SS1's A100 Organ Question Thread

[Soul Stream]

I am so jealous.

I am a pianist with organ envy.

I'm jealous...and organist with pianist envy (more gigs)

[scottb]

Well, today I kinda ran the idea of having an organ for the girls to play and this is what happened....

Me "Are you thinking about lettinng the girls take some piano lessons one day."

Wife "Yes, if they want to. I thought Elise might start next year or so."

Me "So I guess I'll start keeping an eye out for a good deal on an organ."

Wife "There is no way I am going to have an organ in my house. EVER! Speaking of organs we have got to change church services to the early service because the organ in the late service is driving me CRAZY!"

In other words my wife's conversion to organ fanatic is not going well to say the least.

Yesterday, while getting ready for work I was playing John Patton's LET EM ROLL and "The Shadow or Your Smile" was playing when she walked in. After shooting me look telling me I had gone completely crazy, she says "This is Lawrence Welk music. You've become an old man. I'm going to start calling you Lawrence"

[Soul Stream]

Well, today I kinda ran the idea of having an organ for the girls to play and this is what happened....

Me "Are you thinking about lettinng the girls take some piano lessons one day."

Wife "Yes, if they want to. I thought Elise might start next year or so."

Me "So I guess I'll start keeping an eye out for a good deal on an organ."

Wife "There is no way I am going to have an organ in my house. EVER! Speaking of organs we have got to change church services to the early service because the organ in the late service is driving me CRAZY!"

In other words my wife's conversion to organ fanatic is not going well to say the least.

Yesterday, while getting ready for work I was playing John Patton's LET EM ROLL and "The Shadow or Your Smile" was playing when she walked in. After shooting me look telling me I had gone completely crazy, she says "This is Lawrence Welk music. You've become an old man. I'm going to start calling you Lawrence"

Ouch.

[Harold_Z]

Apropos the above post...a couple of years back I was playing Jimmy Smith's Open House cd on my PC at my day gig. An office colleauge made some comment relating to roller skating rinks!

Jimmy Smith !

[Soul Stream]

Apropos the above post...a couple of years back I was playing Jimmy Smith's Open House cd on my PC at my day gig. An office colleauge made some comment relating to roller skating rinks!

Jimmy Smith !

Man, the skating rink reference always bugs the hell out of me. Put on Jimmy mith's "Root Down" instead and tell them to bite your ass.

[Harold_Z]

Yeah...I said something like " tell me where there's a roller skating rink with THAT band!"

The same person on another occasion told me she just loved jazz - she had heard Joe Tex's "Big Legs And All" record on the radio.

WTF !

[scottb]

Same story at work except replace roller rink with church. My reply was similar. "What church has an organist like that? I'm there!!"

[Soulstation1]

first time i've been able to log on since friday

what do you use to clean your hammond?

pledge / furniture polish or just a dust cloth?

what about cleaning up the keys?

bass pedals? there are some black scuffs (10 max) on the pedals

dr ss1

[Jim Alfredson]

Any furniture/wood polish is fine for the case. On the keys I use a little bit of Windex sprayed onto a paper towel to get the greeaze off. Same on the black metal.

Use a general purpose cleaner on the pedals, like 409 or something. If you want to make the black ones shiny, use a little car wax and buff those babies!

[Soulstation1]

here is an a-100 on ebay similar to mine, except no leslie with mine

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...3778976518&rd=1

[Jim Alfredson]

Yeah, the A-100s are starting to go for real money because people are getting wise. They are exactly like a B3, just with internal speakers and goofy woodwork.

[Soulstation1]

could i clean the vibrato board myself, w/o screwing something up?

a guy wants $250 for cleaning and giving me a new board or i can have the board on it cleaned and put back in.

ss1

is something like the "shout" jimmy smith performs an easy thing to learn?

it seems like he's holding down 3/4 keys at the same time for 20 seconds or so

[Jim Alfredson]

could i clean the vibrato board myself, w/o screwing something up?

Is it doing the choppy "motorboating" sound I was describing earlier?

[Soulstation1]

yes, i was told it sounds like a machine gun. i myself haven't heard it

where should the reverb knob be set?

i found out if you are in the "jimmy smith mode" and the black key is not pushed down i couldn't get any sound

ss1

Edited February 1, 2005 by Soulstation1

[Jim Alfredson]

Here's a little trick. It is not the board that's the problem. It's the vibrato scanner. The scanner can be seen from the back. It's on the left side, underneath the keys. It looks like a big motor (that's what I thought it was). It's round. Like this:

Turn the chorus/vibrato on while the organ is on so you can hear the motorboating sound. Take the handle-end of a screwdriver and gently rap on the scanner. Try it a few times and it should dislodge the oxidation. If it doesn't help after a few good whacks, then it needs cleaned. It'll need cleaned eventually anyway... but this should buy you somet time!

I would not try cleaning it yourself. A lot of wires to remove, a lot of screws to take out, and little parts that can get lost easily. $250 is not a bad price.

[Soulstation1]

i feel like an idiot

how do i make it "motorboat"?

[Jim Alfredson]

Turn the black chorus knob to C3 and then push both tabs for chorus/vibrato on. It should make the weird motorboat sound.

[Soulstation1]

in that photo

are you talking about the part labeled b2?

back to the motorboating

it was making a high pitched sound that wouldn't stop.

even when no keys or pedals are pushed

ss1

Edited February 1, 2005 by Soulstation1

[Soulstation1]

another ?

when you say "the a-10 has the same insides as a b3"

is it apple for apple, the same identical parts are in both units?

for example

could i take an old b3 "cabinet" and put the "insides" from an a-10 into it and have it work?

someone should make a book about the hammond and talk about every year with pictures and different features.

ss1

Edited February 1, 2005 by Soulstation1

[Jim Alfredson]

The only difference between an A-100 and a B3 is that the A-100 has internal speakers and reverb built-in. So you have two 12" speakers in there, driven by a tube amp that a B3 does not have, and a reverb unit which a B3 also does not have. Other than that, they are identical.

[Jim Alfredson]

in that photo

are you talking about the part labeled b2?

back to the motorboating

it was making a high pitched sound that wouldn't stop.

even when no keys or pedals are pushed

ss1

A high pitched sound? Are all the drawbars pushed in? Is the sound coming from the speakers or is it mechanical, as in something needing lubricated?

[Soulstation1]

right now i'm in "jimmy smith mode"

i'll push the draw bars back and see what happens with them all in and then all out

ss1

[Jim Alfredson]

If it's mechanical you shouldn't run it. It probably means it needs oiled badly. I know the tech is expensive, but if it's making weirs whining noises, that can be a bad sign.

[Soulstation1]

the guy that can fix my hammond was shocked when i told i paid $300 for it

he has seen the organ and knew exactly where i bought it without telling him

he's says i got a "great buy"

he didn't say anything about not turning it on/playing it

if i could find a nice leslie, it seems a leslie demands a minimum $1000 itself

over on ebay someone is selling a nice a-100 bench with the pad

ss1

Edited February 1, 2005 by Soulstation1

[Jim Alfredson]

Can you tell if the noise is electric and coming from the internal speakers or mechanical?