Should I Sell My C3? Fallen out of Love with it.

[Vercus]

Hello all,
I'm kind of feeling like I'm at a crossroads here and am looking for some advice. I've pretty much fallen completely out of love with my 1960 C3. From day one, it's had problems that I haven't been able to solve.

The generator has tons of shaky notes. I'm told it's because it's gunked up. It used to be only 4, but now I think it's closer to a dozen. It's to the point where every key you play in has bad notes. Plus, they're low enough in the compass that, thanks to the unification, they're all over the place.

There's also a lot of static thanks to drawbars that can't be cleaned. No amount of treatment has helped them.

The vibrato works most of the time but occasionally motorboats. The generator seems noisy, and sometimes fails to stay running.

All in all, it's in a pretty bad state right now. The console looks fantastic and is pretty near flawless, but the internals really are shot. I paid $500 for this thing and can't help but think I overpaid. I'm really not interested in this type of organ at all, and I NEVER play it. I just played it today, and before that, the last time I used it was Easter. Before that, the last time was Christmas! I play my Hammond clones more (Crumar T1/C and Yamaha SK20) because they're both far more reliable, sound much better, and inspire me more.

It just sits, collecting dust, and every time I fire it up, it's in worse shape. Last time took me three times to get it to stay running. The generator grinds, despite being oiled.

My thought at this point is it either needs to be restored (assuming the TG isn't shot and needing complete replacement) or just tear all the internals out, and burn the console in the fire pit out back. I really feel like I need to get this thing out of my life before I do something drastic.

I honestly don't give a rat's behind about this thing anymore. I'd rather have a Wersi, Bohm, or something else completely solid state with no moving parts whatsoever. To my ears and taste, the sound is way too dark/muddy, and boring. I want something more interesting. Even my mighty 900U Leslie isn't enough to juice this thing up.

So, what do I do with this thing? I've had two Hammonds before this (E267 and M3), and gave them both away because I didn't like them. I do kinda miss the M3 sometimes, because it actually worked great, but the E267 was total trash. It was a disaster.

Is there any value at all to this thing as it sits? Or do I just hope someone will take it for free, and let it be their headache?

-Jon

[geoelectro]

Try posting it for sale. There are many places to list a musical item for sale. A tech may buy it to restore and sell. I buy consoles to restore and sell and generally look for very clean cabinets. I don’t worry about the internals because I can fix it. A C-3 in good cosmetic condition would certainly bring more than $500 around here.

Geo

[Dewey643]

Hello all,
I'm kind of feeling like I'm at a crossroads here and am looking for some advice. I've pretty much fallen completely out of love with my 1960 C3. From day one, it's had problems that I haven't been able to solve.

The generator has tons of shaky notes. I'm told it's because it's gunked up. It used to be only 4, but now I think it's closer to a dozen. It's to the point where every key you play in has bad notes. Plus, they're low enough in the compass that, thanks to the unification, they're all over the place.

There's also a lot of static thanks to drawbars that can't be cleaned. No amount of treatment has helped them.

The vibrato works most of the time but occasionally motorboats. The generator seems noisy, and sometimes fails to stay running.

All in all, it's in a pretty bad state right now. The console looks fantastic and is pretty near flawless, but the internals really are shot. I paid $500 for this thing and can't help but think I overpaid. I'm really not interested in this type of organ at all, and I NEVER play it. I just played it today, and before that, the last time I used it was Easter. Before that, the last time was Christmas! I play my Hammond clones more (Crumar T1/C and Yamaha SK20) because they're both far more reliable, sound much better, and inspire me more.

It just sits, collecting dust, and every time I fire it up, it's in worse shape. Last time took me three times to get it to stay running. The generator grinds, despite being oiled.

My thought at this point is it either needs to be restored (assuming the TG isn't shot and needing complete replacement) or just tear all the internals out, and burn the console in the fire pit out back. I really feel like I need to get this thing out of my life before I do something drastic.

I honestly don't give a rat's behind about this thing anymore. I'd rather have a Wersi, Bohm, or something else completely solid state with no moving parts whatsoever. To my ears and taste, the sound is way too dark/muddy, and boring. I want something more interesting. Even my mighty 900U Leslie isn't enough to juice this thing up.

So, what do I do with this thing? I've had two Hammonds before this (E267 and M3), and gave them both away because I didn't like them. I do kinda miss the M3 sometimes, because it actually worked great, but the E267 was total trash. It was a disaster.

Is there any value at all to this thing as it sits? Or do I just hope someone will take it for free, and let it be their headache?

-Jon

Get rid of that thing,and let it be someone else's headache! I had an A-100 at one time that head static coming from the drawbars,and an hum in the reverb amp. Couldn't use the pedals because the moving company that delivered the organ damaged the pedal clavier. As a result,..I lost interest in it,..and also fell "out of love" with it. Sold it for $300.00 just to get the damn thing out of my house! I'm without an organ now,..but if I ever have another organ,..it will be an Allen,...NOT a Hammond!

[Bobmann]

Where in PA are you?
Do not destroy it, if it comes to that, I will come get it.

Bob

[Vercus]

Sorry for my rant last night. Guess the stress at work and life has just been getting to me and I let go and vented here. My Grandfather's in the hospital with cancer, and I've got a lot of pressure building up.

I'm definitely NOT going to destroy the organ. I've actually been turning over the idea of just holding onto it for now until I can afford to have a Hammond tech come over and really go over it.

I'm not really sure what it's future is at this point, but rest assured, I'm certainly not going to destroy it. It's funny what one good sleep can do.

-Jon

[PGR]

Boy that was close! I could hear the dumpster gurgling from here.

This could be just what you need for therapy, get your mind off what surrounds you for a half hour each day. Just set your mind to fixing this old beauty a very little at a time - with the help here, you could have the Hammond of your dreams by fixing it up. Just remember its not a race to complete and there really is not pressure.........that's the idea. heck Im a sales guy , and neck deep in a full restoration project cabinet and internals B3 and leslie.

[Tonewheel]

Hi Jon,

Echo PGR.

I think many here who are not conversant in electronics have been where you are. Music is an escape from the vicissitudes of life. And when that doesn't help, no wonder that it can be depressing.

A C3 is an amazing instrument. It truly is. I was on the phone with the owner of a recording studio today, and they are dying for a B3 or C3. They and the artists who know their stuff, want these in the studio. And because they have ears to detect the difference, they do NOT want Nords or any other digital re-creation. And absolutely no other brand of organ. Not because they are snobs, but because of the amazing tonal variations, history, etc. They also seem to prefer a B3 or C3 over an A100.

I have, on occasion, thought that all was lost with my B3. The smell of something burning, then nothing working. There is some awful feeling that comes over you at times like that. And when you find multiple problems, it is even worse and can be discouraging.

It ended up being a blown fuse. The Leslie amp comes out cleanly, and a good non-Hammond tech quickly found that it was an old resistor that had failed. A lot of other things can happen, but many can be fixed by yourself by using the forum and Youtube videos.

Here's what I did: I found and paid for very clearly documented (photographs) repair instruction files (you can find references here in the Forum), then gave this to a good electronics repair guy who was thrilled to be able to work on an iconic instrument. In your area it might be a tube amplifier repair guy. And he can easily find the wiring diagrams online You may have to pay for the house call when it's internal organ stuff, but it has always been worth it.

I also have an A100 at a small cabin. The percussion wasn't working, a pedal tine was broken, there was a lot of static, reverb was shot, and some other things, but this is all getting better with time without a tech and a fair amount of help from the gang here.

These can almost always be fixed.

PGR is also right that you can go at it stepwise over time. You are unlikely to go backwards!

Dave