If only there were a Leslie switch that...

[Dnsmo]

...was designed like the one in IK Multimedia's B-3X! Does anyone manufacture an actual two-way Leslie switch with this separate button or control for the OFF (or BRAKE) function? This is the switch I have fantasized using with my rig.

 

Stay safe and be well, everyone.

 

Dennis

[elif]

Why the button rather than the 3-way center off?

[Dnsmo]

Why the button rather than the 3-way center off?

It would be interesting to know why the developers of the B-3X opted for this arrangement, as they could have just as easily designed a three-way. I totally dig it. It just gives you the best of both worlds -- one two-way switch that can function either as TREMOLO/CHORALE or TREMOLO/OFF. Are there any real-world playing situations when you find all three positions necessary on one switch?

[elif]

It's not really a question of necessity, I suppose a person could work with anything, I was just curious. I've added the stop function to a few 6H consoles using both three-way and two-way half-moon hand switches. Of course, the switch you desire was not, and as far as I know, is not available.

[lightbg]

My Nord C1 has the 3 way switch, and I generally blow right through stop both ways. I actually have to look at it to grab the stop position.

 

That"s what I get fro being a B3 player..........

 

Jake

[Tom Williams]

The Combo Preamp III did just that -- two foot-buttons, left button for slow-fast and right button for rotor on/off. If the right button was set for "on", the left button functioned as slow/fast. If the left side was set for fast, then the right button gave you break/fast. And now I am feeling hungry.

[Baldwin Funster]

I always wanted a leslie that was always switching on and off just as the doppler was decreasing. So the doppler ramp effect never stopped. In practice I dont know if it would work in a tune but in theory it seems interesting. Yeah I know, you say it's called a flanger.

[Dnsmo]

The Combo Preamp III did just that -- two foot-buttons, left button for slow-fast and right button for rotor on/off. If the right button was set for "on", the left button functioned as slow/fast. If the left side was set for fast, then the right button gave you break/fast. And now I am feeling hungry.

A separate switch, whether a foot switch or one mounted on the half moon, is better than having to deal with a center detent for "OFF". I've thought about this for years, but I've never done anything about it. However, the B-3X GUI has inspired me to try to come up with my own solution if nothing is available off the shelf.

[bill bosco]

i've set up 3 different organs set up this way . you can't really fit an extra switch ( i use a little rocker from parts express ) in a hammond half moon so you have to build your own little switch box .

i put a toggle up top and on the side facing me i have the rocker for the stop . in the stop position the toggle still triggers fast but to the left slow is deactivated . i use those relay boxes from trek2

that enable a stop function for a 122 . i've got 2 digital organs with 3 position leslie switches . i kind of like not having the extra switch but i do mess up every now a then with stop and slow .

[Dnsmo]

i've set up 3 different organs set up this way . you can't really fit an extra switch ( i use a little rocker from parts express ) in a hammond half moon so you have to build your own little switch box .

i put a toggle up top and on the side facing me i have the rocker for the stop . in the stop position the toggle still triggers fast but to the left slow is deactivated . i use those relay boxes from trek2

that enable a stop function for a 122 . i've got 2 digital organs with 3 position leslie switches . i kind of like not having the extra switch but i do mess up every now a then with stop and slow .

I have a 147 amp that Bob Schleicher rebuilt using one of his EIS motor control relays. As I recall, a separate switch can be wired up with a diode to toggle the slow motor on and off. It's a pity it can't be part of the half moon housing.

[elif]

Thinking about this brake thing brought some memories back. In 1998, I worked with Bob Schleicher to develop his Leslie SSR. One function he wanted was a "no brake" option. He said some organists wanted a stop function but with no brake; when switched to stop, the drum would coast until it stopped on its own. I think it might have been gospel players, which was perhaps a sizeable part of his market. I suspect that usually this would be done by pulling the power on the chorale motors. Of course, you get no Chorale when you do that.

 

Bob's SSRs used a common software for all versions of Leslie that his switch supported. When the uC booted up, one of the first things it did was to use the internal ADC to measure the voltage across a resistive divider that told the software what flavor of Leslie it was installed in: 122, 122 w/no brake, 147, or 147 w/nobrake. I saw some of the relays he built that had a toggle switch on top to turn the brake feature on or off. As far as I know, those capabilities are still in the relay that Trek II sells, though whether Trek II has made functional changes to the software, I don't know.

[Outkaster]

I think this question showed up on the Ham-Tech list.

[bill bosco]

that's the one i've been using , nice unit , it replaces the stock 122 relay along with that circuit's au7 tube.

highly recommended

[Gary75]

Yes I"ve got one of those relays too with the coast function. I use a three position switch taken from a main/ensemble/echo unit off an A100 and put it into a standard Chorale Tremolo D switch with the coast function in the middle. It"s a nice upgrade for sure

[Delaware Dave]

...was designed like the one in IK Multimedia's B-3X! Does anyone manufacture an actual two-way Leslie switch with this separate button or control for the OFF (or BRAKE) function? This is the switch I have fantasized using with my rig. Dennis

You can actually do this with VB3; set slow/stop to a CC#and assign a separate switch the CC#. In theory it would act just like the switch you showed above. When that separate switch is on, the slow/fast toggle would be stop/fast, and when the switch is off it would act as slow/fast.

[patlaw]

On 4/7/2020 at 8:34 AM, bill bosco said:

that's the one i've been using , nice unit , it replaces the stock 122 relay along with that circuit's au7 tube.

highly recommended

Is this post referring to a missing schematic? I'd love to see the circuit.

[Dnsmo]

I'm the original poster.  I was lamenting the fact that no one makes a Leslie half-moon with a separate brake switch, similar to the software Leslie switch found in the B3-X app.  That way you could use a two-way throw switch to choose between TREMOLO and CHORALE or TREMOLO and STOP.

[elif]

11 hours ago, Dnsmo said:

I'm the original poster.  I was lamenting the fact that no one makes a Leslie half-moon with a separate brake switch, similar to the software Leslie switch found in the B3-X app.  That way you could use a two-way throw switch to choose between TREMOLO and CHORALE or TREMOLO and STOP.

When switching TREM to STOP, does it engage the brake (slow motor briefly) or simply coast?

[Baldwin Funster]

I have an Audiofront midi doodad that can be programmed to send about any midi command and a couple of bruce waller blade leverswitches (half-moon switch but the box is square) from Ashby Solutions before he retired. One is for the vent1 and one is for the vent 2. They are unmarked so I don't remember which is which. 

One of them with the Audiofront selects all 3, fast slow AND brake. But not in the order on the b3x gui. It goes fast, middle is slow, far end is brake. I actually blocked off brake at the end because I tend to slap the switch and was knocking it into brake when I wanted slow. 

The other switch is fast on one side, no change in middle and slow on the far side. With the Audiofront or in b3x the order can be inverted. Unfortunately Audiofront is out of stock for the cheaper model for until end of 2024.

[JamPro]

I play my Hammond XKC thru a Motion Sound Pro 145.  The MS includes a foot switch with Fast/Slow and Brake On/Off buttons.  (It's not really a Brake; when Off, the rotors slow to no spinning.)  So with Brake Off, I can with one button go from Fast to Slow.  And when in the Fast position, I can with one button go from no spinning to Fast.  And I love the long duration of slowing when going from Fast to no spinning.  (Similarly, when in the Slow position, I can go immediately from no spinning to Slow - an option I do not use.)

 

 

[Radagast]

I don’t get the reason for brake on a Leslie.  At that point it’s like any other speaker.  That’s why I wondered why the organist for Three Dog  Night only used off or fast on his Leslie.  The point of the Leslie is to have the TWO different speeds to animate the sound in a way a stationary speaker can’t.  Before Hammond organs accepted the Leslie, they tried to imitate the slow Leslie sound with a slow scan Celeste vibrato choice on the H series and X-66 organs.  

[lsj]

totally agree with you

[JamPro]

1 hour ago, Radagast said:

I don’t get the reason for brake on a Leslie.  At that point it’s like any other speaker.  That’s why I wondered why the organist for Three Dog  Night only used off or fast on his Leslie.  The point of the Leslie is to have the TWO different speeds to animate the sound in a way a stationary speaker can’t. 

 

Well....keep in mind that many Leslie speaker cabinets were built to spin fast or not at all.  So the reasons organists only use fast speed or no spinning was because that was how their Leslies were built.  Today, people like me find that particular spinning effect (no spinning or fast spinning only) to be a unique sound that we seek out and enjoy.

 

Also keep in mind that the sound of a Leslie speaker cabinet even when the rotors are not spinning is very different from any other non-rotating speaker cabinet.  Because of the horn and 15" woofer combo, the direction the speakers are facing, the large wooden cabinet, the tube amplifiers, etc., all combine to give the non-rotating Leslie cabinet a different sound from all other stationary speaker cabinet.