Just picked up a Leslie 120, need to connect to M-100

[tubmyk2]

Hello- I haven't posted here in a while but I just picked up a Leslie 120 yesterday and need to get it interfaced with my Hammond M-100.

the Leslie itself was connected into a Baldwin fun machine organ when I picked it up but was only able to retrieve the cable itself out of the back of the Baldwin. I wasn't thinking til I got it home that it probably had a 26-1 connector kit installed. But even if it did, it was behind all the circuit boards so it would have been surgery to get out (plus I didn't want to take a 300 pound useless organ to retrieve the kit). So I have the speaker and the cable.

I have been doing some reading about this and seeing that I likely need the kit. But, I'd like a more DIY approach to it since I don't want to spend crazy money on the box and switches (I can make the switches; they'll be ghetto but they'll work). I also made one of those 1/4” output boxes a while back to get the Hammond into my mixer and bypass the internal speaker. So that is possibly another option for the audio output but I'd still need to activate and power the Leslie from the AO-29 amp.

Any descriptive suggestions? Thanks in advance!

[Tim Rinkerman]

I too just acquired an M100 and a model 45 leslie. Does you 120 have an amp in it? The 45 I got did not, and was powered from a 26-1 kit in the organ to a passive box in the leslie that allowed the AO-29 to power the leslie. There is no actual "circuitry" in the 26-1 box, it's just switching. http://www.captain-foldback.com/Leslie_sub/tips5.htm I included a link from Captian Foldback to show you what's inside the box,easily duplicated. If you want the passive box so you can use the cable you have, let me know, I have no use for it. Hope this helps.

[andyg]

A Leslie 120 has no amp, so needs to be driven from the organ's amp via the 26-1 kit. As Tim said, very easy to replicate.

Some people find the 120 a bit dull in tone, and simply replace the stock speaker with one that has a 'whizzer' cone to give a bit more in the way of highs.

[tubmyk2]

Thanks, gentlemen.
Well I went ahead and got myself a 26-1 box and have the connector cable to the Hammond amp arriving in a day or two. In the meantime, I pulled the motor of the Leslie and got it all apart and oiled up and tested, and it's working great now. Bench tested it with AC before reinstalling it. Now, my question is how to make a bootleg M/E/E switch. I know the Chorale/tremolo switch is just a basic SPDT(?) on-off switch but I'm worried about trying to cobble together something that is switching the motor, and I have been reading all this stuff about "just use a relay" etc... i haver no guidance whatsoever on what that even means for my situation.

I'd like to end up with an aluminum pedal enclosure, and two toggle switches; one on/off, one 3 way for the M/E/E. How would I safely accomplish this? This is just for my studio and it will never leave the house.