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SS1's A100 Organ Question Thread


Soulstation1

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Well, that's the thing. $5000 is actually a really good price for that instrument. You could take it to a bigger market than Lansing and probably get twice that for it, if not three times that much (if you pair it up with a really great sounding and looking Leslie speaker). But I don't have $5000 lying around! :)

I lucked into the B3 I have now (a 1958... she was a beauty when I got her, but now she's a road dog). I'm hoping to find another like that, someday. I'm hoping my good karma will let me find one in mint condition that I can just keep at home and record with.

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Has the rightful owner seen it yet? And if so would they notice if you pulled the switcheroo? It is at your house and you know, possesion is 9 tenths of the law.(I have absolutely no idea what that means)

"Hey this organ looks different than at the music store." :o

"Uh, yeah, I think its the lights in here." B-)

"Hey, what you got under that sheet over there in the corner?" :huh:

"Oh, that's my wife's... sewing machine. Yeah, sewing machine. You should see her sew! Can I show you to the door?" <_<

I know you would never do anything like that. :D

Listen to your manager, Jim. He's on the right track.

;)

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I just got a PR-40 cabinet off eBay for $100.  I had to go pick it up tonight in St. Joseph (about a four hour round trip from my crib) but it's in perfect shape.

The guy also has a minty 1965 or so B3 with a 142 Leslie, but he knows what it's worth.  I got a good deal on the PR-40, though.

Jim, why do you dig the PR-40 Tone Cabinet? Didn't know they had much use other than putting a lamp on it.

Mike, if you can find a PR-40 for low bread, get it! The PR-40 has ridiculous bass! The one on this minty '59 B3 in my living room sounds great!

I just hooked up the one I bought on Tuesday to my '54 C2 for this afternoon's Organissimo rehearsal, and it sounds great as well! They have a lot of power, too. They use about 8 EL83's! They have two 15" woofers in there firing straight ahead, a 12" woofer firing straight ahead and either another 12" or a 10" (couldn't quite tell) firing up. Plus built-in spring reverb. You can set-up a switch on the organ to chose between the Leslie, the PR-40, or both.

I'm starting to think this is how Rudy got his sound. Listen to "Organ Grinder's Swing", specifically "I'll Close My Eyes"... Jimmy is tapping the pedals on the quarter notes while playing whole notes in the left hand. And the pedal taps sound HUGE! Really deep and rich. That's what the PR-40 sounds like.

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Here is some original advertising from Hammond about the PR-40:

Hammond's long tradition of electronic excellence and quality of craftsmanship are exemplified in its tone equipment. The tone amplifiers and speakers used are of the finest quality. The tone equipment is acoustically designed to give you uniformity of tonal response from the lowest pedal notes to the highest of keyboard pitches.

Hammond cabinets are completely free of such irritating effects as "bass boominess" and the whir of rotating mechanical devices.  This means they cannot impart acoustical monotony, nor in any way limit the versatility of the drawbars and other console controls in producing a striking array of different tone qualities.

Music is brilliantly alive with Hammond PR 40 tone equipment.  Any kind of music you play becomes richly animated with a new sense of action and movement. Wherever you listen in the room music flows around you through the effect of a thrilling new binaural spread.

A beautiful new reverberation effect simulates the reflection of musical sound in in all three directions of length, width, and height.  These are designed to produce required musical results in any acoustical environment. Treble and bass are sounded through separate amplification systems.  They feature a new improved exclusive Hammond Reverberation Control and simulate a three-dimensional reverberation effect for both bass and treble notes.

I like the sentence that I put in bold-face. Haha! Obviously Hammond didn't like Leslie competing with them! In fact, I read that Hammond didn't make a lot of money on the organs, but made most of their money on the cabinets. When people started buying Leslies instead of Hammond cabinets, they were not too happy.

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Thanks for the info Jim. I'll keep that in mind. A friend actually has a PR40 he doesn't use, maybe I'll hit him up for it. I know they aren't used much so a lot of them are around for cheap. Might be fun, but don't really have the room right now.

You should see if he'll let you borrow it and hook it up to your rig. I bet you'll be surprised. They sound really good. I think they are the best tone cabinet that Hammond made.

I had a big ol' ugly thing with my BCV. I think it was a D20 or something. Man, it was HUGE and sounded awful. It had two 12" speakers and this weird Leslie-wanna-be rotating thing in it (a metal canister) that spun above the speakers (the speakers fired up in a V-shape) and it was terrible.

:)

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Yes, you can. 125s are common. That's not a great price, but not bad. There are some others on eBay for $60 right now, but they are in Topeka, KS.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=7307021437

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=7307021890

With all of these Leslies, including the one you linked to, there is no top rotor, which is a big part of the sound. They just have a bottom rotor.

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  • 5 weeks later...
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if i could ever learn mr pc w/ the bass pedals i'd retire

i'd like to play the bass pedals with a mix of mr pc and bootsy collins

ss1

Funny you say that. When I was first learning the organ I had a picture of PC on one side and Bootsy on the other. I thought the same thing, if I could walk like PC and funk like Bootsy, that would be the ideal. Still working on it. :D

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  • 1 month later...

i must learn how to play misty

this song is required for any jazz organist

ss1

Try a slow version first. Groove Holmes' version ain't easy organ 101 really.

Listen to Wes' version from Smokin At The Half Note or Willow Weep For Me. This is a beautiful slow version which should help you get the song inside your head and give you some improv. ideas. Start there, an work your way up Groove's "Charleston" version. I never get tired of either of these polar opposite takes on Misty. Great stuff!

Edited by Sundog
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