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Fostering a Gibson G-101


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So here"s a fun thing that"s happening now that I have a dedicated music space: friends reaching out to see if I can hang onto fun toys they don"t currently have room for.

 

A drummer friend texted me last week, asking if I"d be interested in holding onto his grandfather"s 'Gibson organ from the mid-sixties' for a year or so until he has a place for it. He sent me a picture of the case, and that gave me enough to go on to figure out it was probably a Gibson G-101 combo organ.

 

I was correct. He brought it over yesterday, and it"s in amazing shape â seems to be fully functional, down to the expression pedal with pitch-bending side switch. It"s a super cool piece of history and I will enjoy having it available and finding uses for it in recording projects. Combo organs aren"t normally so much my bag, but having the real thing around is irresistible.

 

I also feel I have an obligation to set my Rhodes Piano Bass on it and learn some Doors songs.

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Samuel B. Lupowitz

Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado.

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I also feel I have an obligation to set my Rhodes Piano Bass on it and learn some Doors songs.

That is awesome. I've never seen a Gibson in the flesh and only a couple of Rhodes Bass keyboards. I'd enjoy pulling up a chair and just looking at that rig. Enjoy!

"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."

- George Bernard Shaw

 

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So cool or should I say Groovy Man. After my initial Combo Compact I got the two manuel version of the Gibson.It was a Gibson/Lowrey. still have the original sales brouchure for it. Great keyboard for its day. Bass player had a small leslie he hooked up for me and WOW. then his mother wanted the leslie back in their house. Bummer Have fun with it.
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Great keyboard. I bought one new in 1967 for $995 (a new 67 Ford Mustang was $2,500 back then). Sold it when I joined USAF. Bought another one in the 70s and am not sure where it went to. Have fun with it.

 

Duane

Korg PA4x76 arranger, 1976 Yamaha CP-70 electric piano, MidiPlus X6 MIDI USB controller, Turbosound ip500 Tower Speaker System

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Hammond Dave has a Gibson 101. I have a Howard combo from '67.

 

https://www.combo-organ.com/Gibson/index.htm

 

https://www.combo-organ.com/Baldwin/baldwin.htm

57 Hammond B3; 69 Hammond L100P; 68 Leslie 122; Kurzweil Forte7 & PC3; M-Audio Code 61; Voce V5+; Neo Vent; EV ELX112P; GSI Gemini & Burn

Delaware Dave

Exit93band

 

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My first electric keyboard was a black Kustom organ, which was integral with the amp and speakers.

 

http://www.combo-organ.com/Kustom/index.htm

Kawai KG-2C, Nord Stage 3 73, Electro 4D, 5D and Lead 2x, Moog Voyager and Little Phatty Stage II, Slim Phatty, Roland Lucina AX-09, Hohner Piano Melodica, Spacestation V3, pair of QSC 8.2s.

 

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That Gibson is in great condition with the music stand still intact. Unfortunately this may have to be removed to fit the Piano Bass on top. Be sure to put some kind of padding on top to avoid damage from the Piano Bass.

 

Gibson Organs use a Pratt-Read Keybed which is usually sturdy but the Gibson seems to use a soft metal which makes it prone to Keystops breaking. If the original Key Bushings are still on it replace them to minimize the chance of breakage and also for a quiet, smooth Key action. A few online sellers have the bushings. One seller has bulk quantities at reduced pricing in case you have other boards that could use new bushings.

 

The Repeat function often needs attention. You can fix this yourself if you can find the correct parts or there is an eBay seller in Danbury, CT who sells a kit to refurbish this if needed.

 

The Reverb tab doesn't do anything unless you have the matching Gibson amp which was offered as an optional accessory.

 

If any Tone Generator board acts up intermittently use some contact cleaner on the connectors. The Generator boards are right under the top and unplug easily.

 

These Organs are generally very reliable electronically. I've been gigging with them regularly since the early 90s and never had a failure other than broken Keystops.

C3/122, M102A, Vox V301H, Farfisa Compact, Gibson G101, GEM P, RMI 300A, Piano Bass, Pianet , Prophet 5 rev. 2, Pro-One, Matrix 12, OB8, Korg MS20, Jupiter 6, Juno 60, PX-5S, Nord Stage 3 Compact
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I have a somewhat different take on this. When I was 15 I purchased a used Philips Philicorda/Penncrest GM 753, circa 1967. (http://www.combo-organ.com/Philips/) At the time that I bought it, it was enough to get me through some highschool party "gigs". I never bothered to try to dump it on anyone else. In fact, I actually used a little bit later for some specialty things when I ran it through a chorus pedal, a Moog filter (with CV control pedal) and a Space Echo. Without those accoutrement, the instrument sounds as bland as white bread.

 

Last week I was working on the neverending task of clearing space in my basement. When I got to the Philicorda that was tucked into the corner I made a decision to finally be rid of it. Before hauling it to the Eco Station, I thought it best to call my tech friend to offer him the chance to canabalize first. He hipped me to the fact that the instrument's many Philips tubes might actually be valuable. Wha? ....Hey, there are a bunch of them in there. This instrument has had very little use for decades and I think that I should yank the tubes and have them tested. Before I do anything, I might do a little demo to see if I can mangle it into something interesting and then it's tube yanking time and off to the recyclers we go. To be sure, I double checked with some Youtube videos. Yep. The world does not need to hear that sound ever again.

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My first keyboard was a 102 (the dual manual orange and black, with accompanying amp and bench). I'll readily admit that I never grew to care for it. At the time I wanted a Farfisa, but this deal came along so my parents got it for me. Later got rid of it for...

 

a brand new Hammond B3! Which was OK, but it was too new (1972(?) and never delivered the tonal warmth and growl that all my favorite recrods had. LI eventually sold it to finance my foray into synths. Later, whe at Korg working on the 2nd gen CX3, I learned from the consultant that helped that my year was never going to give me the smoky sound I was looking for. But I digress...

 

Jerry

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B3! Which was OK, but it was too new (1972(?) and never delivered the tonal warmth and growl that all my favorite recrods had.

 

 

..my year was never going to give me the smoky sound I was looking for. But I digress...

 

 

I'm curious, did you ever mess with cranking the preamp via that little trimmer on the swell box?

Moe

---

 

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Hi Mate:

 

Well, it's hard to remember exactly, I got it when I was 16 (1972) and sold it around 1978-9. But I seem to recall doing that, and a number of other mods. Trek Organ Service was not far from where I lived, and I brought it to them and they clipped a resistor or something to beef up the percussion and some other things, but it's all lost in the sands of time. And I had a 122 Leslie, just to complete the picture.

 

What I was told was by the early 70's a lot had changed inside and the fabled tone of 1950-through-1960 Hammonds had changed. What I was referring to wasn't just the overdrive, but the overall smoky tone... Think Greg Allman and others. Mine was a bit more sterile, if that is a good description. I'm sure there was more I could have done if I was more knowledgeable at that early age.

 

B3! Which was OK, but it was too new (1972(?) and never delivered the tonal warmth and growl that all my favorite records had.

 

 

..my year was never going to give me the smoky sound I was looking for. But I digress...

 

 

I'm curious, did you ever mess with cranking the preamp via that little trimmer on the swell box?

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I stuck with late 50s organs until I picked up a 63 a few years ago. I always thought the 70s organs I tried didn't have the balls of the earlier ones. However, my buddy's early 70s B-3 breaks up nicely.

 

For rock and roll balls though, my 63 rules.

Moe

---

 

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This thread reminds me, now that there's no gigs I need to go play mine! I have had it since April of 2006 and played it on a lot of Doors tribute gigs. Absolutely love it and the fans always have questions about it and want to talk about it. It's been a pleasure and a thrill having it. Fantastic instrument.
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I have a somewhat different take on this. When I was 15 I purchased a used Philips Philicorda/Penncrest GM 753, circa 1967. (http://www.combo-organ.com/Philips/) At the time that I bought it, it was enough to get me through some highschool party "gigs". I never bothered to try to dump it on anyone else. In fact, I actually used a little bit later for some specialty things when I ran it through a chorus pedal, a Moog filter (with CV control pedal) and a Space Echo. Without those accoutrement, the instrument sounds as bland as white bread.

 

Last week I was working on the neverending task of clearing space in my basement. When I got to the Philicorda that was tucked into the corner I made a decision to finally be rid of it. Before hauling it to the Eco Station, I thought it best to call my tech friend to offer him the chance to canabalize first. He hipped me to the fact that the instrument's many Philips tubes might actually be valuable. Wha? ....Hey, there are a bunch of them in there. This instrument has had very little use for decades and I think that I should yank the tubes and have them tested. Before I do anything, I might do a little demo to see if I can mangle it into something interesting and then it's tube yanking time and off to the recyclers we go. To be sure, I double checked with some Youtube videos. Yep. The world does not need to hear that sound ever again.

Don"t you dare.

 

Cranking the chord function will distort some lovely, and it"s total magic as a vocoder carrier.

 

Love the phili. If you don"t appreciate it, at least have the respect to pass it on to somebody who does.

"The Angels of Libra are in the European vanguard of the [retro soul] movement" (Bill Buckley, Soul and Jazz and Funk)

The Drawbars | off jazz organ trio

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  • 4 weeks later...

Moved some things around in the studio this morning to prepare for the piano tuner (and to make space for the A100 and the 147 when the tech is done with them) and was excited to try stacking the Rhodes Piano Bass on top of the G-101... yikes, not quite as perfect a mate as, say, a Clavinet on a Hammond, or my Nord Electro on my Wurlitzer. I referenced some pictures of Ray Manzarek with the two boards stacked, but anytime I moved the Rhodes back as far as it looked in his setup, the center of gravity just felt a liiiiittle too far back for my comfort. Seemed like one little push would send the whole stack toppling backward (been there, not eager to repeat). Might be that the floor in my studio isn't quite level, and the carpet exacerbates it. But even with the Rhodes scooted pretty far back, its keybed still hangs pretty far over the controls and the keys of the Gibson. I guess I'll let that dream go for now. That Piano Bass is probably the least practical keyboard in my collection, but it's just too cool to let go of.

 

Fortunately, the G-101 makes a fine platform for my Novation Ultranova, even if that's an odd pairing of eras and sonic character!

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Samuel B. Lupowitz

Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado.

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"..What I was referring to wasn't just the overdrive, but the overall smoky tone... Think Greg Allman and others. Mine was a bit more sterile, if that is a good description..

Precisely what I like about the tone on the Voce V5+. To me it has that smoky tone that you are referring to.

57 Hammond B3; 69 Hammond L100P; 68 Leslie 122; Kurzweil Forte7 & PC3; M-Audio Code 61; Voce V5+; Neo Vent; EV ELX112P; GSI Gemini & Burn

Delaware Dave

Exit93band

 

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