Pitch bending on a Hammond...?? A mystery...

[Mr. Kelly]

Hey all...

In the last few weeks, since I've owned my first Hammond, an A-102, I've been marveling over all of the different sounds I've heard over the years that have come from Hammonds. In particular, I pulled out an album of one of my favorite Hammond players, Jon Lord, and Deep Purple's live album Made in Japan, from 1972, and gave it a spin.

At the end of the volcanic piece Space Truckin', (a fantastic 20 mins), Jon meanders through the last moments with a passage that is clearly filled with dizzying pitch bends. I was fascinated that I've been listening to this album for decades, and now that I have a Hammond, I can't fathom how he could have accomplished pitch bends. Anyone have any idea how this could be done with a Hammond?

The only way I've heard something like this occur before is when some kids in one of my classes were turning the school Hammond off and on in mid flight, and the TG was slowing and speeding. Could this have been it? Not convinced this is what he was doing, as the sound was so fluid, and not choppy, as one would expect with power being interrupted. I won't venture such an experiment on my own precious organ (and I won't again with the kids at school!).

I wonder if Jon had his Hammond piped through some sort of other device? Although, at that time, if I'm not mistaken, Jon patched his organ directly into an amp, likely a Marshall.

Any thoughts?

[JJMcS]

Turning the run motor off and back on is the pitch bend of the Hammond organ.

[Brendon Wright]

Hiya MK!

I understand Lordy did all that pitchbendy stuff on his Maestro Ring Modulator.
I'm also told that Maestro was only in business for two years and Lord bought six of the RM's at the end of the production line. I think the only way you'll get one of those is to build it....

http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/...ring-modulator

unfortunately JD Sleep says he's redesigning the circuit board and it won't be finished this side of Christmas... so the ready made PCB ($17!) is off the menu. started one using point to point soldering but the chances of making mistakes are enormous that way.

[Brendon Wright]

I talked to a chap in a US based Purple tribute band who's just tried out a Digitech Whammy pedal, I haven't heard how it went.

[Mr. Kelly]

Was the Maestro a pedal or a rack-mount kind of thing?

It's a cool sounding device. I can certainly hear where the Maestro fit into Jon's arsenal of sound in that era , but don't hear the pitch bend part. Maybe he used a combination of that plus on/off switch? I still won't be attempting that at home!

[Brendon Wright]

I found a picture on Google:

On my T500 I put a switch in the power line to the run motor, thus leaving the amplifier running. It does a big dive bomb then when you switch it back on it over compensates and back and forths a cupla times until it gets back on speed. It makes ya kinda seasick!

I think on a start/run two switch organ you can flick the start switch on which will wind the tone a little higher if you need that "guitarist on the highest fret and trying to bend it just a little higher" effect, but it doesn't hold it for long before dropping back to pitch.

[gientke]

Jon Lord used both, pitch bend and ring modulator. Pitch bend can be heard in Speed King, while ring modulator in Space Trucking (Made in Japan). They are independent effects.

[andyg]

Hehe, used to do that for train whistle effects in Chatanooga Choo Choo, Brendon. There's enough 'reserve' power in the organ and leslie to keep the sound going for the split second the power's off. You can indeed also flick the start motor on for an upwards bitch bend. H-S actually put both of these tricks into the New B3.

I'm not averse to playing around with the Hammond sound in virtual Hammonds either, in fact, Lin Plug's Organ 3 gives you full ADSR control. Very handy for softening the attack and adding sustain - psuedo virtual Lowrey or Thomas.

[Mr. Kelly]

R.I.P. you brilliant man... Jon Lord

[Wes]

Brendon - that side has the PCB layout on it. You don't need to PTP it, you could totally print that out and iron it on copper.

[Tim_at_Jonas]

I've never had one of our Hammonds come back to constant pitch after flicking it off for a pitch drop. Even hitting start for a bit does not do it - I have to let if come to a full stop, then restart.

[Brendon Wright]

Brendon - that side has the PCB layout on it. You don't need to PTP it, you could totally print that out and iron it on copper.

Perhaps I should just darn old TRY IT OUT, eh!
I've got the acid etch stuff. I bought it when I wanted to etch the brass plates on my chop.
We've also got a laser printer handy, or an inkjet for that matter too. It sure beats drawing it out with marker, which I'm half way through....

On another front, Forum Member Steve Miller, who's honourably filling Jon's spot in an Oregon Deep Purple trib band has tried out the digitech Whammy pedal and is VERY pleased with it.
He sent me some vids a cupla days ago but I've been away from the computer, so there ya go, whammy pedal is AOK for the job.

- - - Updated - - -

Brendon - that side has the PCB layout on it. You don't need to PTP it, you could totally print that out and iron it on copper.

Oops, I accidentally edited your post instead of replying to it! Sorry Wes.

It's back to normal now.

Durn moderation tools shouldn't be left in the hands of idiots without supervision!

[Wes]

Geez, if you're going to edit my posts, the least you could do is fix the spelling and grammatical errors. ;)

Laser printer is a must. Inkjet will not work. This is because you need to transfer the toner, which is heat-activated in the first place. Think of toner as basically miniature plastic balls that are attracted to the paper electrostatically and then melted in by the printer.

Doing it with a printer is awesome. Teacher taught me this when I was about 16. Have never looked back. Markers suck. Laying out traces with tape even more so.

Wes