Hammond Organs

[Krummhorn]

Stephen,

Any progress update on this project?

[greatcyber]

Funny you should ask... Just 2 days ago I decided to take the back off, lift the top up and fold down the "innerds." I then used the de-oxit to clean up most of the contacts. Since that didn't help with the chiprping c's, I sent another email to the piano storage place from which I purchased the organ and once again asked for the info for an organ tech. They responded yesterday with the name and number of a tech but then told me that they only "know" of him but have no personal experience with him and have never met him so they couldn't vouch for his expertise. They wished me luck.

I have a call in to him and hope to have him out at his earliest convenience to give me his opinion. I'm sure we'll start with a good cleaning and oiling and go from there. As soon as the c's are fixed then I will start with the modification process to turn it into a midi machine (sorry Hammond). My software packages can make waaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy better sounds than the organ. If it turns out that once I start to use midi with it that the original Hammond sounds go away, I can always use "emulated Hammond synths" from one of about a dozen packages I have now amassed.

I'll surely keep you posted as the progression continues. I'll take a pic of the bench later on. It is in keeping with the style of the organ, but I think it is definitely "unusual" in appearance.

Thanks for asking.

[Corno Dolce]

Aloha GC,

Since you're talking about hammonds, listen to this lass and her *midied* hammond:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl5-ohFTEcU&NR=1&fmt=18

Cheerio,

CD

[greatcyber]

Hi CD,

I REALLY appreciated hearing that. We had a B-3 at home when I was little and that is what I learned on. We had the huge separate cabinet leslie and added a "rhythm ace" to it. My mom always wanted to add a "string base" to it but never got around to affording it.

My Hammond has the string base but only an internal Leslie.

Me thinks I'm going to have a blast with this project!

BTW, did you ever get that Modart Pianoteq program?

[Corno Dolce]

Aloha GC,

Glad you liked Barbara Dennerlein. She's my and my Lady's fave hammond stylist.

Thanx for asking me about the Modart Pianoteq program. I have been so busy with work, domestics, and other projects on my plate. So, thanx for reminding me - its still on the agenda for acquisition and learning

Cheerio,

CD

[greatcyber]

CD, glad to be a memory jogger.

[Corno Dolce]

Aloha GC,

I do verily and truly appreciate your most magnanimous and thoughtful gesture of sending a compressed file. May I take a *raincheck* on that please? Thanx.

Cheerio,

CD

[Albert]

I suggest the first thing you do before even attempting to start the organ is oil the generator. The generator turns at fairly high speed, and I have met several that were really in need of new bearings because of neglecting the lubrication. Hammond generator oil is readily available, even on eBay.

PS - it's not a sound I care for, except in blues.

[Mat]

Hi Stephen,

Well, it's been a while since your last update. And I'd like to hear more about your project. Actually, I do have some questions.

After turning it into a MIDI machine, are you going to *remove* the original Hammond sound somehow?

What do you actually mean by a MIDI machine?

How's the unusual bench working you?


I've been planing to get myself a used (yeah, economics comes first...) keyboard and turn it into a poor substitute (yeah, economics again) of Hammond organ. There's this B4 software available and I think I might get that for myself. Unfortunately, it's not all that easy to find used keyboard here. Furthermore, there's matter of some kind of drawbars and the rest of *switches* controller. Of course, I could controll it all with the computer mouse but the inconvenience... Original Hammond controller costs nearly $400. Looking for a alternative way. Any thoughts?



Cheers and good luck with the beast

[greatcyber]

Hi Mat,

Well, I really haven't started to work on the Hammond conversion too much yet (also economics). I am not quite sure about exactly what will be the best route for me and until I find a good organ tech to give me an opinion I am kind of at a stand still.

I also have the B4 software which makes my casio sound just like the Hammond B3. Since there is an internal Leslie speaker in the Hammond I think it would be silly to remove it. But as for the other internal sounds, I was thinking about just putting a computer inside the Hammond and controlling the sounds with software. There are connectors, I think they are called MOP56, or something similar, but can be found by reading MIDI forums which will allow you to use the switches on the computer to trigger MIDI control changes, etc.

Since I really wanted to get pipe organ sounds, it might just be easier to use an internal computer for this. To control different stops, couplers, etc. I am planning on getting 2 touch screen monitors which will act as virtual stops so I wouldn't be restricted to using a mouse. Of course, I want to make it as easy as possible to change sounds while playing.

Reason has some really nice sound banks. Again, back to economics, if you check out newsgoups, either through your email program (i.e. Outlook) or just get a standalone program, you can get access to all sorts of programs for free. I use giganews.com as my newsreader and the provider is usenet. There are many free sites, but I pay for the premium service (about $20USD/month). That has allowed me to get programs to try to see if they are actually what can be usable for what I want to do. This is also how I download movies and just hook my laptop up to my plasma tv and watch movies that way.

Since I have this problem with the organ which makes some of the "c" notes on the lower manual and one on the pedalboard not work, but rather "chirp" I have this sneaking feeling that it will be expensive to fix. Yet one tech told me that it might be as simple as a loose wire to fix that problem. I have used De-oxit on the contacts to clean off the crud as the organ was in storage for a while, but that didn't fix the problem.

If it turns out that it will cost more than $500 to repair the Hammond, then I think that putting a computer in and using that for ALL of the internal sounds would be a wiser choice for me. I did purchase a midid foot controller that has 2 swell shoes as well as 10 foot switches which can be used as couplers or for selecting different sound banks.

Since several of the tabs are loose and would need to be replaced that is part of my dilemma. If it doesn't cost too much to fix those, then I will go ahead and do that. If that is the case, then I would still have the function of the original Hammond and it's sounds as well as the option of using software driven sounds via the computer.

Let me go through my bookmarks and find the midi forums which I have been researching and I will post the links here and provide you with a better understanding of what I am talking about. But from what I remember, a MOP unit is around $99USD and would control one keyboard. So I would need 3: one each for the manuals and the pedalboard. External midi controllers can be purchased for ease of changing sounds and I am definitely going for easy and not complex. But I do plan on cutting away the fabric which covers the speakers and enlarging the opening where the swell shoe is to make room for the midi foot controller. This will give me 3 swell shoes which will control swell, great and crescendo.

I'm looking to see if I can find push button pistons knobs and will drill holes between the manuals to add these. Then, of course, I would need to get yet another MOP unit to enable these to "talk" to the software.

Check my profile and feel free to email me with specific questions and I can go into a little more detail and provide you with some of the "tricks" I have used to get where I am so far.

I also have found 2 programs (freeware) called Organ Tool and Organizer http://www.organtool.nl/ which allow you to set presets, but you still need to select with a mouse.

Have a good one.

[greatcyber]

I've been playing about inside the Concorde for the past couple of days. It's amazing how time flies. Here I have had this organ for over a year and am only now getting around to fiddling with it. But I went off in too many directions at once, what with all of the virtual progs and my other keyboards and then an audio/visual project took almost 6 months of my time.

For the life of me, I cannot find anywhere to oil the generator in this organ. I know the Leslie also needs to be oiled as it squeals a bit when I turn it on. It also doesn't always work without my giving it a little push from the back. Geez, this thing is filthy inside! All kinds of crud in there. I found a site that shows how to oil the tone generator for a one switch model, but the innards don't look the same in the Concorde. There is only an off/on switch, no start/run switch. Frustrating!

But back on the music computer using Hauptwerk (free) I discovered that at some point I downloaded the Brescia, St. Carlo sample set and it is soooo nice.

[Mat]

Stephen,

I've got a PDF document called The Hammond B3, C3, A100 disassembly & restoration manual for non-technicans. It's a step-by-step guide with lots of detailed pictures. There are few pages about the generator and putting oil on it. I'm not sure if it also includes your particular model, but maybe you could find it useful in some way.

If you're interested, PM me.

Good luck!

[Organ Matters]

Hi!

My 1937 Hammond E has the problem that when one turns Run on, the Starter stops and one cannot hold it on for another 5 seconds. Does anyone know the answer?

Incidentally it has woodworm and I haven't the time or space to treat it properly. Is there anyone in the UK who might be interested in this instrument?

Best wishes

David P

[Desmond Crawford]

Hello everyone.

I'm new here, and found this thread. My Hammond is an RT-2 originally. It has been upgraded to 3 series specs with smooth drawbars/Hammond percussion and AO-28 preamplifier/RF filtering and new tonewheel generator capacitors, along with discrete component replacement (resistors, caps, wiring, etc) just to be safe- after all, 50+ year old wiring and components can fail at the worst imaginable times. Tonally it is up to what a 1970's era B-3 sounds like. When I obtained it, the price was wonderful (FREE! to good home...) and it had
two features that I liked- a Pedal Solo Unit for 4' to 32' stops, and an honest to gosh 32 AGO pedal clavier. For some weird reason I seem to "find my feet" better on a 32 than a 25 flat pedal clavier. After refinishing the console and the pedal clavier, and installing a Hammond Solovox model L to it, I will have what I think is better than a B-3, but that's just my opinion!

These organs have a sound all their own, that even the best of "clonewheel" and software copies just can't entirely nail down. And they work wonderfully for jazz/blues/rock and gospel. Whether they fit in other genres is a question of application and taste. I have heard Motown standards such as "Walkin' The Dog",
"What I Say", "Stop! In The Name Of Love" and
"Superstition" played in true bluegrass fashion with all
traditional acoustic instruments, and, mirabile dictu! it
not only worked, it sounded great! I love all instruments, but I hesitate to categorize them to a genre without a fair trial.

There is a caption that appears before the end credits of the movie "Star Trek III- The Search for Spock"
It reads:

"The Human Adventure Is Just Beginning."

It always is.

your compatriot on the prairie,

Mark, a.k.a. "Desmond Crawford, theater organist"