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Ok, so here's a whacky one... well, at least to me, but probably not to some of you on here. So, let me first begin by saying that I am NOT an organ / keys player, but a guitarist / drummer who is looking to get INTO playing organ and keys. I do play in a band that has a hammond organ player and this stuff is over his head, so he told me to come here and run this by the fine folks on this forum. </p>
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So i picked up an old Hammond Model "A" console organ, which came with a Leslie model 51C as well as another "mystery box" which aparently is the tube amp section of an old Tone Cabinet which supplies the "B+" power to the hammond. The people that I got the hammond from have not been of too much help and I am kind of on my own in trying to figure out HOW to get this thing up and running. I'll give you a list of components and variables that I am dealing with. </p>
What I DO have:
The organ, the leslie cable, the leslie, the tone cab box. I can't find any model number on the tone cabinet box to help with that info if request, but perhaps by giving a breakdown of what tubes are included that will help. </p>
The organ organ fires up, the leslie spins, the tone wheel spins, but I get absolutley NO sound out of the organ and out of the leslie. When I got the organ, I opened up the back to take a peek and noticed that some wires were just hanging out. The wiring on the organ definitely has some aftermarket wiring done to it, in that there is a series of wires coming off the preamp and into the tone cabinet box to provide the B+. Then, there is another plug that has been wired with a 1/4" guitar cable jack off of the GND and one G off the back panel. I have since removed that. There is also some wires that come off the preamp panel and into a 6 pin leslie cable connector junction box, and I noticed that on pins 1 & 6 the wires were disconnected. From the research that I was able to do online I noticed that pins 1 & 6 are supposed to be audio, with pin 1 = signal ground, and pin 6 = signal input. I soldered the two bare wires onto the respective pins 1 & 6 and still get no signal. Here is the full pin out for both the leslie cable junction box, as well as the wires that go to the tone cabinet for B+ power, which, by the way, I put a meter on the GND and B+ power and get about 330 volts, so the tone cab box IS supplying the B+ power. </p>
LESLIE JUNCTION BOX 6 PIN PINOUT:</p>
1- connects to GND on Hammond Preamp</p>
2- connects to GND on Hammond Preamp</p>
3- connects to GND on Hammond Preamp</p>
4- Connects to 115 on Hammond Preamp</p>
5- null - does not connect to anything</p>
6- connects to G on Hammond Preamp</p>
TONE CABINET 6 PIN CONNECTOR PINOUT:</p>
1- null - does not connect to anything</p>
2- connects to GND on Hammond preamp</p>
3- connects to 115 on Hammond Preamp</p>
4- connects to 115 on hammond Preamp</p>
5- connects to B+ on Hammond preamp
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6- null - does not connect to anything </p>
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From left to right, on the back of the Hammond Preamp, I have these hookup options:
115 (two screws) | a small "p" | GND | G G | B+ </p>
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I tested all tubes in the B+ box, and while some register as a litle weak, none of them are non-functioning or have any shorts Same tests true with the Leslie 51C amp. I was NOT able to reference the tube type 56 and 57 in my tube tester, so I am not able to test their health, however they do light up. </p>
I was able to plug the 1/4" cable (when connected to GND & G) to a guitar amp and got a LITTLE bit of audio out of the guitar amp, but it was VERY quiet and weak, even with volume pedal all the way down and the volume on 7 or so on the guitar amp. Still, not audio out of the Leslie. </p>
My question to the forum is, based upon the pinout provided above, does anything seem to be out of place in terms of wires going to the correct places? Also, I have a model 125 leslie with model 25 amp, as well as a model 45 leslie with model 47 amp. Would it be better if I were to try to rig this thing up to work with one of those other two leslies? I have the other two for guitar purposes, but can easily use them for the organ if it will be better or easier to hook up. </p>
I purchased this organ last friday under the impression that it works only to find out that it doesn't, and I have been tinkering with it just about every single day trying to get it to work. I have a feeling it's just 1 wire or something that is off. I would greatly appreciate any assistance or help in getting this up and running.</p>
Also, I read somewhere that these were some of the first Hammonds, and that there were about 2500 or so of these model "A" hammonds made, and that serial number 1 is in the Smithsonian. The serial number on this one is 260 which means it was relatively early in production. Does that add any value or anything to this Hammond? </p>
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I set up a photobucket account and took some pictures in case they are necessary in helping to solve these issues. I can take any additional pictures if necessary. </p>
http://s448.photobucket.com/albums/qq202/nickbearden/
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Thank you in adance for taking a look at this and hopefully helping me to get this hammond up and running!!! :)
~Nick
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