Age determination of A101 (from serial number)

[Steven Anderson]

can anyone help me figure out the age of this organ? My understanding is the A100 series sometimes have some weird things going on with their Serial # sequences.

The guy selling THINKS it was purchased in '62, but doesn't know for sure.

It DOES have the pilot lamp, and I'm pretty sure it does have a fluted vibrato knob which would suggest at least 61-62. I have a couple other pics/info about the organ if that helps.

Also, any other thoughts about the A101 would be appreciated, I am trying to replace my A102 because I need to get it through a very tight space and down some stairs and I am nervous about the A102 legs snapping. (Plus its just a super ugly white/yellow antique color!)

thanks!

[David Anderson]

I rarely look at the serial numbers. I look at the speaker date codes and date codes on original components like some capacitors (if original). Around mid-62, Hammond switched to outsourced black power transformers for the preamps. Earlier ones have silver transformers. The black transformers sometimes have manufacturer's date codes.

If most of your date codes are in the same ballpark, then the organ was built as soon as they could get those parts installed. I know of one 3 month lag time between component production and when an organ definitely came off the assembly line.

Pilot lamps showed up in 1960, so that doesn't really help.

[Steven Anderson]

Ok that's great to know, thanks! What should I ask for a picture of that would help me then? Is there somewhere easily accessible I could ask the guy to check for these codes?

[Tonewheel]

I have an A100 and a B3. Find the serial number plate by taking the back off. I think it's on the left on my A. Then look it up in Tonewheel General Hospital under Age List. Scroll quite a ways down. I thin that it would be likely to be a genuine plate-to-organ match. Now with a B3, there are those trying to sell an A100 in an old B cabinet. Unlikely here.

[Grez A-100]

These are my A100's speaker and transformer date codes which indicate a build date of early 1963. The (Rola) speaker codes indicate sixth week of 1963 for the dual regular speakers and 10th week of 1963 for the reverb speaker. The transformers have various date codes ranging from 2nd to 12th week of 1963. I was born in the second week of March 1963 so I'm rooting for a March baby!

[Grez A-100]

Also, here are the two left end caps on the TWG, showing the 1st week of 1963 and 45th week of 1962.

[Tonewheel]

And the serial suggests 62-63. Bit of a gap of reporting there. Now I see David's wisdom of getting the part date codes.

Over half a century old, and these things just keep going.

Many of them having bounced down club stairs, accidentally tipped over, purposely tipped over, roadies laughing at the instructions to batten down the TWG springs, wild rides over speed bumps with the Leslie hitting the roof of the van first, then the organ, humidity, blazing heat to Kelvin cold, cigarette smoke wafting through everything, the organ being left on for days inadvertently with everything heating up, oiling neglect. Hats off to Hammond.

[KeithB]

How do you decipher the speaker date codes?

[Grez A-100]

Keith, the speaker date codes are:

XXXYWW where XXX is the company EIA code (Jensen = 220, Rola = 285, Heppner = 575), Y is the last digit of the production year, and WW is the production week. 285642 would be a Rola speaker made in the 42 week of 19x6 (you have to figure out which decade using other information).

Info above from ToneWheel General Hospital.

[KeithB]

OK, thanks. My A102 has Jensen and Rola speakers. Date codes indicate 22nd and 23rd week of '61 production. Vertical metal box (reverb tank?) on back left side has a code 1122-6122. However, the reverb knob is fluted, so I assume this means a '62 date for the organ?

[David Anderson]

The thing about some of these running changes in Hammond Organs is that it's hard to pin down a specific date. It may be possible that some fluted vibrato knobs were installed in late 1961. It's also possible that it could have been switched at some point.

There was a tech who had a Hammond document that showed exactly which week a tone generator was completed based on the code stamped on the generator itself, but, sadly, he passed away a few years ago. I've been unable to determine what happened to the documents he had.

[KeithB]

The thing about some of these running changes in Hammond Organs is that it's hard to pin down a specific date. It may be possible that some fluted vibrato knobs were installed in late 1961. It's also possible that it could have been switched at some point.

There was a tech who had a Hammond document that showed exactly which week a tone generator was completed based on the code stamped on the generator itself, but, sadly, he passed away a few years ago. I've been unable to determine what happened to the documents he had.

Thanks David. Those speaker codes equate to late May/early June 1961 production. Do you think that is too early for the organ to be a '62? Also does the code on the metal box mean anything?

Not critical to know what year my organ is, just interesting.

[David Anderson]

I don't have enough information to give a definite answer on Hammond's practice of supply chain management -- how long finished components would have taken to get shipped to the Hammond factory and then assembled into finished organs.

You've really got lots of dates here -- when individual components were built. When the tone generator was built. When it was all finally assembled. When it was first purchased.

We try to make all these things neat, but each organ is the end product of separate processes going on at many manufacturers. With your data and on the limited information I have on the lags between things like capacitor production and tone generator production, yours could well be from late 1961 or early 1962. It just depends on how long the parts sat on the shelf.

All this stuff is rarely as neat as some sources would indicate. For example, there's a schematic that states that two changes took place with Leslie 22H amps at the same time with the same serial number, but, in practice, we've found that one change happened before the other. They were not simultaneous. I have an organ with mixed paper and Mylar TG capacitors.

[KeithB]

Thanks David. Like I said, not critical to know the year (I'll just call it a '62), but interesting the speakers were made in May/June of '61. Next time I have the back off my A102 I'll take a look and see if there are date codes on any of the tubes. ToneWheel General Hospital site says they had the shortest "shelf life" of all the parts in the organ.