And what did we buy today?

But, they are so cool!

Hey Chris- cool indeed, that's why they're here!

I can't figure out what the motor is for (top left on the taller cabinet), or just what to do with them...

I also picked up the pictured 35 pound, 20A door stop because I thought it was cool.


I'm not sure, but I saw Colin James a few weeks ago, and I think the keyboardist had a big Hammond tone cabinet in the corner; it looked bigger than those, but I was sitting far away.

Was it a Leslie- more square with long horizontal slots top and bottom?

(Sorry for the duplicate question, nezbleu. I'm a slow poster!)
 

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PRR

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> Hammond tone cabinet in the corner; it looked bigger than those

Look-up Hammond Solovox. It is not a church/stage instrument. It is a 2-octave organ miniaturized to clip to a piano. It is obviously Hammond's "gateway drug", a low-cost taste so players could graduate to a Big Organ habit. Home-size. I didn't look-up the tubes but I think "6V6" (on Loctal base) and 8-inch speaker. A Good Home Radio, not a Ballroom or Church Organ sound system.
 

PRR

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Power stage of Model J uses 7B5, which is a Loctal 6K6 (not 6V6 as I blurted). Model L uses 6K6. These were "similar" to 6V6 but not drop-in. (And it is 3-octave.)

As an organ you want to re-create the keyboard and a LOT of wiring.

For a guitar amplifier, you could try feeding grid of V9 (Model J) and en/dis-abling volume and relay supplies, though what-all has to change is not obvious. While the driver-power section is not a lot like the guitar amps we know, I bet with its sidetable-size cabinet it is a very musical thing.

The power supply depends on the voltage drop of the field-coil speaker. If the speaker is shot you need a power resistor to get safe voltages.

> what the motor is for (top left on the taller cabinet)

Appears to be the master tune inductor. It should have a spring to a knob on the outside, maybe lost over time.

The ‘Solovox’, Hammond Organ Co, USA, 1940 – 120 Years of Electronic Music
Solovox technical manual
 

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Hi PRR,
You sure are a helpful wealth of information! As far as the output tube goes, you were close enough really. You knew it was loctal and many wouldn't. The 6K6 does suit the era when these were built, 6V6 being more modern.

Do you remember tuning these types of organs? I do and it wasn't fun as some drifted a fair bit. That was frustrating. I was a very junior tech, so they tended to give the "fun" jobs to me. Kept me out of their hair for a day or more.

-Chris
 
tsmith, this could get interesting. The Solovox was monophonic, i.e. it played only one note at a time. Its audio system was likely designed with this in mind. Once you connect a guitar or other polyphonic instrument to it, the resulting intermodulation could be either amazing or terrible. Only one way to find out... :)
 
A PRS Mark Holcomb SE.

My daughter twisted my arm at todays guitar lesson!

Tony.

Aw that's a sweet looking guitar - I remember I first saw these because Daniel John's played one.

I used to live spitting distance from the Patrick Eggle factory, sadly missed out on their closing out parts sale.

I'd still love either guitar!

Or an ESP, Explorer, Flying V, N4
 
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It was a bit of an impulsive buy. I would normally do three weeks (or more) of research before buying something expensive like this! It seems very well made, sounds great. Definitely a step up from her fender squire.

Now the next thing is to do a guitar amp... oh like I need another project! ;)

edit: truth be told I pointed it out to her before the lesson, I had my eye on it. She said do you think they will let me play it in the lesson? I said ask, and of course they did. She really wanted it then! I asked her to try another three guitars, but this was the one. She kept saying It's got birds on it!! :D of course it felt right too.

Tony.
 
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It was a bit of an impulsive buy. I would normally do three weeks (or more) of research before buying something expensive like this! It seems very well made, sounds great...snip

Snip....I asked her to try another three guitars, but this was the one. She kept saying It's got birds on it!! :D of course it felt right too.

Tony.

I'm sure it will be the right choice!

I bought my first guitar at 15 on impulse after saving for 12 months, a bright green Tanglewood Strat copy.

25 years on, and I still have it albeit laying dormant awaiting a re-fret. It always sounded so good for a cheap guitar, and even at 15 I hated Squire.

These things end up being treasures we carry with us for life!
 
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That's a really nice guitar Tony. Good move, sometimes you have to buy something before someone else gets it. I can't tell you how many times Anita wanted something, told me at home, then found it sold when she returned to buy it.

Then there are those times when you know something is a good buy. Last week I saw an Agilent 34134A current probe. I bought it and found they are worth $720 new. Mine was $125 US plus shipping. Works perfectly and I needed a smaller current probe than the HP 428B I normally use.

-Chris
 
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zacaster: looks like you like minimailst stuff :cool: The turntable looks very high end!!

Mondo: We bought the squire strat for her on special a few years ago when we didn't know whether she would take it up or not, I always envisioned that a better guitar would be a good idea at some point if she took to it. I look at it more as an investment in her than anything else (but I do really like it as well!! I'm trying to learn to play as well, Wish I'd started 40 years earlier! I get to play the squire now ;)

pinkmouse: that's enough for a LOT of guitars!!

Chris: Nice score on the current probe, yes the guys in the shop were happy it was Us that bought it, because it will be back every fortnight for her lesson, but also sad it was gone (I think the owner liked to play it at times, It comes factory tuned to drop C, but I've retuned it to standard E, good though that it is designed for low tuning as it gives more flexibility. It is a standard model, so I guess they will probably get another one in.

Tony.