushed down. Once again, I really appreciate all the info you have given me. Walter
quote:
Originally posted by Walter
Steve; Appreciate so much your interest in the 2300 Hammond. I do really like the sound of it.
I believe mine is a 2307 rather than a 2312. It has the black and walnut console with stainless steel pedals and trim. Don't know the difference between the 2307 and 2307M. This one had a 700 Leslie with it.
Yes, we have the same model Concorde. Concorde series 2307. The "07" designates the contemporary walnut/ebony cabinet, sans front console legs, with the silver plastic pedal board. (It is just a conventional Hammond flat 25 pedal clavier with silver plastic covers. A design hold-over from the 1960's X-66 model.) Mine is the 2307M, the "M" designates that the organ has the "one finger chord" and "Note-A-Chord" easy play features, the two white push-buttons located on the console front below the on/off switch. Two features that I never use, but I do check them every so often to make sure they still work!
The Concorde came in the "07" contemporary walnut/ebony cabinet (the most popular, like mine and yours), the "82" walnut Italian Provincial style, and the "95" Mediterranean style (truly hideous!) The 82 and 95 cabinets had front legs, much like a piano cabinet style. There was also an "07" variation mostly in white lacquer with a glass music rack, very rare to find today.
Let me think about your current problems and get back to you on this thread. If I give it some time and just logically think about your problems and what I know about the Concorde operation, I may be able to pinpoint your problems. And there may also be some service bulletins in my Concorde service manual that address your current problems. As I recall, there are some service bulletins I have regarding the 2100 Concorde with similar problems; I will check it out and post back. [:D]
Steve, sent you a PM.
quote:
Originally posted by Conan71
Steve, sent you a PM.
Got it. Sent you 2 PM in return. Let me know what you can about the Hammond.
quote:
Originally posted by Walter
In the meantime; the main channel and Leslie Channel went dead. This happened while I was playing it. The only way to get any sound out of it now is to have the Leslie console tabs on and the Leslie Chorus tab pushed down at the same time.
Otherwise it has a faint sound. The faint sound does increase if you push the expression pedal, but it still sounds faraway and distant.
You can also push the expression pedal vibrato "off" switch with your foot and volume will come up with the Leslie tremolo tabs turned on. After opening the organ and cleaning additional connectors, the lower manual is now completely dead.
Hi Walter,
After pouring over my 2100/2300 service manual, the only thing I can find that remotely resembles your problems is this:
"Random note failure and then total loss of organ. This symptom occurs after taking the back of the organ off an plugging organ back in, everything seems normal until back panel is reinstalled. Check D6 on 124-000266 MDD board."
The MDD (multiple derivitave divider) board is the top-octave generator board for the Concorde; the small IC circuit board that replaced the mechanical tonewheel generator of older models. If memory serves me, it is located on the bottom shelf right side, mounted just outside the cardboard box covering the percussion divider boards. It should have the Hammond part #124-000266 printed on it. This one small circuit board is the true "guts" of any LSI Hammond organ, for its oscillator produces the top octave 13 notes, and all other Hammond tones are derived from this one board. Without it working properly, the organ is just a 450 lb. doorstop.
The first thing I would do would be remove this board, clean contacts as you did on other boards, and reseat. Leave the back off, plug the organ in and see if it comes back to life. I can't tell you exactly what "D6" is, probably a diode or other small component on this board. I have the complete schematic, along with much technical narrative concerning this board in my service manual (most of which is way over my head!), and I can have it scanned and send it to you if you need it.
If you plan on keeping and enjoying your Concorde for the long haul, I strongly urge you to obtain a 2100/2300 service manual. I have seen them pop up on EBAY, or you could try Organ Service Company in IL, where I bought mine. Great to have on hand if you have the electronic know-how, and invaluable to have when you hire a service tech that may not have a Concorde manual or Concorde experience.
quote:
Originally posted by Steve
quote:
Originally posted by Walter
Steve; Appreciate so much your interest in the 2300 Hammond. I do really like the sound of it.
I believe mine is a 2307 rather than a 2312. It has the black and walnut console with stainless steel pedals and trim. Don't know the difference between the 2307 and 2307M. This one had a 700 Leslie with it.
Yes, we have the same model Concorde. Concorde series 2307. The "07" designates the contemporary walnut/ebony cabinet, sans front console legs, with the silver plastic pedal board. (It is just a conventional Hammond flat 25 pedal clavier with silver plastic covers. A design hold-over from the 1960's X-66 model.) Mine is the 2307M, the "M" designates that the organ has the "one finger chord" and "Note-A-Chord" easy play features, the two white push-buttons located on the console front below the on/off switch. Two features that I never use, but I do check them every so often to make sure they still work!
The Concorde came in the "07" contemporary walnut/ebony cabinet (the most popular, like mine and yours), the "82" walnut Italian Provincial style, and the "95" Mediterranean style (truly hideous!) The 82 and 95 cabinets had front legs, much like a piano cabinet style. There was also an "07" variation mostly in white lacquer with a glass music rack, very rare to find today.
Let me think about your current problems and get back to you on this thread. If I give it some time and just logically think about your problems and what I know about the Concorde operation, I may be able to pinpoint your problems. And there may also be some service bulletins in my Concorde service manual that address your current problems. As I recall, there are some service bulletins I have regarding the 2100 Concorde with similar problems; I will check it out and post back. [:D]
Steve; thanks again. Looks like I will have to get a service manual. The main channel came back up after taking the #1 and #2 mixer boards off and cleaning the backs of them with a pencil eraser. I had sprayed the connector with deoxit and reseated them, but when I looked at the backs of them, I could see they couldn't possibly work. I cleaned the #3 mixer board which had "leslie" written on it. But it didn't bring the Leslie back in. I now believe it is a mixer board problem and will keep cleaning and reseating. Thanks again
quote:
Originally posted by Steve
quote:
Originally posted by Walter
In the meantime; the main channel and Leslie Channel went dead. This happened while I was playing it. The only way to get any sound out of it now is to have the Leslie console tabs on and the Leslie Chorus tab pushed down at the same time.
Otherwise it has a faint sound. The faint sound does increase if you push the expression pedal, but it still sounds faraway and distant.
You can also push the expression pedal vibrato "off" switch with your foot and volume will come up with the Leslie tremolo tabs turned on. After opening the organ and cleaning additional connectors, the lower manual is now completely dead.
Hi Walter,
After pouring over my 2100/2300 service manual, the only thing I can find that remotely resembles your problems is this:
"Random note failure and then total loss of organ. This symptom occurs after taking the back of the organ off an plugging organ back in, everything seems normal until back panel is reinstalled. Check D6 on 124-000266 MDD board."
The MDD (multiple derivitave divider) board is the top-octave generator board for the Concorde; the small IC circuit board that replaced the mechanical tonewheel generator of older models. If memory serves me, it is located on the bottom shelf right side, mounted just outside the cardboard box covering the percussion divider boards. It should have the Hammond part #124-000266 printed on it. This one small circuit board is the true "guts" of any LSI Hammond organ, for its oscillator produces the top octave 13 notes, and all other Hammond tones are derived from this one board. Without it working properly, the organ is just a 450 lb. doorstop.
The first thing I would do would be remove this board, clean contacts as you did on other boards, and reseat. Leave the back off, plug the organ in and see if it comes back to life. I can't tell you exactly what "D6" is, probably a diode or other small component on this board. I have the complete schematic, along with much technical narrative concerning this board in my service manual (most of which is way over my head!), and I can have it scanned and send it to you if you need it.
If you plan on keeping and enjoying your Concorde for the long haul, I strongly urge you to obtain a 2100/2300 service manual. I have seen them pop up on EBAY, or you could try Organ Service Company in IL, where I bought mine. Great to have on hand if you have the electronic know-how, and invaluable to have when you hire a service tech that may not have a Concorde manual or Concorde experience.
Prior to around 1972, Hammond had the lion's share of the home and professional electronic organ market, mostly based on the unique tonewheel Hammond sound. Then things started to change. IC synthesizers hit the market, and pop music started to integrate the synthesizer sound. I recall Donna Summer's 1978 recording of "I Feel Love" as a real breakthrough of the the electronic synthesizer sound. The Hammond sound fell out of favor.
Hammond abandoned the tonewheel generator, because it was so labor-intensive and expensive to produce, and because it had limitations regarding output tones. Thus, they introduced the first LSI Hammond, the 2100 Concorde in 1972, as a measure to keep up with the competition. The 2100 Concorde and similar Hammonds were full of electonic problems, and almost ruined the Hammond Organ Co. They upgraded and resolved most of these problems with the introduction of the 2300 series Concorde around 1978, and the later LSI Hammonds such as the Elegante were great organs.
Hammond lasted more than any other US organ manufacturer, mostly coasting on their good name and reputation. The original Hammond organ company, founded by Laurens Hammond in 1934, ceased operation in 1986, selling naming and model rights to an Austrailian company. The Hammond name has changed hands multiple times over the past 20 years, becase it is such a valuable brand ID. Current digital Hammond organs bearing the Hammond name are manufactured by the Hammond Suzuki Corporaton of Japan.
Hi Steve! I'm new on this site and was interested in you're knowledge of hammond organs. My wife has a 1964 circa L-122 Hammond. It needs work. It was her Mom's, and probably never looked after as far as cleaning. May need new tubes etc. Any idea's where to find out what a total restoration would cost, or what it could possibly be worth? Thanks for any insight you may have!
DD.
quote:
Originally posted by DD
Hi Steve! I'm new on this site and was interested in you're knowledge of hammond organs. My wife has a 1964 circa L-122 Hammond. It needs work. It was her Mom's, and probably never looked after as far as cleaning. May need new tubes etc. Any idea's where to find out what a total restoration would cost, or what it could possibly be worth? Thanks for any insight you may have!
DD.
A mint L100 organ in top playing condition is only worth around $200-$300 today, depending on local demand and availability. Check EBAY for sales of L100 Hammonds as you see them there quite often. The L100 is a spinet model. The full sized consoles such as the A100 series, C Series, B series command the most money. A mint 1950s-1960s B3 with mint matching Leslie can approach $10,000 depending on the local market.
The first thing I would do would be to give the internals a carefull vacuum and dusting. Check for faulty wiring, rodent/insect damage, broken or loose wires, bad soldering connections, etc. Pull all tubes and check for pin damage and clean all tube sockets with Deoxit spray and reseat tubes. Eyeball for any obvious component failure, fire/overheating damage, etc. Do all of this with the organ off and unplugged.
If the tone generator and run motor have not been oiled in a long time, you must oil these first before starting. USE ONLY HAMMOND OIL!, a wax free highly refined turbine oil. Anything else can gum up the oiling threads and cause major problems. Oil the generator and the blue self-starting run motor per the instructions (should be printed inside the back case somewhere) and wait 5 days. Then try to start the organ. If it starts but squeals alot, immediately turn off and do the oiling procedure again. Wait 5 more days, then try to start again. Tonewheel generator Hammond use a complicated system of cotton threads to deliver oil to the tonewheels, bearings, clutches, and 100's of moving parts inside the generator. It relies on capillary action to move the oil and can take days to fully lubricate a neglected generator, but it will eventually happen. That is why it is so important to only use wax-free Hammond oil. If your generator was oiled with anything else in the past, it may have gummed up the system and repairing it would only be for the dedicated enthusiast with the knowledge and time on their hands. In that case, I would just sell the organ for parts on EBAY or locally.
Tubes are still relatively easy to find, either NOS U.S. or new Russian tubes. Avoid Chinese made tubes as these are junk IMO. If your L122 still has the tubes stamped Hammond in red, these are most likely the originals. Hammonds put very little stress on the tubes and they can last 30-40 years, but not forever. I replaced all the tubes in my A102 about 3 years ago, saving all the old ones for emergency replacements.
And the whole shebang of spinning wheels, gears, and electonic parts in a tonewheel Hammond is all run by a synchronus clock motor! The run motor (invented by Laurens Hammond) is synchronus to the 60 cycle frequency of U.S. electric current, which means the organ can never go out of tune, as long as there is a reliable 60-cycle power source, and the organ is properly oiled & maintained. A fascinating, complicated mechanical engineering feat, the likes of which we will never see again.
Try these tips and see if you can't get her running. If not, post back and describe the problems and I will see if I can help. Your problem may be as little as a faulty start switch; these things are hard to diagnose over the ether. The L100 can be a nice little Hammond, but it really needs a Leslie with it. It does have the important tonewheel generator, just not the bigger, more complex one found in the B/C/A100. The vibrato system in the L100 is crap. A Leslie would bring out all of its potential.
FYI, the M100 and L100 series were introduced in the early 1960s to replace the M3 model. The M100 was the luxury version, the L100 was the econobox. Your L122 means it is an L100 organ, the 22 means contemporary cabinet in walnut veneer. The M100 organs introduced in Sept. 1961 had many features of their larger console brothers, including the important Hammond scanner vibrato system, and originally sold for $1,495. The L100 series introduced at the same time, sold for $995, plus $50 for the bench! The L100 series utilizes a magnetic phase-shift circuit for vibrato, giving an imitation but not true vibrato as in the M100. Much cheaper to produce, hence the price difference. The true Hammond scanner vibrato routes the output tones from the generator to a low-pass filter delay line. A rotating scanner then scans the outputs from the delay line at around 300 RPM, producing a true high/low frequency vibrato. But I digress...
Wow!!! You really know your stuff. I don't think I'd be capable of all those repairs, because I'm not an eltronic type of guy. It has been neglected for so long, and obviously is not too rare. I guess that means it isn't worth too much, except for the sentimental value to my wife. Maybe, I'll donate it to someone who would be able to restore it. Thank you kindly, for taking the time to explain things to me. Learned more from your posting, than many, many Google searches. In fact Google led me to you!
quote:
Originally posted by DD
Wow!!! You really know your stuff. I don't think I'd be capable of all those repairs, because I'm not an eltronic type of guy. It has been neglected for so long, and obviously is not too rare. I guess that means it isn't worth too much, except for the sentimental value to my wife. Maybe, I'll donate it to someone who would be able to restore it. Thank you kindly, for taking the time to explain things to me. Learned more from your posting, than many, many Google searches. In fact Google led me to you!
You're welcome DD. No, it is not rare and not particularly valuable in today's secondary market, but it can be a great little organ for those that appreciate Hammond tonewheel organs. It is often today a great "starter" organ for bands that want the original tonewheel sound but don't have a lot of money! If you decide to depart with it, advertise it in the local paper and some local band may snap it up.
The tube check/cleaning and generator oiling I mentioned are all basic things any Hammond owner should know how to do and cheap procedures that can be done by anyone, regardless of their electronic knowledge. Genuine Hammond oil and replacement tubes can be ordered online from www.goffprof.com or from many other online dealers. I hate to see any tonewheel Hammond discarded when it may be a very cheap, easy fix.
You didn't mention exactly what the problems were. The L100 has the self starting motor, so only one on/off switch. When you plug her in and flip the switch, what happens? Does the motor try to turn with much squealing? Is there any audible internal sound at all? Do the tubes light up? Does the run motor try to turn the generator shaft, but the generator is frozen (due to lack of annual oiling?) Is the organ totally dead? Just curious.
(Trivia: I believe the L100 was the first Hammond to use the "self-starting" run motor. The classic A100, B,C, RT organs all use the original 2-motor system. A start motor to get the generator up to speed, then a second synchronus run motor to drive the generator at constant speed. The synchronus run motor produces no torque, thus the initial start motor was needed. It was sort of like starting an old car with a crank! All the valuable tonewheel Hammonds out there today have the 2-switch start system, and many people think the organ will not work simply because they don't know how to properly start the thing! That's a great clue to check if you have a Hammond that is worth considerable money today: look for the 2-switch starting system. If it just has the single on/off switch, it is much less desireable today.)
Hammond tonewheel organs were built to the highest of engineering and furniture standards of the day, to last for many, many generations. They were actually "over engineered" in many respects. They were built to be repaired, not discarded and replaced at the first sign of trouble as today's junk is made. The last full-time Hammond exclusive repairman in Tulsa died about 6 years ago, so these days if the owner wants to keep his Hammond in top shape, you have to know about basic things. I am no electronics expert either, but know much about Hammonds from being a 40-year owner, player, and history buff. The great thing about a vintage, well maintained tonewheel Hammond is most common fixes are relatively cheap and easy to do.
Sorry, in all my previous discussions of Hammond tonewheel models, I failed to mention the R100 series, the very last tonewheel models introduced in 1970. The R100 series was an extension of the E100 organs, with built in Hammond Rhythm II drum machine and and internal Leslie Rotosonic speaker. The R100 lacked any Hammond vibrato system, the thinking being that the Leslie would compensate. It did not.
Hello all.
I just wanted to add a little tid bit to the conversation on Hammonds. I have found through some digging of my own, that it was recommended to take a hair dryer to the tone generator to loosen up and emulsify any oils that may have gotten coagulated inside the tone generator.
THIS WORKED! I have a Hammond CV organ, (which I recently have put on the market), and I was able to get that grinding generator sound to go away after weeks and weeks of trials.
I believe the problem was that the oiling funnels themselves were gummed up, and the oil I was putting in to the funnels was not reaching the tone generator.
So try this if you are having trouble! Ttyl,
quote:
Originally posted by nurseeroc
Hello all.
I just wanted to add a little tid bit to the conversation on Hammonds. I have found through some digging of my own, that it was recommended to take a hair dryer to the tone generator to loosen up and emulsify any oils that may have gotten coagulated inside the tone generator.
THIS WORKED! I have a Hammond CV organ, (which I recently have put on the market), and I was able to get that grinding generator sound to go away after weeks and weeks of trials.
I believe the problem was that the oiling funnels themselves were gummed up, and the oil I was putting in to the funnels was not reaching the tone generator.
So try this if you are having trouble! Ttyl,
Thanks nurseeroc, yes heat applied can loosen gummed up tonewheels and bearings, but my thoughts are that this will only be a temporary fix. Sounds like your problems were caused by the wrong oil being fed to the generator. Hammond service manuals also recommended a liberal spraying of WD-40 to loosen gummed up components.
In all, only use a wax-free turbine oil when oiling a Hammond generator or vibrato scanner. This oil is cheap and readily available today from Hammond restorations shops and dealers all over the U.S., either locally or via the internet. Do it right the first time, and save yourself months of expense and headaches later. People sometimes oil a Hammond generator with 3-In-1, even auto motor oil. This is a big "no-no" and an invitation to disaster. Removing the generator and de-gunking is not cheap, as hundreds of wires must be unsoldiered, and resoldiered. Hammond tone generators use windings of tiny cotton threads to deliver lubricating oil to the hundreds of moving parts in the generator. It uses only gravity and capillary action to move the oil along the threads and deliver it to all the moving parts. A neglected tone generator may take weeks, months to cure all squeaks using the proper oil, but it will fix itself eventually. They sure don't build them like that anymore.
The oiling funnels on the generator just funnel the oil to a trough, where the cotton threads soak it up and deliver the oil to the parts via capillary action. When you put oil in the funnels, it should disappear down the system within 3-4 seconds. If not, your oil funnels are clogged with debris.
Hammonds have a sound all of their own,my father always had one,great instrument!
quote:
Originally posted by mdunn
Hammonds have a sound all of their own,my father always had one,great instrument!
So right mdunn! A unique American invention. The first Hammond organ in 1934 was intended to be a cheap alternative to the traditional pipe organ, cheaper true, but in replacing the pipe organ, it failed. But in the process, the Hammond Organ Company created a unique American instrument with its own sound, later to become a mainstay of blues, gospel, black churches and rock bands worldwide.
What is so phenominal about Hammond tonewheel organs, besides the unique sounds, is the build quality. These beasts were built to last for 200+ years. With proper maintenance, a Hammond tonewheel organ will live on for 100's of years, as long as the organ has been properly oiled and vacuum tubes are available.
I find it very ironic that all digital keyboard manufacturers today try to emulate the "Hammond Sound." They can't exactly, and they never will given all the complex specifics of the mechanical tonewheel generator, the keyboard contacts, the tube preamp, etc. Even the new "B-3" manufactured by Hammond-Suzuki of Japan has resorted to the original 9-buss bar mechanical key contact arangement of the original Hammond organs, to include the "key click" sound so distinctive of the Hammond Organ. Brand new digital Hammonds cost $30,000 today; you can pick up a vintage B-3 with Leslie for much less than $10,000 depending on the local market, and have great vintage Hammond gear that will outlive you and sound magnificent with proper normal maintenance.
Steve,
I suppose someone did use oil other than the right kind in the past. I used that trick in February, waiting a little while, and it went away, and has not been back!
Do you know where I can find a good source of Hammond drawbars? I've contacted the local repair man Mr. Wheeler, and haven't heard back from him yet. I know he is VERY busy, so I'm just waiting patiently.
ALSO, I have a blog, as well as a new friend of mine in Europe over the process of our restoring the L122, and the L143 back to working order. Visit:
www.hammondl143.blogspot.com
and
www.hammondl122.blogspot.com
I'm in charge of the L143. I could use some tips on cleaning materials as well. This L143 was in storage, and I believe mice urinated on it, thus leading to the formation of rust in a lot of the housings. This is also what lead to the demise of the drawbars I seek. I need to replace them STAT.
Any help would be great. I'm using CLR sparingly to clean the keys, and the key supports. I would love input on how to get rid of this rust,.....not even CLR is taking it off!
-Eric
quote:
Originally posted by Conan71
I noticed in your last post a mention of Booker T. Jones. I love Booker T. & the MG's. I've got their best of collection- plenty of great Hammond stuff in there. I've lost count of who all else he sat in with over the years.
Didn't Boston also rely heavily on a B-3 Hammond?
Benmont Tench, the keyboardist with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, is an exceptional B-3 player.
So's the fellas with Counting Crows and Jakob Dylan.
And I've been wracking my brain for weeks trying to remember this one until today ... I listened to a CD a few years ago by Moe Denham, who recorded an album titled "The Soul Jazz Sessions." It all featured Moe's playing on the B-3, and the sound he produced was fat and pleasing. A most enjoyable CD.
More here:
http://www.moedenham.com/index.html
quote:
Originally posted by nurseeroc
Steve,
I suppose someone did use oil other than the right kind in the past. I used that trick in February, waiting a little while, and it went away, and has not been back!
Do you know where I can find a good source of Hammond drawbars? I've contacted the local repair man Mr. Wheeler, and haven't heard back from him yet. I know he is VERY busy, so I'm just waiting patiently.
-Eric
Your heat trick may have been a permanent fix, if the oiling system was not severly gunked up by impropper oil. I hope so. Time will tell.
Replacement drawbars are seen all the time on EBAY, for all various models of Hammonds. Just search "Hammond Organ" on EBAY and a multitude of spare parts will pop up.
I am a member of the Internet Hammond discussion forum:
http://www.zeni.net/pipermail/hammond/
This is the address for the forum archives, which are searchable. Go to the homepage and join. This discussion group is full of top-notch Hammond tallent from all around the world, and Hammond repair folks that really know their stuff. An invaluable resource for keeping our prized organs in top condition. There are often parts for sale posted here, but mainly priceless technical info. about maintaining Hammonds.
Mice and rodents can be a bigtime problem for Hammonds that have been left in storage. As far as rust removal, I can't answer your questions, but join the Hammond list I referrenced and post your questions. I am sure you will get many replies and fix suggestions. I do know a product that is a big friend of the Hammond owner is "Caig Deoxit D5." I always have several cans on hand. A great lubricant, deoxidation cleaner. Used to clean electric contacts and clean/lubricate drawbar contacts.
I have a Hammond CV, S6, and L143 for sale if anyone is interested!
The organs for sale are on craigslist.
http://tulsa.craigslist.org/msg/719961862.html
Check them out if you are interested!
-Eric
Bought an X-77 w/ Leslie cabinet back in August. Could use some advice about whom to contact in Tulsa for service.
quote:
Originally posted by Krëg
Bought an X-77 w/ Leslie cabinet back in August. Could use some advice about whom to contact in Tulsa for service.
Sent you a private message & email. Will phone tonight to discuss. Great to find another Hammond owner/fan in Tulsa.
Steve
[;)]Hi everyone
I own a hammond dolphin organ.
I lately changed a defective device on the tone generator board (vibrato was not working).
Now it's working very well, but i don't know
what would be the right calibration for the rate and depth vibrato. (2 potentiometer to calibrate).
I own a scope and a frequencymeter to perform this.
My question: Does anyone know how much the frequency should shift +/- when we turn on a vibrato ? (depth)
And at what rate speed ?
What are the usual specifications for a vibrato on an organ ?
The vibrato button on my keyboard has 2 speed position.
thanks .
vianney
quote:
Originally posted by vivi
[;)]I own a hammond dolphin organ.
I lately changed a defective device on the tone generator board (vibrato was not working).
Now it's working very well, but i don't know
what would be the right calibration for the rate and depth vibrato. (2 potentiometer to calibrate).
vianney
I emailed you the schematic for the MDD generator board per your request, but have yet to hear any reply or acknowledgement from you. I can only assume you received these files and they were helpful. You're welcome.
I have briefly scanned my Hammond Concorde 2100-2300 service manual and can not find details of the vibrato rate adjustment at first scan. I will double-check of course at my convenience.
You mention the vibrato is now working very well. Vibrato I should be a rather shallow, slow pitch variation. Vibrato II should be about double, in pitch and speed. Vibrato III, if your organ is capable and usually a combo of I & II, should be a slightly stronger version of Vibrato II.
Just play it by ear. If the vibrato now functions to your liking, leave it alone. You can always play with the pot adjustments and find the optimal level to your own tastes. At least it is now apparently functioning normally. Any setting that you arrive at should have no affect on the playability and proper functioning of the console.
Hi Steve,
I didn't receive anything by email yet.
Probably an email server somewhere failed to delivery..
Anyway i found what i was looking for on the web. The X-5 hammond organ has the same MDD generator as my Dolphin organ. I found the calibration procedure for the vibrato. The speed should be adjust to 6.8 hz (150ms), and stay the same for vibrato I and II.
And you are right for the pitch, it should be exactly the double from vib 1 to 2.
I picked-up this organ from my neighbor's garbage. People throw everything these days.. Made in 1977. Fully electronic, with a built in leslie. It doesn't wort much compare to your tonwewheel's ones i suppose. My mother will have fun with it.[:)]
see ya
quote:
Originally posted by vivi
Hi Steve,
I didn't receive anything by email yet.
Probably an email server somewhere failed to delivery..
Anyway i found what i was looking for on the web. The X-5 hammond organ has the same MDD generator as my Dolphin organ. I found the calibration procedure for the vibrato. The speed should be adjust to 6.8 hz (150ms), and stay the same for vibrato I and II.
And you are right for the pitch, it should be exactly the double from vib 1 to 2.
I picked-up this organ from my neighbor's garbage. People throw everything these days.. Made in 1977. Fully electronic, with a built in leslie. It doesn't wort much compare to your tonwewheel's ones i suppose. My mother will have fun with it.[:)]
see ya
I emailed you the schematic in 3 files for the MDD Concorde board, didn't receive any problem message, so I assumed you received it. Glad you got the info. you needed.
Non-tonewheel Hammonds aren't worth anything on the secondary market, but the musical sounds are all a matter of personal taste. I love my tonewheel A102/Leslie 251, and I also love my Concorde 2307M/Leslie 710. Both entirely different beasts, but I appreciate them both.
I have had a old Hammond CV for about 16 years now. A couple I know moved into a house and the previous owners had left the CV and a DR-20 tone cabinet behind. I told my friend that it was a Hammond Tonewheel organ and he said that I could have it if I could haul it off OR it would go to the dump - ?!!
I have kept it oiled and happy ever since taking possession but I have a few questions you might help me with. I later found another deal on a Leslie 147 that a couple inherited and was going to turn it into a "wine cabinet" if they could not find a buyer. I bought pre-amp and a B+ module to power the organ without the tone cabinet but I am a little apprehensive about installing something with 200+ DC current involved. Do you or know of anybody that services Hammond Organs in the Tulsa area. I also wanted to get a basic evaluation - does it need new capacitors, tubes, etc.
I also do not play keyboard(s) but love the sound and want to learn - can you recommend someone that teaches piano/organ for adults. I would like to learn some basic jazz/pop/rock and the appropriate draw-bar settings.
My organ was built in 1945 and it amazes me that it still works and sounds great.
-Scott
quote:
Originally posted by alfaranch
I have had a old Hammond CV for about 16 years now. A couple I know moved into a house and the previous owners had left the CV and a DR-20 tone cabinet behind. I told my friend that it was a Hammond Tonewheel organ and he said that I could have it if I could haul it off OR it would go to the dump - ?!!
I have kept it oiled and happy ever since taking possession but I have a few questions you might help me with. I later found another deal on a Leslie 147 that a couple inherited and was going to turn it into a "wine cabinet" if they could not find a buyer. I bought pre-amp and a B+ module to power the organ without the tone cabinet but I am a little apprehensive about installing something with 200+ DC current involved. Do you or know of anybody that services Hammond Organs in the Tulsa area. I also wanted to get a basic evaluation - does it need new capacitors, tubes, etc.
My organ was built in 1945 and it amazes me that it still works and sounds great.
-Scott
Great questions Scott. There are Hammonds around today from 1934-1935 that are still going strong. These babys were built to last, amazing hand-crafted quality that will never be duplicated again. Your CV, properly maintained, should last another 100 years.
A Leslie 147 can be easily hooked up to a CV with a new Leslie 6147 kit that is manufactured today. It is hard to answer your questions without seeing the organ and assessing its condition. Any tube amps/preamps that are 60 years old should definately be rebuilt and have resistors & capacitors replaced, tubes checked and/or replaced, tube sockets checked & cleaned, and an overall "check-up." I would also recommend having all amps/preamps fused to prevent damage if not done so already. Hammond didn't believe much in fuses, and if a rectifier tube blows, it can fry a transformer and cause expensive damage. This happened to the reverb amp in my A100 and I now have all amps and preamps fused to prevent this from happening again. A preamp rebuild can restore amazing brilliance and punch to old tonewheel Hammonds and make it sound as good as new.
Check out this Hammond forum:
http://www.zeni.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hammond
The guys on this Hammond forum can expertly answer nearly any question you may have.
All the long-time Hammond techs in Tulsa have died. A man named Patrick Burnham with Tulsa Piano did some work for me, removing and reinstalling my A102 preamp after it was rebuilt out of state. He also did a keyboard buss bar cleaning job for me, no small job, so he is pretty knowledgeable about tonewheel Hammonds. His phone is 855-9942; it has been 2 years or so since I have been in contact with him, but this is the last contact info I have.
Rick Prevalett runs a very highly respected Hammond/Leslie repair/restoration company in Kansas City called Tonewheel General Hospital. They say he does expert work, but you would have to transport the organ or parts to him for restoration. His website is www.tonewheelgeneral.com Email him and I am sure he would be glad to answer any of your questions. To my knowledge, this is the closest Hammond expert shop to Tulsa. Patrick Burnham in Tulsa did great work for me for labor, but for outright amp rebuilding with proper parts and expertise, I wouldn't trust any local Tulsa outfits.
Many Hammond fans believe the CV and its sucessor the C2 (along with the BV,B2) were the best sounding consoles Hammond ever made, lots of guts, punch and growl when properly restored. I'm a big fan of the A100. It's all a matter of personal taste however, the "heart and soul" tonewheel generator didn't change much from 1934 to 1975.
Hi Steve,
Thank you so much for the information.
I had purchased my upgrades and mods from Rick Prevalett in the past - great (and patient) guy to deal with. He walked me thru hooking up the B+ power supply so I could (with the use of a Trekk 1/4" tap out module and a Speakeasy Leslie preamp) power the CV without the tone cabinet. I am guessing the approach you mentioned is more correct but I got it all installed and passed the "smoke test".
When you mentioned the "growl & punch" of the old CV this really came out thru the Leslie 147. I could not believe how amazing it sounded! With all of the draw bars out and the 147 spinning I could hear the late/great Billy Preston in the sound.
I plan to take your advice and change out the tubes just to be safe. A guy that helped me move it mentioned a local Hammond service/repairman - Richard Wheeler. I didn't know if you are familiar with him or his work.
I really like the A100 series. Seems like you get the great sounds of the B3 in a much more manageable size cabinet. That is the one issue I have with the C console - pretty big for home use. Also have heard some players online say they prefer the sound of the A100 over a B3 or C3.
Thanks also for introducing this forum subject. I am glad to see local Tulsa fans of such a great and unique instrument.
-Scott
Glad for your response Scott and that you have had positive experiences with Rick and his KC shop. I have recommended Rick and Tonewheel General to many people, and you are the first feedback I have heard that confirmed my advice as good!
Many people say that the best Hammond B3 ever made was an A100! Introduced in 1959, the A100 series has entirely the same guts as the B/C, just in a different furniture cabinet, and the A100 has built in reverb, power amp and speakers. It was Hammonds very first "self contained" console model. I have an A102, the "02" designating the french provincial furniture style. I love my console reverb/speaker sound in conjunction with my Leslie 251. Total nirvana for me, fills my home with the great Hammond tonewheel sound. Hammonds are filled with electronic components that age differently, and you can have two identical instruments that were manufactured on the same day, and today sound totally different. If you got a Hammond today that sounds great to your ears, leave well enough alone and don't tinker too much. Replace tubes and components that are known to present safety issues with age, but other than that, they were built to last for 100 years or more.
I changed out all the tubes in my Hammond A102 and Leslie 251 about 2 years ago; I bought all NOS U.S. made tubes, such as Tung Sol, Westinghouse, RCA. It wasn't cheap, cost me about $400 for all tubes, the most expensive being the NOS Tung Sol 6550's I bought for the Leslie. I saved all known good original tubes for spares. My Hammond A102 built in 1964 still had many original tubes with the red Hammond labels. Hammond and Leslie amps don't put much stress on the tubes, and they will last for 40+ years or more unless you intentionally overdrive or distort regularly.
Glad to find another Hammond fan. Where would rock & roll, gospel, blues music be today without the wonderfull sound of the tonewheel Hammond organ? Current digital/computer simulations can come close, but for the player, nothing beats the sound, keyboard action, and overall playing enjoyment of a vintage Hammond organ. I adore the waterfall keyboard design of my A102. It makes you WANT to practice and be a better player, and I think that is a great hallmark of a quality musical instrument.
Hi Steve and everyone else. I found this topic while searching for information on a Hammond 2100 I just saved. A co-worker of mine became the executor for his fathers estate (unfortunatly) and had the 1974 Concord 2100. When he told me he was going to take it to the dump with a lot of other stuff. Being a keyboard player, I freaked and grabbed it! Now I find two things about it: 1. Everyone in the world hates this model. 2. It doesn't work. Boy, I feel like a chump. Now it's sitting in my garage, still on the trailer and the wife is looking at me with the "so when is it going to go" look. That's the history so far.
Now, here is where I am at. The power light came on, the Leslie turns, and the casset works, just no sound. I figured that some fuse or the other was blown so I dug the power amp out (silver box, back left side under leslie unit) and sure enough I found 6 fuses and two 4 amp fuses were blown. I replaced them (pain, I am not very good at soldering) and turned on the organ. Heard the speakers start up for about 4 seconds then, oops, back to square one. When I checked the fuses, I found that only one was now blown. Progress!? Now I'm stumped, mainly because I dont really know what all of the electronic "doo-dads" on the circuit boards are. Being a curious sort and not knowing better, I have fixed other electronic stuff before using schematics and being just plain lucky.
With that said, Steve you mentioned in one of your post that the manual you had for your 2300 also noted the 2100? Does it have any schematics for the power amp? I'm pretty sure I can find the root cause if I could follow the trail on that one fuse and start looking for a dead short or a component that has "let the magic smoke out". If you could do me the favor and just give me a short reply either here or a quick email at Bricon123 @ Comcast. net (plz ingnore the spaces, I put them in there to avoid email robots that scan message boards for email address's)
Hopefully this thread is still active and you all are still getting notices of replys. I would really appriciate your help if you have any ideas.
Thanks :)
-Brian-
Quote from: bricon123 on July 29, 2009, 12:44:22 PM
With that said, Steve you mentioned in one of your post that the manual you had for your 2300 also noted the 2100? Does it have any schematics for the power amp? I'm pretty sure I can find the root cause if I could follow the trail on that one fuse and start looking for a dead short or a component that has "let the magic smoke out". If you could do me the favor and just give me a short reply either here or a quick email at Bricon123 @ Comcast. net (plz ingnore the spaces, I put them in there to avoid email robots that scan message boards for email address's) Hopefully this thread is still active and you all are still getting notices of replys. I would really appriciate your help if you have any ideas.
Thanks :)
-Brian-
Hi! Not everyone in the organ world hates the Hammond Concorde. I for one love my 2307M Concorde, although I would never own a 2100 series except for parts. Too many problems with that one. Even the 2300 series are very maintenance heavy the older they get, but I love its rich, deep, vibrant theater organ sounds, especially when paired with the external Leslie 710 cabinet, which I have.
My factory service manual has all the schematics for both 2100 and 2300 series. What is the serial # of your console? After serial #376837, they made some changes and have additional data for those later 2100 organs. Give me a few days, but I will try to do some scans and email to you. I have schematics and layout for the 35 watt amp board, power supply board (the plugin circuit boards on the amp), and the entire power supply assembly for both 2100 and 2300 series. Steve
It's so great to stumble across this discussion. I'm in Toronto Canada, and had a new 2100 series Concorde that got severely damaged over the years. I picked up two more just like it this year, and one works almost perfect. I keep the others for parts. Have a problem on this one though, thought someone might have an idea. The 8' drawbar on the lower manual registers full open for either drawbar preset whether full out or totally pushed in. It doesn't really mess up any registrations seriously, but I would like to track down this problem and make it right. I do have an original schematic book but I can't find any clues in it about this.
Appreciate any help with this.
Thanks
Bob
Quote from: bobnad on November 24, 2009, 12:38:30 AM
It's so great to stumble across this discussion. I'm in Toronto Canada, and had a new 2100 series Concorde that got severely damaged over the years. I picked up two more just like it this year, and one works almost perfect. I keep the others for parts. Have a problem on this one though, thought someone might have an idea. The 8' drawbar on the lower manual registers full open for either drawbar preset whether full out or totally pushed in. It doesn't really mess up any registrations seriously, but I would like to track down this problem and make it right. I do have an original schematic book but I can't find any clues in it about this.
Appreciate any help with this.
Thanks
Bob
The first thing I would do would be raise the top panel and the metal panel containing the preset tabs directly above the drawbars. This will completely expose the drawbar mechanisms for servicing. Check that 8' drawbar for any loose connections or broken wires and clean the metal contact strip with Deoxit spray. In fact, this would be a good time to just go ahead and clean all the drawbars. The wires to the drawbars are not soldered but simply plug in to metal tabs on the back end of the drawbar. Perhaps you have a broken wire or corroded connection that needs cleaning.
Thanks much. Didn't even give that area a thought....I'm always looking for something more complex.
Another problem that is recurrent is that the percussion colored tabs including piano solo (not the blue or white tabs) very often are active in a low volume even when not depressed and no keys are being played. Piano solo makes it even louder. It makes a messy sound like a handful of random keys are being played together. Every time this happens I open 'er up, jiggle this and that, and all is OK, until the next session. I HAVE cleaned every PWB connector in the entire organ. I did however not yet do the tabs or drawbars. I think I'll do them next and see what happens.
Another problem....just a lot of white noise when the organ is on and nothing is being played. The 'hum' almost sounds like an old tube amp. Can I do anything about that one?
Last, for now, is that I get a POP when switching the internal leslie from Slow to Fast and vice versa.
Thanks again very much.
Bob
Hi i have just been given Hammond Concorde 2300 series black and walnut case,i beleive you can take the sides of the organ off to aid getting through door any idea how i do this thanks Duncan, Cambridge, England.