How to connect Foot Switch

[Guest]

I have been using a Nord as my organ for years. I going to be recording in studios with real B3's and A100's with Leslie speakers. I am used to using a foot pedal for the fast/slow controls. So when I roll into a studio with a half-moon switch, I would like to be able to bring a foot switch to use instead.

Now, I know very little about this but I understand it is not just a matter of plugging the foot switch in where the half-moon was. The 10-pin cables, converters, all of that I am ignorant to. Can someone educate me on how the organ relates to the controls of the speaker?

Furthermore, in studios the Leslie is often in a different room than the organ. Do I need a long enough cable to run to the speaker? Or would it be on the organ itself. Do only some organs have a module with a 1/4 inch? Do some half-moons run all the way to the speaker via a 10-pin cable only?
I am going to need this explained very simply, so thank you in advance to any and all that want to help me.

[David Anderson]

The organ will have a Leslie kit installed for the type of Leslie attached to the organ.

There are several families of Leslie hookups, the most common with tube Leslies being 6W (147) and 6H (122). Solid state Leslies use either a 9-pin or 11-pin interface.

There is no footswitch interface on any standard Leslie kit. One could be wired into a 6H hookup if you knew what you were doing, but the 6W standard uses 120VAC for speed switching. It's not considered safe to switch 120VAC directly with a footswitch. In cases like that, I've custom built low-voltage relay interfaces installed in the organ.

The bottom line is that you'd need a knowledgeable tech to mate your footswitch to the given Leslie setup you find. It's not something you can walk in and set up in 5 minutes.

[theseacowexists]

I've been through this before, coming off of years of using the Nord with a footswitch and suddenly finding myself in a studio with a traditional Hammond/Leslie set up. While this doesn't help you to change the setup in the studio you are going to, the solution for me was to practice playing the Nord and using the fast/slow button on the Nord itself with my left hand while playing. Sure it's not a half-moon Leslie switch, but it's at least somewhat training your hands to be ready when you do encounter a half-moon sitch (SIC).

If you want to get your Nord closer to the real thing, they do manufacture half-moon switches for the Nord, but the prices on those are ridiculous IMO. Rig one up yourself for a fraction of the price using a Telecaster switch, a TRS cord, a small project box, and whatever means you come up with to attach it to your Nord (velcro is great!).

[David Anderson]

This is becoming an increasing problem -- players who've learned to play organ on digital organs suddenly encountering an actual tonewheel Hammond and not being able to adapt to the original control layout.

I was working with a studio when a younger player came in, and he couldn't get used to a real B-3 no matter how much we tried to help him. He had to record the organ parts with his Nord with a perfect B-3/122 setup right beside him.