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Looking at a Hammond A100 today


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My Hammond tech alerted me to a great deal on an A100, and I'm going to check it out. He's played it and it runs and allegedly sounds great. Anything in particular I should pay attention to? It is currently only wired for the internal speakers, but we will add a Leslie hookup.

 

The 1939 BC that we've been working on just keeps finding new ways to fail, so I'm really thinking that I'm not technically the guy for an organ of this vintage, I am learning a lot, but would rather have a playable instrument than another project. Plus, this is for a studio instrument, the A100, since it already has percussion, smooth drawbars, etc, is an instrument that other players would find more accessible.

Turn up the speaker

Hop, flop, squawk

It's a keeper

-Captain Beefheart, Ice Cream for Crow

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I love my A100 to bits.

 

as do I. Do it, Dave. Then we can start an "A100 Dave Club". :thu:

 

Yeah, that's all the reason I need! :-)

 

Actually pretty excited about this, I've never owned a working full-size console before.

Turn up the speaker

Hop, flop, squawk

It's a keeper

-Captain Beefheart, Ice Cream for Crow

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Serial #? Make sure you aren't inheriting a problem. Make sure the bussbards aren't gone. Check the action to see if the keys are tight or loose and clack together.

"Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello"

 

 

noblevibes.com

 

 

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While I doubt it has foam cancer (your tech would know in an instant), play every key on each manual, listening for missing tones. Best way to do this is one drawbar at a time.

www.dazzjazz.com

PhD in Jazz Organ Improvisation.

BMus (Hons) Jazz Piano.

my YouTube is Jazz Organ Bites

1961 A100.Leslie 45 & 122. MAG P-2 Organ. Kawai K300J. Yamaha CP4. Moog Matriarch. KIWI-8P.

 

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As the owner of what is surely the most abused and least stable of the A100s mentioned in this thread, I will also say that I love mine to bits, and couldn't recommend it highly enough. It's That Sound that you're after in a Hammond.

Samuel B. Lupowitz

Musician. Songwriter. Food Enthusiast. Bad Pun Aficionado.

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I love my A100 to bits as well. Which is ironic, considering the things are analog and not digital. :snax:

"I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck

 

"The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI

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Funny timing here.

 

We have a new bass player in the group, and I come to find out he's been restoring Hammonds and Leslies for many years. I went over to his house today, and he had no less than six Hammond consoles in his garage shop in various states of repair, as well as several Franken-Leslies that sounded great. One shelf filled with tone generators, another with various preamps, another with key actions and so on.

 

He also said he was involved with the Speakeasy tube preamps years ago, and had a few in various states of repair. He loves him a vintage Hammond through hot tubes.

 

I am not interested in maintaining one of these antique beasts on my own. But if I know a guy ... well, that's a different proposition.

 

And, yes, there was this cool A100 he was just about finished with. Reverb unit was busted, but everything else worked great. It played and sounded marvelous.

 

Resisting something like this is gonna be tough ...

Want to make your band better?  Check out "A Guide To Starting (Or Improving!) Your Own Local Band"

 

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While I doubt it has foam cancer (your tech would know in an instant), play every key on each manual, listening for missing tones. Best way to do this is one drawbar at a time.

I love my A100 and this is exactly how I tested it before buying. I don"t know much about Hammonds but it seemed like the right thing to do.

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Figure on replacing the upstop and downstop felts in both manuals assuming it has the originals especially if this is going to be used in a recording studio. Make sure the chorus/vibrato isn't "motorboating", you'll know if it is when you turn it on.

'57 Hammond B-3, '60 Hammond A100, Leslie 251, Leslie 330, Leslie 770, Leslie 145, Hammond PR-40

Trek II UC-1A

Alesis QSR

 

 

 

 

 

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Yes, snag it. An A100 is also perfect for a home studio, since it's narrower than a B or C... the preamp hangs underneath the tone generator, instead of in front of it, so...

I identical to a B in all other ways...heavier, though. In many years of touring and using backline Hammonds I've seen more than a few modded A100. And by modded I mean they'll put A100 guts into a BC or BV cabinet, turning it into a B3, for all intents & purposes.

A100's rock...

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So...

 

50858072677_8583825b89_c.jpg

 

The good: It plays great! All drawbars, all keys, keyed feels great, reverb works, sounds great through the internal speakers. Overall condition is pretty good. Serial number is 116xx, dating it to 1961.

 

The bad: Chorus/Vibrato sounded perfectly normal the first 45 minutes it ran at the sellers place, then suddenly became very pronounced, I'm guessing this is what is called "Motorboating", and I see why. Based on a quick web search at the sellers place, and the fact that I was there with cash, a dolly, a truck and a friend to help load it, I talked the guy down $300. Oh yeah, there's a couple of broken pieces of trim, that much I can definitely repair myself.

 

The verdict: It's mine! Back at the studio, it's been running for well over an hour, and Chorus/Vibrato still sounds normal. Seller said it hadn't been run for more than 10 minutes at a time for the last year, and had never gone 'boating on him. I've guessing a cleaning/service of the scanner vibrato is in the works. How intense of a job is this? Is it a DIY job for relative newbie? Looks complicated from what I have seen online, but I do want to learn more about see[ing these beasts running.

 

Pretty happy about this!

Turn up the speaker

Hop, flop, squawk

It's a keeper

-Captain Beefheart, Ice Cream for Crow

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Are you in Oregon....somwhere in the Willamette Valley?

 

I have successfully fixed many vibrato. scanners with motorboating problems with a tool that I got from the legendary Hammond guru Harvey Olsen.

 

This thing shoots a piezo electric spark and is a zapper of sorts. Anyway Harvey marketed these briefly about 20 years ago and then they became unavailable.

 

Anyway I am up and down I 5 frequentl y and I could probably help you out. It's usually in the switches. Haven't done one yet that didn't work out....

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Are you in Oregon....somwhere in the Willamette Valley?

 

I have successfully fixed many vibrato. scanners with motorboating problems with a tool that I got from the legendary Hammond guru Harvey Olsen.

 

This thing shoots a piezo electric spark and is a zapper of sorts. Anyway Harvey marketed these briefly about 20 years ago and then they became unavailable.

 

Anyway I am up and down I 5 frequentl y and I could probably help you out. It's usually in the switches. Haven't done one yet that didn't work out....

 

Yeah, Corvallis. I'll be in touch via PM!

 

Nice A-101. I have one that I've owned since 1988. Same motor boating C/V I've temporarily fixed with the 9-volt battery trick, but mostly avoid using it. Congrats!

 

Care to elaborate on the 9V battery trick? A quick web search didn't get me any clarity.

Turn up the speaker

Hop, flop, squawk

It's a keeper

-Captain Beefheart, Ice Cream for Crow

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Also...sometimes if you reseat the tubes...particularly the one that affects CV it can help the vibrato. One time years ago a tech friend had a tube tester and he took the tubes out and cleaned the metal prongs with a socket in his tester that cleaned the prongs . He put the tubes back in and it fixed the problem.

 

I have never had to replace a scanner BTW in all my years....I just zap the switches with the organ turned off or reseat the tubes.

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I have recently done a scanner. Here's my experience:

 

A friend's '70 B-3 started motorboating. We did the battery zap and it fixed it for a day or two. We came back again with more batteries and zapped it with a higher voltage. No dice this time - only a scanner clean out would do.

 

It went pretty smoothly. It was my first, but I followed the excellent directions Benton provides (which I'll link below.)

 

I managed to remove the scanner from the motor and weasel it out to be disassembled, without removing manuals or disconnecting large harnesses. Read and heed the web page and see if something like that is worth tackling.

 

https://bentonelectronics.com/servicing-the-hammond-vibrato-scanner/

Moe

---

 

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Very nice... you scored. A scanner rebuild is fairly complicated job. I've watched my tech rebuild mine, and I wouldn't want to try it... but that's just me. If you can get a service manual, from eBay or Hammond Organ World, that would be helpful.

 

According to my old Hammond catalog, yours is an A101...Contemporary styling

A100 - Traditional style

A102 - French Provincial

A143 - Early American

A105 - Tudor - basically a C3 with internal speakers

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Funny timing here.

 

We have a new bass player in the group, and I come to find out he's been restoring Hammonds and Leslies for many years. I went over to his house today, and he had no less than six Hammond consoles in his garage shop in various states of repair, as well as several Franken-Leslies that sounded great. One shelf filled with tone generators, another with various preamps, another with key actions and so on.

 

He also said he was involved with the Speakeasy tube preamps years ago, and had a few in various states of repair. He loves him a vintage Hammond through hot tubes.

 

I am not interested in maintaining one of these antique beasts on my own. But if I know a guy ... well, that's a different proposition.

 

And, yes, there was this cool A100 he was just about finished with. Reverb unit was busted, but everything else worked great. It played and sounded marvelous.

 

Resisting something like this is gonna be tough ...

 

 

hello there, my name is Larry, I live in Tequesta(Jupiter, Florida). I would be very interested in getting contact information for your bass player. I have a few things I would like to be repaired on my Hammond, thanx........954-274-6631

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As I was saying above...many times I just zap the switches for vibrato.

 

I don't have a schematic in front of me but it might be good to remove the vibrato tubes if you zap and also perhaps the 6x4 next to the transformer.

 

One thing we don't know is if the dendrites is in the switches or the scanner.

 

One other thing is to get a known working scanner and zap the he'll out of that before putting it in.

 

I know a person in the Salem area who parts out M3 organs and sells scanners if you want to go that route.

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Model A-100, A-101, A-102

 

Production Years: 1959 to 1965

Synopsis: Home style console, same as C-3 but with a built-in sound system including reverb control. Cabinet has no flip top covering the manuals.

Cabinet Size: 47.5x45.5x43 (WHD, inches), 391lbs with bench & pedalboard.

Finish: A-100, Red mahogany, light Walnut, Oak

A-101, Brown mahogany, gray mahogany, black, straight legs at front.

A-102, Light cherry, dark cherry (had Queen Anne Legs)

Manuals: Swell and Great, 61 keys each.

Pedals: 25-note, radiating and detachable.

Amp/Output: 27 Watts - one main, one reverb amp, 3-12" speakers.

Notes: These finish types were supplied by Harvey Olsen: A-100, Light Walnut, Traditional ; A-100, Red Mahogany, Traditional ; A-101, Brown Mahogany, Contemporary ; A-101, Translucent Black, Contemporary ; A-101, Gray Mahogany, Contemporary ; A-101, Light Cherry, French Provincial ; A-102, Dark Cherry, French Provincial ; A-105, Walnut, Institutional (C3 cabinet) ; A-105, Oak, Institutional (C3 cabinet) ; A-122, Patina Walnut, Contemporary ; A-143, Medium Cherry, Early American

"Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello"

 

 

noblevibes.com

 

 

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First (and easy if tedious) step for all vintage tube audio gear - always.

 

Get a can (or 2) of De-Oxit by Caig - Sweetwater carries it for on. Clean ALL the tube pins and tube sockets.

You may be surprised what your organ REALLY sounds like!

It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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I have recently done a scanner. Here's my experience:

 

A friend's '70 B-3 started motorboating. We did the battery zap and it fixed it for a day or two. We came back again with more batteries and zapped it with a higher voltage. No dice this time - only a scanner clean out would do.

 

It went pretty smoothly. It was my first, but I followed the excellent directions Benton provides (which I'll link below.)

 

I managed to remove the scanner from the motor and weasel it out to be disassembled, without removing manuals or disconnecting large harnesses. Read and heed the web page and see if something like that is worth tackling.

 

https://bentonelectronics.com/servicing-the-hammond-vibrato-scanner/

 

 

Great advice and info Moe! In addition you may want to glance at this thread.

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I have heard (maybe here) that techs usually have a scanner ready to go and swap it for one that's motorboating, and then clean the motorboating one at the shop later. Then that's ready for a swap when he needs one. That is to say, it can be a project. I've avoided cleaning mine but at worst it's intermittent so I live with it.

 

P.S. Congrats! :keynana:

"I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck

 

"The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI

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