Building my own Leslie; where do I start?

[DrawbarDreams]

I was so tired of my Elka cabinet breaking down, so I completely stripped it. (still have to pull the lower rotor and the motors) Now, I was thinking about rebuilding said cabinet into a genuine Leslie. Where do I start? I can't find any genuine Leslie parts where I live (Australia) so I was wondering if Tonewheel General is the best place to even get Leslie parts?

[ShadyJoe]

You take what you have and you clean it up, learn how things work, and repair what is fixable. Without the knowledge of how things work you will have no idea what can and cannot be fixed.

If your Elka was breaking down, this implies that it had working parts. Start putting it back together, carefully. (Did you simply tear it apart and destroy what you took out, throwing everything out?)

Where do you start? From where you are. Hunt down some parts. Hunt down some knowledge. A piece at a time.

[andyg]

Rather than just stripping it, why didn't you tell us what it was doing. Chances are that someone could have helped you fix it. Now, all you have is a heap of parts. Take Joe's advice seriously and see if you can rebuild it. If you can, you'll probably learn enough to fix it. If not, you'll have to enjoy vibrato instead.

And reading your classified, I don't think anyone is going to swap a working 760 for what's left of your Elkatone. They wouldn't have swapped it for a working Elkatone either!

[DrawbarDreams]

Rather than just stripping it, why didn't you tell us what it was doing. Chances are that someone could have helped you fix it. Now, all you have is a heap of parts. Take Joe's advice seriously and see if you can rebuild it. If you can, you'll probably learn enough to fix it. If not, you'll have to enjoy vibrato instead.

And reading your classified, I don't think anyone is going to swap a working 760 for what's left of your Elkatone. They wouldn't have swapped it for a working Elkatone either!

The motors were non-standard, so I wanted to just completely strip the cabinet out (including drivers) and replace all the crappy Italian parts with genuine Leslie components. Like new motors, new everything, just in the shell of that old Elkatone. Then again I COULD hack together something with an old cheesewheel out of a terrible organ like an old Kawai.

[andyg]

Actually, the Elkatones were well made, sold like hot cakes in their native Italy and were used for gigging - a lot. You may have to rethink your opinions of so-called 'crappy' parts!

If you bought new components all round, you'd almost certainly end up spending more than it would cost you to buy a decent used Leslie. If you've thrown out the drivers in the Elkatone then your idea of using an internal leslie unit will result in a low power cabinet (30 watts max) and an 8" speaker - so no bass.

We always try to help you Nathan, but if you just tear into things with little knowledge or experience and don't ask questions first, then there's little we can do.

[DrawbarDreams]

Actually, the Elkatones were well made, sold like hot cakes in their native Italy and were used for gigging - a lot. You may have to rethink your opinions of so-called 'crappy' parts!

If you bought new components all round, you'd almost certainly end up spending more than it would cost you to buy a decent used Leslie. If you've thrown out the drivers in the Elkatone then your idea of using an internal leslie unit will result in a low power cabinet (30 watts max) and an 8" speaker - so no bass.

We always try to help you Nathan, but if you just tear into things with little knowledge or experience and don't ask questions first, then there's little we can do.

Well, the drivers I still have, and the motors are still inside the cabinet. In theory, I could rewire the motors properly (I didn't like the idea of wires running through every crevice of the cabinet) I do like the base width and length of this cabinet, and I'm OK with trying to find new or even used Leslie parts. At least I'd be able to rewire this thing for a tube amp. I was thinking of converting the entire thing to a 147 (including crossover and amp.) I'd save up the cash to do it, and once I'm done with the conversion, I'll probably get a CPA (combo preamp) pedal and just use the newly converted Elkatone 700 (or in this case the Elkatone 147) Then again I'm almost finished getting my 705's rotary parts fixed, as when I opened it up, the mercotac was already broken (probably by previous owner) so the list of parts I need to get are as follows: New mercotac, new lower rotor belt + new belt assembly (the thing that goes in the rotor itself), and top bearing plate (wasn't even present when I got it!) After my 705's been restored (at least the rotary section) I'll be able to use my B200 live with said 705 (as it's a genuine Leslie).