Hammond X77 Owners Corner

[mpeets]

Thank you very much, Bruce. This is exactly what I want to do to get the vibrato/chorus effect.

[bnelson218]

Hi Mpeets,

Found an ideal linebox on Ebay for you with the required 19 red caps and 18 inductor stages. Item #231125757470



Any luck fiding a scanner to fit your X? I'll keep my eyes peeled.
Bruce

[Tim Rinkerman]

The X is a glorified H. H's get tossed all the time, and they have all the vibrato stuff you want.

[bnelson218]

The X is a glorified H. H's get tossed all the time, and they have all the vibrato stuff you want.

Not really. H's had an entirely different concept for the vibrato/chorus effect. And the square scanners have different scan points and were problematic at best. Not saying it couldn't be done, or that using these components wouldn't produce a vibrato effect, but if you were to place an H next to a B3, the differences would be apparent. To bring the V/C effect to my X77-B, I chose to go with the actual B3 or A-100 parts to do so. Also, these components are much more compatable with the Trek II preamp, whereas the H circuitry, if I remember right, had an injected DC voltage that would not be readily available in an X. All this is IMHO, of course.

Tim, I'm always looking for other X owners who may have customized or modified their organs in any way. I've owned 4 Xs over the years and the latest one has been totally gutted and is being rebuilt--pictures of the X77-B project are around here somewhere. I got rid of all the old electronics and the tab rail also and built a new control panel. I'm adding MIDI to the upper manual and built in a Roland JV-880 synth module--looking forward to having a grand piano or a Rhodes or vibes available on the upper manual. I also redid the percussion voicing, added B3 style vibrato (as mentioned above), and added strings to the lower manual. It's been an ongoing project now since 2010 and might be done this year. Kinda rough right now because I got layed off in December and can't really justify putting anymore money into it. I keep playing the lottery though. :)
Anyway, I'd love to hear from you.

Bruce

[Jim McDougall]

I ended up with another X77 -- bought it as a parts unit to build a custom version. It came with an X77P leslie. Now trying to get the Leslie functional and am having a problem with the slow fast control. I have the X77 and the X77L manuals but the X77P has a totally different control structure in the power supply. Does anyone have a copy of the X77P schematic ? Need one to trouble shoot.
Thanks

[Jim McDougall]

Answer to my question -- see my post http://www.organforum.com/forums/sho...hematic-needed

[Jim McDougall]

This is a really dumb question but does anyone have a sequence of instructions for dis-assembling the upper half to get at the manuals. The service manual gives no info as to how to take this beast apart.

Thanks

[Guest]

Hello readers:

I hope I'm doing this right, and if not, please pardon me.

I have an X-77 at my church that is perhaps circa 1960-something. On occasion, when it has been on for a while, it will suddenly belch out a screeching/grinding type noise that does not go away until you turn it off. Has anyone experienced this with their X-77 and if so, do you know of a way to fix it? If this isn't clear, or if you need more information, please let me know and I'll do what I can to answer.

Thank you.

Rodney

[indianajo]

Of course the organ has been oiled yearly, hasn't it? The tonewheel generator? An ounce of hammond quality oil (suzuki-hammond.com, tonewheelgeneral.com, bborgan.com) in each of the two funnels? Also 12 drops in each flip cap of the motor?
It is possible a tonewheel bearing is dry. These are lubricated through threads from the central trough where you put the oil in through the funnels. Sometimes a mouse eats the thread. Sometimes the floor is uneven and the high end doesn't get properly lubricated.
I would remove the top, there should be allen head bolts sunk into the wood under a brace on the back. Remove the four 5/16" bolts holding the generator down to the shelf from the bottom., unplug the top light.
Buy a zoom spout oiler (turbine oil) or an equivalent squeeze spout oiler that will work on its side. With a commercial spout oiler, Use Hammond quality oil or turbine oil (no zinc, no aluminum, no detergent, no varnish) in the SUS 24 weight.
Buy a bright trouble light. I use a 13 w florescent light but they make LED ones now that are flat enough. Remove anything projecting off the back of the TG that will keep you from tipping it up.
Tip the tonewheel generator up, and set the ends on some thick paperback books. Inspect every bearing for a complete thread running from the trough through the frame and around the bearing groove. Also, lube each bearing individually. A couple of drops on the top side of the bearing should be sufficient. Now, let it sit a week. You could use WD40 penetrating oil, but it evaporates in a couple of weeks so you need the SUS 24 (SAE 5W) zinc free detergent free oil anyway.
If any threads are broken or missing, buy new cotton string and tie a new one. Cotton string was hard to get last year but now all the dollar stores have it.
Screw the TG down again after the repair. Inspect your wiring that you haven't broken any. Then after a week, try your organ. It takes a week for the oil to sink into the bearing. Putting the oil into the funnels, it takes 2-3 weeks. I have uneven floors and the bearing on the high end wasn't getting enough oil, even though I was adding the oil to the trough through the funnels yearly.
These don't have any vibrato scanners to screech, but if the Leslie (speaker) is screeching, it needs oiling in the usual way.

[Admin]

It's not clear from your description whether the noise is mechanical or electrical. More details please.

[Guest]

It sounds more mechanical.

- - - Updated - - -

Thank you for your response. Unfortunately, no, the organ has not been oiled yearly. I will read the manual and find out what other maintenance is necessary. I will try the oiling as what you described.

[Guest]

When I first started thinking about buying an organ 30+ years ago I ad a good friend who was an Hammond Organ tech. We use to hand around a lot and he had worked on a few different electronic items for me, my accordion amp, turntable, stereo amp, and CB radio. Old Joe was one of thoee guys who could fix anything. The way I got interested in Hammond was on occasion he'd ask me to go along for a delivery or pickup. We'd go pickup some old ladies Hammond and when he was done we'd take it back and I'd hear them play. I was aware of the Hammond sound in recordings but had not heard it much as a solo instrument. Joe loaned me some real to reel to reel tapes of Ethel Smith and I was smitten. At that time a B-3 could cost what was for me an astronomical amount. So I started looking at A-100' and others. I almost bought a spinet at one point because it was affordable to me. Eventually I discovered the X-66 and was pretty wowed by it's appearance but again way far out of my financial reach. This in turn led me to the X-77 which at the time I found one which still played but had all the problems one is likely to encounter, but it was dirt cheap. I talked to Joe about it and he said he would do everything he knew to do to resolve all the problems and do the modifications and upgrades. He also gave me a great price. That organ is, as far as I'm concerned, 'the bomb', and if I was not living in a trailer I'd still have it. I like reading in this forum and hearing that the X-77 hasn't gone extinct.

[Guest]

X77 - modification, drawbars

can you send me information about your modification. what is recomendation for eliminating noise during changing drawbars.

Finally, after all the complaining about the X77 and its design problems...someone is actually offering some HELP!!
Hi there, I own a Pre 1969 X77 with X77L tone cabinet, and after having owned many other Hammonds, I am here to tell you that this is the last of the great Hammond tonewheel organs that with some modification, can ACTUALLY OUT PERFORM THe IMMORTAL B3!!!!

Points to consider:
-This instrument looks Gorgeous (Funky...not like a church organ) in your living room.
-X77 contains MODERN electronic components, so re-capping etc is not required.
-X77 is ALL solid state, so electronic parts are easy to get.
-X77L leslie tone cabinet is a 200 watt 4 channel beast!
-No "Gooey Foam Problem" like many of the 60's Hammonds had.
-Console comes appart easilly, and the many circuit boards are easy to get at.
-X77 has the funky B3 percussion built in...but needs an adjustment to tighten it up.
-ALL HUMM and FIREWORKS problems can be TOTALLY ELLIMINATED!
-Learn how to ADD the ORIGIONAL Hammond B3 vibrato scanner (C3 chorus) to the X77.
-Learn how to mofify leslie X77L to function like model 122 on steroids!
Should there be enough interest in this I will provide a website with MP3s to demonstrate EXACTLY how EXCITING this instrument can be

Sincerely
Don Cake (AKA Screemin Keys)

[gwrighter]

Have the same organ/speaker. Have had since 1968 and am in the process of cleaning and getting it running again. Oil,oil,oil and the works. Where is the best place to purchase replacement parts. Am having a real problem finding what I need to get started. In the leslie,part#EMI 022921. Plastic on the wheel is broken.

[music-man]

so, hopefully someone on here can help me. I picked up an X77GT with matching Leslie X77P for free from craigslist, and after getting it home, i decided to yank all the guts out and transfer them to an old Leslie 101 cabinet that i had, in which i had already removed the lower shelf, flipped it and re-installed it, as well as replacing the rotosonic drum with an original lower rotor from a 145/147. My goal here is to turn this leslie in to a 2 speed, solid state model. I' have already built my own relay system and installed it. So after i installed the the bass speaker and horn driver (also already had holes cut out in the upped shelf to mount the driver/horn, and two speed motor), i installed the amp, re-connected to the organ to find that the Bass sounds great, but the Jensen V21 has a lot of distortion at higher volumes. why?

[Admin]

Is the horn driver connected to a crossover?