Hammond Ressurection.

[DummyLoad]

i got a phone call early this afternoon; it seems that a friend of a friend who owns a local studio mentioned that i might take a hammond M101 off her hands b/c she and her new husband are about to move out of state. she was so desperate to unload it that she gave it to me. she requested that i try to revive it or use the parts rather than just scrap it, since it was her fathers who is recently deceased.

this M101 had a cap lead broken and one tone wheel wire broken off. it has telefunken tubes we are going to swap out. hehehe...  

buttery has an M103 that he resurrected a while back and was in the process of unloading, this one however, is in better shape electronically (after we install a 3wire grounded cord and fuse) and cosmetically. the short of all this is we found this M101 organ a new home (buttery's nephew) and we are going to part out buttery's M103 for geetar amps.

everybody's happy.

--DL

[plexi50]

Beautiful piece of craftmanship. Ive had 4 organs the past 2 years. It's hard to gut them because the wood is so nice. I have one in the house i refused to gut out. Nice piece of furniture

[Inca Roads]

I just picked up an old Hammond M-2 for practically nothing with the intention of gutting it, but once I got a look at the insides I found the construction so impressive that I feel guilty about ripping it apart, so I am going to attempt to get it going again.  Every time I look at it now an old Deep Purple or Allman bros song pops into my head.  I read somewhere that Tom Scholz used an M-3 on the early Boston stuff, anybody know ?  I always assume all recorded organ stuff is a B-3, but I'm sure that's not true.

There is so much I don't know about these vintage organs, what was the mechanism that other companies used to generate the tone ?  I would think if any of them used tubes to do this that those would be the ones that would be best for gutting.  I do know that if you are into that kind of thing ( gutting organs) that brands other than Hammond ( Conn, Lowery,Baldwin,Wurltzer) can be had for cheap, or often free if you keep an eye on Craig'slist. A lot of them have a cool little Leslie speaker in them too that could be salvaged and put in it's own cabinet.

[RicharD]

>There is so much I don't know about these vintage organs

http://www.dairiki.org/HammondWiki/HammondMaintainanceAndTroubleshooting

A fellow forumite, GroundHogKen, gave me this link.  It contains excellent tutorials on servicing old Hammond organs.  They're actually pretty dang easy to work on.  The sea of wires seems intimidating, but really it's not.  The amp parts aren't really any different from geetar amps that we mess with.  If you have missing notes, there is a clickable chart that will point you to exactly where to look.  DL and I fixed the missing notes on his organ in minutes.  If you crack into that thang, I'm more than happy to cheer you on.

-Richard

[HotBluePlates]

it has telefunken tubes we are going to swap out. hehehe...

Since you guys seem to mess with a lot of mic preamps, I'd suggest using those Telefunkens in a mic pre, assuming they're the right tube type.

The first tube amp I ever got had all Telefunken preamp tubes, and I loved the sound. However, other folks I knew didn't like them as much in a guitar amp because they were so neutral-sounding. They preferred other tubes that hyped the treble or midrange.

But Telefunkens always seem to sound great in recording equipment.

[JayB]

I just picked up an old Hammond M-2 for practically nothing with the intention of gutting it, but once I got a look at the insides I found the construction so impressive that I feel guilty about ripping it apart, so I am going to attempt to get it going again.  Every time I look at it now an old Deep Purple or Allman bros song pops into my head.  I read somewhere that Tom Scholz used an M-3 on the early Boston stuff, anybody know ?  I always assume all recorded organ stuff is a B-3, but I'm sure that's not true.

There is so much I don't know about these vintage organs, what was the mechanism that other companies used to generate the tone ?  I would think if any of them used tubes to do this that those would be the ones that would be best for gutting.  I do know that if you are into that kind of thing ( gutting organs) that brands other than Hammond ( Conn, Lowery,Baldwin,Wurltzer) can be had for cheap, or often free if you keep an eye on Craig'slist. A lot of them have a cool little Leslie speaker in them too that could be salvaged and put in it's own cabinet.

My Mother had one of the church models with the internal leslie speaker. I had a lot of awesome psychedelic fun with that thing. I had a hell of a time getting it to work when she got it but it was worth it. She sold it years later for some nice coin.

[bigsbybender]

The M-100 series made a bunch of classic recordings.  Procul Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale" was recorded from an M100. Rod Argent from The Zombies and Argent also used M100. It's a good one! In fact the B3/C3 was very rare in the UK so most British Rock used these M-100s and L-100's (E.L.P.) The two major exceptions were Ric Wakeman of Yes and Jon Lord of Deep Purple who used C-3's.

It's True Tom Scholz uses an M3 on Boston stuff.. always did (though I don't know about the status of the band since Brad Delp's death).
The M3 and M100 are very similar, but the M100 has a few more options plus reverb than the M3.

I gig with an M3 when I'm on keys.

[DummyLoad]

we have an update - both organs will get new homes. last night, a band-mate of buttery's agreed to take the M101 off my hands under the condition that i get first right of refusal if he comes to part with it. buttery's nephew get's the M103.

I gig with an M3 when I'm on keys.

if you get a chance to pick up a M10x - do it! the reverb sounds fantastic, but you'll still have essentially the same keyboard.

But Telefunkens always seem to sound great in recording equipment.

IMO, the telefunken pre-amp tubes are best sounding tubes in HI-FI application as well - amperex is a close second and older pre-war EI tesla's a come in third. in geetar amps i prefer sylvania. RCA, & GE for pentode pre-amp in geetar amp, i prefer mullards over all.

--DL

[mojo]

Hey DL, I have a Magnatone M10A with Estey Mullard Tubes throughout. I also picked up a M series Hammond for parts and it had tubes in it marked Hammond but also made in Holland. Do you think these are Amperex?
And on the Mullards, do you think these tubes are of particular value?
Also, the Hammond tubes would say Hammond made in GB or USA. Any thoughts on these tubes?
I like to think that these old used tubes are equal in value to new modern tubes or at least close. What do you think?
Thanks
Mojo

[RicharD]

Only 2 of the tubes are Telefunken, the 12AX7 and one of the 12AU7's, and they are not marked Hammond.  Most of the other tubes are original GE tubes marked Hammond although the reverb amp tubes are all made in GB, but they too are marked Hammond as well.  We saw obvious signs that this organ has been under the knife before, namely cut wires going to the scanner.  I feel certain the Tele's are not original.

[DummyLoad]

Do you think these are Amperex?

it is likely so.

the Mullards, do you think these tubes are of particular value?


check eaby - based on the $$ some are selling for, i'd have to say yes.

Hammond made in GB or USA

compare the build with other US and GB made tubes - the GB marked tubes are likely mullards.

[mojo]

Thanks DL. MY concern is not so much selling the tubes individually, but if you sell an amp with vintage tubes in it, do you swap them out or not? Or if someone asks to buy I'd like to have some idea what I'm doing.
Thanks for the info and all the work you and Buttery do on the forum. Much appreciated.
Al

[stingray_65]

The M-100 series made a bunch of classic recordings.  Procul Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale" was recorded from an M100. Rod Argent from The Zombies and Argent also used M100. It's a good one! In fact the B3/C3 was very rare in the UK so most British Rock used these M-100s and L-100's (E.L.P.) The two major exceptions were Ric Wakeman of Yes and Jon Lord of Deep Purple who used C-3's.

It's True Tom Scholz uses an M3 on Boston stuff.. always did (though I don't know about the status of the band since Brad Delp's death).
The M3 and M100 are very similar, but the M100 has a few more options plus reverb than the M3.

I gig with an M3 when I'm on keys.

I am under the impression Booker T used a M-100 on green onions and time is tight and not the B-3