Being ripped off by Hammond B3 and Leslie Tips

[twin80]

Has anyone heard of or from Pat Gagne' in a while? About a year or so ago I ordered a couple of Caps for AO28 amp. Spent over $100 and never got my order. I called and left messages and emails but nothing. I thought maybe he died. The company will keep taking your credit card though. He was a great guy so I hope nothing happened to him. I had purchased the electronic manual for non technicians and luckily I downloaded a hardcopy because I can't seem to get the electronic copy to work. I know of one other person that this happened to. Oh well win some lose some I guess.

Thanks,
Ken

[Tonewheel]

Hi Ken,

I, too, ordered parts several years ago, and they came. but the software no longer works. I contacted him by email and gave him the requested date of purchase, then no response thereafter. Fortunately, I also printed a hard copy that I have left with an audio technician when I needed a recap on my '55 B3.

I must say that there were a lot of very good tips that would be useful for any of us, and that the price of $45 (close) was well worth it.

My feeling is that if he no longer responds to requests, there may be a problem behind that problem.

If he is reading this, I would ask that he restore access, even for a fee less than the original. If not, is there someone in the forum that could help us get back in?

Dave

[Wes]

His domain expired as well.

I am friends-of-friends with him; if he died, I would have heard about it. Actually, he just posted on Facebook four hours ago.

Wes

[Tonewheel]

Hi Wes,

Well, if you can get a message to him, tell him that my money was well spent in that his inexhaustible energy in putting together the text and photos resulted in a masterpiece. The audio tech I needed to use here (the 85 year old Hammond tech in town has finally retired, but occasionally responds to bribes) found it very useful for doing some work on my old B3. As I read the script, it was almost like having a mentor over your shoulder telling you that you can do even THIS!

And if he could even provide a clue to my getting back into the program again, I would be most grateful. I can get the huge binder from the tech, but it was so convenient looking things up in the digital file.

Thanks for the information, in any case.

Best regards,

Dave (a previous Ontario guy living in Alberta now).

[twin80]

It just seemed odd to me that he just dissapeared. I talked to him a couple of times over the phone and he seemed like a great guy. I bought a complete set of caps for my B3 tone generator from him and a few other items and then $120 for a couple of AO-28 Pre amp capacitors and then, nothing but it sure took my credit card payment. At least I can get up in the mornings and look at myself in the mirror. I hope he can too.

Ken

[jonhut]

I ordered a TWG recap kit from him about 6 months ago. Took my money (about a hundred bucks?), Never got the product, does not return emails or calls.

I did some online research and found others with similar problem. someone said they finally tracked him down and got their money back (others not).

I sent him one last email saying that I had purchased the product elsewhere, to cancel my order, and refund my money. He has not done so.

Jonhut

[crysalis]

Call your credit card company and dispute

[nonreverb]

In case anyone got shafted on their Hammond manual from Pat, Wayne Prue's is excellent.
http://b3sforsale.com/

[Tonewheel]

Thanks for the tip! Good to know this is available. The photos look batter than Gagne's.

I wonder if Gagne simply changed the password to his file.

[peterb_2795]

If it is general disassembly/assembly and maintenance information that you are seeking, there is still the option of being able to purchase the "Hammond Inside" DVD by Bruno Micheli and Alain Kahn.


Contrary to popular belief, it appears to be still available (though not via Bruno's website, that routes to a dead purchase link).


This purchase page works OK as at 27-Jan-2018, item is in stock:
http://shop.mautnermedien.de/tontrae...nd-inside-ntsc... EU69.00

or try,

http://www.elrecom.nl/dvd-hammond-in...ubbel-dvd.html


I purchased this DVD set over 10 years ago and in the DVD "Care and maintenance Hammond B3", Alain Kahn fully disassembles and services Bruno Micheli's B3 whilst the cabinet went for restoration and refinish. It certainly de-mystified much of the Hammond inner workings for me.

There are a number of clips on Youtube that will allow you to check this DVD out.


PM me if you need further information

Hope this helps...
Peter

[Tonewheel]

Very nice, Peter.

He's also a very good drawbar puller (head to head at NAMM with DeFrancesco)

Thanks for the lead.

Dave

[peterb_2795]

Very nice, Peter.

He's also a very good drawbar puller (head to head at NAMM with DeFrancesco)

Thanks for the lead.

Dave

Hi Dave,

Bruno can also be found and contacted via his facebook account at: https://www.facebook.com/bruno.micheli.752. I am sure that he can resolve any queries from people seeking to purchase the "Hammond Inside" DVD.

I particularly like his style of playing ...

Cheers,
Peter

[Tonewheel]

Hi Peter,

Nice to know that as well. Great style but versatile.

Best,

Dave

[twin80]

I saw Wayne had a manual and it did look better

[peterb_2795]

I saw Wayne had a manual and it did look better

There appears to be a copy of it (in PDF form on https://www.scribd.com) which I would assume infringes Wayne's copyright. Does anyone here know Wayne in order to inform him of this?

I very much dislike seeing this stuff abused when the material is the result of countless hours of dedication and effort to produce a product for what is essentially a very small vertical market.

Unless of course, Wayne has placed it into the public domain?