Chopping work in Greater New York Area/Long Island

[NittyRanks]

I never understood the chopping angle. It doesn't remove that much weight and cosmetically you are butchering and old instrument. If the cabinet is damaged I almost can see it but I guess people do what they want.

[jsaxe]

Vintage Vibe does apparently work on Hammonds, they recently featured some work in progress pix on their FarceBook page. Question is, would such dedicated restorationists take on a chop?

J

[thetrader]

In my 20's a friend and I chopped an L series. It didn't help-heavy and still bulky(don't forget you'll need a stand). This comes from someone who has no problem chopping/modifying a Leslie to fit in my Civic. At the very least go see one that's already been done-they are a beast! As usual just my two cents....

[geoelectro]

Chopping a Hammond brings up two very different sides of thought.
The first is pragmatic. A need for a solution to a problem. The problem of weight and size. To a gigging musician a chop seems like a good solution. Reduce its size and weight. I have built two chops myself. First was an L-100. Even though I built a new case, it was still about the size of an L-100 but with the cabinet cut just below the generator. I built a matching stand as well. Being able to break it into two pieces was a big help but I still could not set it up by myself.
My second chop was an H-100 that was acquired through an insurance deal for water damage. This time, I built a new case and by moving the generator closer to the manuals was able to make it much thinner, but deeper. I used Fender Rhodes legs and made a handy cart that it could sit in on its back end with the keys up. Again, I was unable to set it up by myself which was my ultimate goal. What I learned was I could make it smaller, but not light enough to handle by myself.

The other camp on chops are those that believe chopping a Hammond is removing one by one the remaining stock. Hammonds are in a finite supply and many are lost due to fires, floods abuse etc. eventually, very few will be left and that worries those who believe they should be preserved at all costs. When someone restores a Hammond it is applauded here. I have seen people wanting to chop a Hammond with unrealistic expectations as to its portability. The response against chopping is a combination of saving Hammonds and educating those who may be misjudging the results.

Ultimately, anyone can do as they please with what they own. I don't think anyone who speaks against chopping would suggest one couldn't, but would want them to know the reality of the chop and hope to avoid inadvertently destroying a perfectly good Hammond.

Geo

[ForkintheRhodes]

Well I'm predominantly a jazz and funk player when it comes to the Hammond, so I would prefer to have pedals, ultimately- especially for trio work. I'm in the process of acquiring a custom-made solid-state Leslie on wheels, so that isn't so much of an issue. I drive a 2004 GMC Envoy which has got ample space with all the seats down, it gets my Suitcase Rhodes, Vox Connie and Fender Quad from A to B when I do funk gigs.

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Thanks Joey, will do!

[David Anderson]

There is a best-of-both worlds approach to chopping I should mention:

1) Remove the guts from the organ non-destructively,
2) Install them in a custom-built road case, and
3) Store the original case and other parts for safe-keeping.

This is what I reversed earlier this year, and it went very smoothly because whoever put the organ in the portable case saved everything, down to the hardware. To get the pedals working again, all I had to do was reconnect the harness. Because the case had not been gigged, it's in near living-room condition.

David