Digning intro old organ

[bagudan]

Hi
I have Allways wanted to find An old organ. I play guitar, so the main reason is the internal Leslie speaker for a diy project, and maybe interesting tubes or even an amp worth doing something with.
I have found a hammond 125jm, not too far away, and i Can probably get it cheap. Does anyone know if this is worth digging into? I have a hard time finding Info on the Web.

Best regards

Kasper

 

[JRGuitarGuy]

Tube pulls/transformer pulls are great finds with them

 

[scrimpu]

That is a transistor organ so no tube amp. It should have an internal leslie and a pair of decent speakers.

 

[JRGuitarGuy]

I'm just saying you ever run into the tube 6v6 or 6l6 circuits jump on it man killer old school Iron and probably nice RCA stuff as well as Sylvania etc

 

[scrimpu]

You have to find really old organs if you want tubes. Organs were cutting edge tech and most models were all transistors by 1965 with few exceptions. On that same note the tubes, iron and other useful part are very high quality and can be well suited for guitar.

 

[JRGuitarGuy]

Well suited indeed xD RCA 6v6 are to die for as well as ton of the RCA preamps an that Hammond output Iron is also awesome xD

 

[bagudan]

It´s transistors in this one. But the leslie unit works like a charm. I´m going to build a cabinet for it, fender-vibratone-style.... I just have to figure out how to do the switching part?....There are a lot of wires in this organ

 

[indianajo]

No great loss cutting up a J model. It is an imported transistor divider organ. But if you cut up a precious metal key contact M or L for the amp iron, many of us keyboard players would be annoyed. They are built to play 100 years IMHO, capacitors excepted. Booker T recorded most of his hits and backed up other Stax artists on an M, etc etc.
Organs that deserve to be cut up are tube generator Baldwins, tube generator Conn's with the irreplaceable precious metal coated plastic key contact rod (except large 3 manual theatre models), any Kimble, especially models with a leslie, any Silvertone or Airline. Most transistor divider organs like the Hammond J and N are not worth my time. Some high end transistor models contain bit bucket string and voice simulators that are seriously worth salvaging.
The collection of organs in my signature are a list of cheap organs worth restoring (new e-caps, rubber parts) imho and learning to play. You can learn more about different models on organforum.com, especially posts by paul0557.

 

[bagudan]

Thanks for the info. I don´t really think of much of the sounds in this organ, but still. I have enough room, and I am going to keep it. It is in very good shape, and I will be able to move the leslie unit frome the diy cabinet and back into the organ with little effort. So I think it´s a keeper.... and btw. The kids love playing around with it

 

[JRGuitarGuy]

I'm just only interested in them for tube pulls and power/output transformer pulls maybe a few hardware related stuff too but I'm not talking about hacking it totally up lol

 

[JRGuitarGuy]

There is just a **** load of RCA 12AX7s and 12AU7s that are Hammond branded/labeled and baldwin labeled Sylvania's etc the Sylvania are just ok but the RCA short grey-plates are to die for, And with Conn you might run into a few Mullard preamps

 

[JRGuitarGuy]

same with power section/tubes mainly run into the RCA stuff 6v6/6l6 but damn you never know what the hell you might find inside one until you look xD

 

[bagudan]

Does anyone know of a layout/schematic for the relay switching cirquit, that does the switching between fast and slow leslie?
-Kasper

 

[indianajo]

Check, the Leslie forum of organforum.com. There are endless variations, and they discuss that endlessly there.

 

[Kay Pirinha]

If you're really looking for Hammond iron and tubes, check for a S-6 chord organ instead for a tonewheel one. These, due to their squeaky sound, aren't that sought-after and will give you about 30 tubes (mostly 12AU7's, but some 12AX7's, 12BH7's and 6V6's also), togehter with a bulky power and a rather good output tranny. Some weeks ago I shot one for only € 1 (about 80 ct) on ePay in Germany.

Otherwise buy a Hammond AO-35 or AO-44 reverberation amp. These are equipped with 6BQ5's or 6GM8's as finals and the same output tranny and a suitable mains xformr. You often find them for cheap at ePay, as there are enough guys that modify A-100 organs for stage chopped B-3's.

Best regards!

 

[JRGuitarGuy]

I love the classic Sylvania 12AU7 black-plate square getter xD