Picking up my first Hammond tomorrow. Tips?

[bramnaus]

So tomorrow I'm picking up my first ever Hammond + Leslie. (it's a Hammond x5, Leslie unknown)

Does anyone have some basic/simple tips I can't forget when setting up everything? I really want to do this the right way!

Thank you all for your help and knowledge!

[bnelson218]

Bring a friend. 😀

[bramnaus]

Haha I will do.

So the hammond and the leslie haven't been used for a few years. What type of oil can I use for the leslie?

Does motor oil (say for instance car oil) work? Or do I need a special kind of oil like the Hammond oil?

[sjoerd1234]

Don't use motor oil for sure. From my experience use oil specially made for leslies, that's what was recommended to me and what I did. The same for hammond tonewheels, use Hammond oil. But I think the X5 doesn't have a tonewheel right?

[bramnaus]

Okay, thanks for your help Sjoerd! The x5 is a clonewheel indeed.

So I will order Hammond oil, but if I want to test the leslie tomorrow, should I oil it with something different or can I use the leslie until I receive my Hammond oil?

[enor]

Okay, thanks for your help Sjoerd! The x5 is a clonewheel indeed.

So I will order Hammond oil, but if I want to test the leslie tomorrow, should I oil it with something different or can I use the leslie until I receive my Hammond oil?

You don’t want or need Hammond oil. It’s a bit on the light (as in ”runny”) side for a Leslie; and your X5 needs no oil at all.

Any type of machine oil works fine with the Leslie motors, but get something with a little more viscosity. Sewing machine oil is too light and gets splashed around by the centrifugal force.