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Hi all,
After chasing that elusive Hammond and Leslie sound for many years, then a 15 year journey through various clonewheels (including XK3, XK3c, XLK and pedals) , Leslies and Leslie sims I finally bought my first Hammond about a year ago. It was a 1953 M2 that I picked up for sale in country NSW, Australia. Took me 5 hours to get it, another 5 hours return. $800 was pretty expensive, considering that it was advertised with a number of serious problems. The previous owner had owned a number of Hammonds, but told me he had not been able to fix this one. Would run for about 15-20min before emitting horrible squealing noises. Said that he had oiled it and did not think that was the problem. Even worse in summer than winter. Cabinet was in really rough shape. No bench, no music stand.
I know a really good Hammond tech in Victoria every couple of years or so he does a big road trip of maybe 2000km or more to service the few Hammonds and Leslies in NSW and Queensland etc. I have seen him post a little on here in the past - so G'day Geoff if you are reading this. I thought if I really got stuck he would eventually help me with the M2.
But things got a bit worse - when I got it home I found that there was a missing tone. I had no idea what the problem was and could not find any broken wires on the TWG. But it was nice to play, and I enjoyed it for what it was. I preferred it to my more modern equipment.
Then come 2020 and a few weeks of enforced isolation at home I researched the problems using this forum. There was now no chance of Geoff coming this year, due to COVID restrictions here. I was able to work out that the missing tone was 77 and then could find the broken wire which was close to being attached. Soldered it back after a few attempts and I was on my way. I put my XK3 up for sale and was in some communication with a 21 year old guy from Maitland who wanted to know if I had a cheap Leslie I could sell him. He told me the M2 needed more oil and turned out he completely correct. Half a bottle of oil later the organ will play all day, no more squealing.
Then thanks again you this forum, I made a little line out box, so I could connect the M2 to my Leslie 122 via my speakeasy preamp pedal. Worked beautifully.
Then started to strip back the little remaining lacquer in preparation for applying some tung oil. Began searching for some veneer that might be a reasonable match for the broken off parts.
Then realised that the M2 was 'out of tune' by about 3 semitones. Realised that the problem was the organ was a US version, rather than a local version and that I would need a frequency conversion kit. Nearly bought the German one as recommended by a few on here. But then spoke to Geoff and he offered a more affordable solution.
Then started to explore how to add foldback, add percussion. Finally gave up on that idea, and was lucky enough to pick up an M3. I will leave that story for a separate thread.
The M2 now has a new owner after I sold it to a guy in South Australia for $500. Apparently $550 for transport. G'day Jack if you are reading this. Hopefully it will arrive soon - 3-4 weeks for transport must be frustrating.
Anyway, heaps of enjoyment from this thing, and I got great value for the $330 loss over the last year. Well worth it.
After chasing that elusive Hammond and Leslie sound for many years, then a 15 year journey through various clonewheels (including XK3, XK3c, XLK and pedals) , Leslies and Leslie sims I finally bought my first Hammond about a year ago. It was a 1953 M2 that I picked up for sale in country NSW, Australia. Took me 5 hours to get it, another 5 hours return. $800 was pretty expensive, considering that it was advertised with a number of serious problems. The previous owner had owned a number of Hammonds, but told me he had not been able to fix this one. Would run for about 15-20min before emitting horrible squealing noises. Said that he had oiled it and did not think that was the problem. Even worse in summer than winter. Cabinet was in really rough shape. No bench, no music stand.
I know a really good Hammond tech in Victoria every couple of years or so he does a big road trip of maybe 2000km or more to service the few Hammonds and Leslies in NSW and Queensland etc. I have seen him post a little on here in the past - so G'day Geoff if you are reading this. I thought if I really got stuck he would eventually help me with the M2.
But things got a bit worse - when I got it home I found that there was a missing tone. I had no idea what the problem was and could not find any broken wires on the TWG. But it was nice to play, and I enjoyed it for what it was. I preferred it to my more modern equipment.
Then come 2020 and a few weeks of enforced isolation at home I researched the problems using this forum. There was now no chance of Geoff coming this year, due to COVID restrictions here. I was able to work out that the missing tone was 77 and then could find the broken wire which was close to being attached. Soldered it back after a few attempts and I was on my way. I put my XK3 up for sale and was in some communication with a 21 year old guy from Maitland who wanted to know if I had a cheap Leslie I could sell him. He told me the M2 needed more oil and turned out he completely correct. Half a bottle of oil later the organ will play all day, no more squealing.
Then thanks again you this forum, I made a little line out box, so I could connect the M2 to my Leslie 122 via my speakeasy preamp pedal. Worked beautifully.
Then started to strip back the little remaining lacquer in preparation for applying some tung oil. Began searching for some veneer that might be a reasonable match for the broken off parts.
Then realised that the M2 was 'out of tune' by about 3 semitones. Realised that the problem was the organ was a US version, rather than a local version and that I would need a frequency conversion kit. Nearly bought the German one as recommended by a few on here. But then spoke to Geoff and he offered a more affordable solution.
Then started to explore how to add foldback, add percussion. Finally gave up on that idea, and was lucky enough to pick up an M3. I will leave that story for a separate thread.
The M2 now has a new owner after I sold it to a guy in South Australia for $500. Apparently $550 for transport. G'day Jack if you are reading this. Hopefully it will arrive soon - 3-4 weeks for transport must be frustrating.
Anyway, heaps of enjoyment from this thing, and I got great value for the $330 loss over the last year. Well worth it.
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