Types of Electric Organs

Jim Garten wrote: pierreolivier wrote: Jim Garten wrote: By the way, Pierreolivier - I've just ordered a copy of "Beauty In The B"; sounds like the perfect book for an old saddo Hammond anorak like myself... Yes sir!,that's a beautiful book.You won't be dissapointed. I'm not! What a book - I can now bore all my friends even more with Hammond lore; an example: did you know that before inventing the Hammond Organ (or "electric flute", as he called it originally...), Laurens Hammond invented the self shuffling/dealing bridge table

Yes, I've seen the photo in the book.It's quite a weird looking table.I shown the photo to my father,who is an amateur bridge player and he was quite fascinated by the table altrought he say that it's a kind of gadget.Apparently, the table sold very well and the price was something like $25, in the depression era it was a lot of money for something luxurious.

pierreolivier wrote: Jim Garten wrote: OK then - my very own 1971 Hammond L122 with Leslie 145   Hi Jim, You have a very beautiful organ and a very fine leslie.Just a little rectifier,you say that your organ was made in 1971 but according to the Hammond book "Beauty in the B" by Mark Vail,all the L models were produced between September 1961 and July 1964 so your organ may be older than you think.

Actually, Vail's book isn't 100% accurate.  The L-100 series continued to be built well into the early 70's.  I had a '67 L-112 at one point, some of its parts are in my '63 L-100.  Vail's book has a lot of nice pictures, but there are errors.  The Hammond Age List has this error in the L-100 list heading, but there are plenty of post-'64 organs represented and the serial number data are accurate. 

The age list can be found at http://www.prevailingwinds.net/agelist/agelist.php  and there is a link to the Hammond-Leslie FAQ at www.hamtech.org (mailing list for organists and techs, I've been a member since '95, an eternity in net-time! :D )

That's a really nice L-122 there, that's my favorite L-100 series cabinet style.  I love my little L-100, doesn't do some of the things my B-3 does but it has its own unique vibe, and taken on its own terms is an expressive little instrument.  I love being able to route the reverb through the Leslie, you can get spacey sounds doing that! :)

Todd in Beerbratistan

I see you're in England, the L's were very popular over there.  If it has pedal sustain, that would make it an L-122S.  Pedal sustain was an option installed by the European importers (in this case, Boosey & Hawkes).  The Belgian Hammond distributor did this as well, offering options not available on US-sold instruments.  They even made an A-100 with pedal sustain.  Microtechnica in Italy assembled Hammonds, and Boosey&Hawkes had an operation in South Africa assembling them as well.

Your L-122 would have to be post-69, it has the large HAMMOND logo with the stylized "H" (that didn't appear until around 1970).  So, 1971 is about right.  In 1966 they went from the small font to a large font, then around '70 went to that even larger blockier font with the big H logo.  My L-112 had the post-'66 large font, as does my '67 M-102 (which I found alongside the road on its back with someone's garbage...I wasted no time rescuing the poor mutt!  Still needs a little work yet...)

European Hammonds were, with the exception of the B-3 (which had a complicated-to-manufacture cabinet), assembled in Europe with the cabinetwork made locally.  The guts were shipped as "tray organs" from the plant in Chicago.  This saved a lot of shipping costs.  Leslie did the same thing, European Leslies had locally-made cabinets with only the amps/motors/drivers/hardware coming from Pasadena.

Todd in Beerbratistan (pet name for the state of Wisconsin, the enchanted land of brats, beer, and cheese :D )

B3Nut wrote: I see you're in England, the L's were very popular over there.  If it has pedal sustain, that would make it an L-122S.  Pedal sustain was an option installed by the European importers (in this case, Boosey & Hawkes).  The Belgian Hammond distributor did this as well, offering options not available on US-sold instruments.  They even made an A-100 with pedal sustain.  Microtechnica in Italy assembled Hammonds, and Boosey&Hawkes had an operation in South Africa assembling them as well. Your L-122 would have to be post-69, it has the large HAMMOND logo with the stylized "H" (that didn't appear until around 1970).  So, 1971 is about right.  In 1966 they went from the small font to a large font, then around '70 went to that even larger blockier font with the big H logo.  My L-112 had the post-'66 large font, as does my '67 M-102 (which I found alongside the road on its back with someone's garbage...I wasted no time rescuing the poor mutt!  Still needs a little work yet...) European Hammonds were, with the exception of the B-3 (which had a complicated-to-manufacture cabinet), assembled in Europe with the cabinetwork made locally.  The guts were shipped as "tray organs" from the plant in Chicago.  This saved a lot of shipping costs.  Leslie did the same thing, European Leslies had locally-made cabinets with only the amps/motors/drivers/hardware coming from Pasadena. Todd in Beerbratistan (pet name for the state of Wisconsin, the enchanted land of brats, beer, and cheese :D )

Thanks for the clarification, B3Nut.

Me too was a little suspicious about the 1964 date but was thinking if Mark Vail,who is supposed to be a vintage keyboards specialist write that date in his book,this date must be accurate.I was wrong.I'm not a specialist on Hammond organ and takes my informations on the "Beauty in the B" book and from a former Hammond dealer where I went very often as a kid.

Personnally, I had an Hammond L-112 with the stylized "H" and large Hammond logo,so it must be post-69.Thanks for the infos,that's very interesting.

Ah yes, Thijs Van Leer...extremely musical player.  He's not showoffish at all, kind of an anti-Emerson. :)  Peter Bardens (rest his soul) from Camel was another player like that, amazing taste.  Van Leer got a lot of music out of the L-100, Live At The Rainbow (hey, L-122 again!) is brilliant. 

Vail did an OK job with what he had to work with, but some revisions would be in order.  It's still a nice coffee-table book to have around, it can be helpful in explaining one's Hammond obsessions to puzzled visitors. :)  They will get to you though, you'll start prowling estate sales and such for them.  They turn up in wierd spots too, especially in the US given Americans' propensity to throw things away they don't understand.  Witness the M-102 I found in someone's trash in Madison, or the Hamtech list member who recently found an A-100 and 122 in someone's trash!  Talk about a good save...I shudder to think of these machines going into a garbage truck and being smashed!

Todd in Beerbratistan