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    Frederik Magle
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Hammond Organs

principal07

New member
Can anybody here tell me about the Hammond RT-3? Would it be a good practice organ for me, even if I am playing a classic-style organ at synagogue/church?
 

Thomas Dressler

New member
I don't know enough about Hammonds to know what the RT-3 is, but I'm guessing it's one of the ones with drawbars and a pedalboard the goes up to around C or so? I used to practice on one many years ago when I was first learning. I wouldn't say it was all that great, but it was better than nothing. I'd say if you can practice on a real organ, do that, but if it's the only thing, then it's better than nothing!
 

Krummhorn

Administrator
Staff member
ADMINISTRATOR
I found this site for a Hammond RT-3. There are sound clips for listening, unfortunately all with chimes. I must admit that I've never heard Arioso by JS Bach with wild vibrato AND chimes ... that's just gotta make JS roll over in his grave ... :nut: lol.

Could possibly be a good practice instrument ... sans the vibratos ... :rolleyes:
 
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Arvin B

New member
Hammond

The Hammond rt-3 is the organ Hammond made with church / classical organists in mind. It has a 32 note concave, radiating pedalboard and a "pedal solo" unit. I'm not sure if the pedalboard is AGO spec., but it's probably close enough for practice.

So it could do for practice, espicially when you keep in mind that Hammonds are considered more reliable than anything else of that era, and they can be repaired thanks to continued interest from fields other than classical music.

But lets also talk about what a Hammond is, and what it isn't. First what it is: IMHO it is an instrument. It produces its own sound via the tone wheels. That is in contrast to something that simply imitates using recordings. And if you like the sound, it can be really quite nice. IMHO it does have a musical quality to it. The pop music world has been recording them for over 50 years now, and they still like them. Same with Jazz. As far as what its not - it's not a good rendition of a pipe organ. It doesn't sound even close, but that doesn't mean it can be used for practice. I have a friend that uses a pedal piano for practice.
 

methodistgirl

New member
hammonds

I don't really care for the hammond organ. I played one when I was a
kid and to me they sound like a toy. The chord organ I had at home
sounded better! Why don't you try a small wulitzer of the same size.
Now they do sound good.
judy tooley:D
 

jimmayor007

New member
Hammond Organs... B3 C3 A100 M3 And Leslie Speakers

here are some basic buying and owning suggestions:
1) Do not buy any organ without having the chance to inspect it first !

2) When buying a Leslie, know WHAT you are buying... and that you must also buy a Leslie hook up kit for the organ that matches the Leslie, and a cable...

3) Leslie speakers are not all the same even though they may LOOK the same... some have low rotor only... some have low rotor and upper horn... some have no horn or rotor at all ! Some are solid state... others are tubes... some are single speed... others are two speed...

4) Try to maintain your Hammond Organ yourself... at a minimum, oil it once a year, clean the tube sockets, clean the drawbars... use an Orange Oil polish or similar product on the wood.

5) Buying an organ that has been properly serviced is something you will want to consider... if you are buying from a home owner, then finding a tech in your area that can work with you is VERY important if you do not wish to maintain the organ yourself.

6) Hammond Organs are HEAVY ! Think twice before moving that 300 - 500 lb organ up or down a flight of stairs... always ask... are there steps ? how many ? can you help me move it ? are there any unpaved areas that the organ must be carried over ?

7) Call around to local rental companies or piano stores and rent a set of ROK or similar ORGAN DOLLIES before moving a Hammond Organ... they strap one on each side of the organ, have handles and the wheels "step" down... makes moving a "beast" a LOT easier !

...read the full guide with pics here
 

methodistgirl

New member
The hammond

Humm! Impressive! Like I said the hammon I played was much smaller than
the one you show on Ebay. It did sound like a toy because it was so
small. For bass pedals it only had one octive on it. Sad right! The newer
ones like what's on ebay is much larger. I doubt that the hammond I
played ever had even half of a rank in it. Churches of any size deserves
better than what they had. It was way too small. Unlike the organ I
play now with 24 ranks and sounds like a voice from heaven.
judy tooley
 

janny108

New member
hammond organ

Is this organ still being used today? I heard some rock groups in the past have used the Hammond organ. Has a majestic sound to it.
Jan
 

Mat

Sr. Regulator
Staff member
Sr. Regulator
Regulator
Of course it is. Especially in jazz music. This is a wonderful instrument, it gives so many possibillites to the player. It has this characteristic sound- when you hear it you know it's hammond :). And the players? For example Jimmy Smith, great jazz musician.
 

Arvin B

New member
Is this organ still being used today? I heard some rock groups in the past have used the Hammond organ. Has a majestic sound to it.
Jan

Yes the Hammond B3 is absolutely still being used! Recording studios love them, rock bands love them, and jazz certainly love them.
 

greatcyber

New member
Can Anyone Identify This Hammond Organ Model?

Hi All,

I am new to the forums, joining just last night. I am retired and have just moved from the US to Canada...that was a relief in and of itself. Now I find myself with time to devote to developing a hobby and I have decided to return to a previous love affair with the organ. In youth, I used to play the pipe organ in church. At home, we had a Hammond B3 that my mother used to play and I took lessons on. But once I got to play that big old pipe organ, gee, did I love to rattle the windows of the church playing some Bach!

I was hoping when we moved here to find an abandoned church that was for sale, especially if it had a pipe organ, but that was before the real estate market in the states hit the dumps. Our $500K home sold for only $265K and we couldn't afford to buy so we opted to rent instead.

Now, with only 2 bedrooms, I have taken one of them as my office/studio. I'm about to trade the guest bed for a futon to have even more space.

I am trying to make a virtual pipe organ and have the demo version of Hauptwerk as well as Miditzer and several others. But rather than pile several midi keyboards on top of each other and then get a pedal board, I found a site that said you can modify an electronic or even electric organ to be midi-compatible for under $300. This has a lot of appeal.

I found a rather unique Hammond for sale in our area that a mover is selling. A picture is attached (sorry for the quality, I didn't take the pic) but after searching for over several days, I cannot for the life of me, identify which model it might be.

If anyone may be able to identify it for me, I would certainly appreciate it. I would love to research it further just to see what I might be getting myself into before I commit to purchasing it.

Thanks in advance for your help.

By the way, has anyone tried the Pianoteq virtual piano software yet? I also have that demo version and am going to a demonstration in town next week to see it in action. It is from France and the sound is absolutely AMAZING! From concert grand to harpsichord, to organ sounds, it gives me chills.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

View attachment 564
 

methodistgirl

New member
The one in your picture is much newer than the one I played. The one
I played was bought back in the 50's where I went to church then.
judy tooley
 

Krummhorn

Administrator
Staff member
ADMINISTRATOR
. . . . .
I found a rather unique Hammond for sale in our area that a mover is selling. A picture is attached (sorry for the quality, I didn't take the pic) but after searching for over several days, I cannot for the life of me, identify which model it might be.

Hi greatcyber,

The model in the picture you supplied is the Hammond Concorde ... there is a better picture (click here) of this instrument showing more detail. I've seen them priced on the internet between $2,395 and $3,460 on one site. (USD)

How much is the mover asking for this organ?
 

greatcyber

New member
OMG!

I guess it's a great deal, as he will sell it and deliver it for only $500!

Thanks so much for your help.
 

Krummhorn

Administrator
Staff member
ADMINISTRATOR
Sounds like a super deal ...
Wonder though, how long it has set idle in the movers warehouse?
It may need some TLC to get up and running if that time period of silence has spanned a year or so.
 

greatcyber

New member
Sitting in Storage

Hi KH,

According to the gent at the moving company, the organ has been there less than a year. He also says that it is in very good working order. I plan on going out to see/hear/play it next week. He is motivated to sell as he is coming into his busy season with moves and needs the storage space. He even told me he would "throw in a small organ and/or an upright piano if I would like." I thanked him, but unless he has a midi keyboard sitting around, I sure don't need another organ if I get that monster. As for pianos, well, I have my casio keyboard and with the Pianoteq software, I can play it and have it sound like a harpsichord or even a beautiful concert grand. That program is AWESOME. If you also like pianos, you should get the demo version. It is available at http://www.pianoteq.com.

I tell you, I am like a kid in a candy store. Since you were kind enough to provide me with the model number of the Commodore, I did further research and found a guy in the states who has owner's and service manuals for almost all the Hammond models. I even found 2 guys who both have this model (with the ebony/walnut/chrome) and one told the other how to fix his when some of the keys stopped working...including cleaning the contacts with a special solvent and even using a standard-type eraser if the corrosion isn't too bad.

So, I'm hoping to get 3 boards to insert that will allow each manual and the pedal board to adapt to midi. So I don't think I could be happier.

And, since reading how many on here get to practice an hour a week in local churches, I'm thinking of asking some of the churches in our neighborhood if I might be able to do the same. There are some grand old churches that I'm quite sure have some fabulous organs in them.

On another point, are you familiar with a Danish organist by the name of Carlo Curly? Or maybe it's Carlo Conti (getting old, you know). He used to be very good friends of a couple of my friends when I lived in Atlanta about 15 years ago. He would visit for a month every year. He gave "private" concerts in a few churches for a close group of friends...they'd all go in at night with bottles of wine and he would just lose himself at the keyboards.

Unfortunately, I was never privy to those, but I have heard him play on records (see, an oldie) and he would also play their grand piano at their house. It was quite a privilege.
 

greatcyber

New member
I just had a phone call this morning from the moving company that is selling the Hammond organ that was the impetus for bringing me to this forum in the first place. Now that the company is past their very busy period they have plugged in the organ to make sure that it does, in fact, still work. They told me it does.

Not being able to leave the house for anything other than short period for the past 8 weeks due to having picked up a parasite somewhere, I finally started to get better last week...after losing 20 pounds to "intestinal disfortitude." So they are going to have it all set up and waiting for me to hear it and check out all the stops and drawbars.

As I plan to turn it into a MIDI machine, I'm pretty certain that I will make arrangements to have it delivered as soon as possible. It will be so nice to have two manuals and a full pedalboard again.

I guess I'll have to spring for an external midi controller device and a couple of touch screens since I am almost positive that I will be purchasing Hauptwerk software.

The organ is a Commodore model as KH was kind enough to identify for me. I'm quite excited about it. I had bought a couple of Opcode controllers, but I didn't realize that they are for use with Apple computers and I have a PC.

I know in another thread that KH said that he can't use a laptop due to not being able to touch type on the smaller keyboard. My laptop is a real powerhouse (actually, it is a gaming machine and is almost perfect for my uses) and I agree with the keyboard issue. I can get used to it, but I wound up getting a wireless keyboard and mouse to attach to it, so it isn't any problem for me. It's just nice having a laptop that is more powerful than many folks desktops.

Will keep you informed on my progress.

Stephen
 

Krummhorn

Administrator
Staff member
ADMINISTRATOR
Hi Stephen,

Happy to hear that the advice given here has been helpful. How far do you have to travel to see this Hammond? You mentioned (I think) it was in the states, but I'm often wrong ... senior moments ya know.

Indeed, some laptop systems are lots more powerful than a conventional system. Nice find obtaining a wireless standard keyboard to operate that computer. It all boils down to what works for each of us.
 

greatcyber

New member
Right about the computers. I needed to replace the old laptop anyway as we take it when we travel. That way we can keep in touch and use it to watch movies. It has a 17" wide screen monitor.

No, the organ is local; it's about a half hour away. I can hardly wait to check it out. Will let you know.

Stephen
 
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