TL;DR Considering selling my A-100 for a Crumar Mojo and wondering if the trade-off of the original console sound, feel, and control setup for the convenience, portability, and built in features like leslie sim and headphone out is worth the trade-off? Will I kick myself for embracing the new era of clonewheels or will I regret being a "stuck in the past" purist cork sniffer when the maintenance problems start cropping up on the original? Or does one simply need to own all the things, different horses for different courses?
/TL;DR
Well I'm torn and could use some guidance from those that have been there before and have a bit of perspective. I currently own a 1961 A-100 that was recently serviced and is running like a dream. I don't have a leslie for it yet but the search continues there and maybe a 1/4 to a vent 2 gets me some modern comforts in the interim. After years of stopping and starting to try and tackle the beast I have finally found the perfect teaching situation right down the street from me to teach me properly play the Hammond organ. Not a keyboard guy but an actual Hammond player that plays the genres I want to learn. YES! Also my wife is very cool and said go with whatever will make you happiest. A lady that gets my passion and supports it? I married up for sure. Here's the problem, I'm actually considering selling it (GASP!) and I don't know if I'm making the right move or a big mistake.
First my downside list. Maintaining the beast has been kind of costly as a nagging issue with the percussion took a lot of time to resolve. I also have no idea how to assess if a leslie is in the right condition, should one finally become available, and I understand those are another maintenance sink unto themselves. Cost isn't everything but no one likes a recurring headache (i.e. the classic car where you spend more time under the hood than behind the wheel). I moved into a new place and the organ is still sitting in the garage attached to the Roll-or-karis because my new office is in the basement. I don't want to haul it all the way down here risking life and limb only to have to haul it back up again if I decide to sell it lol. I've got little kiddos and the only time I really get to practice on weekdays is after they are asleep. Can't exactly crank it up and get those hot overdrive sounds despite my office/studio being two floors away. But there is the other side of the coin, it is the real deal and nothing compares to the feel of the genuine article! Also this is a good example of an A-100 from what I understand and I worked very hard to get this rig (removed from a mountain home in Boulder, CO). I'm only the 3rd owner and other than 1 tube it's all original to my knowledge. Early enough there isn't foam under the keybed, has percussion, reverb, etc. It wasn't played for years which is both good and bad but most of the post-sitting dormant problems have been taken care of already.
The Mojo gives me all the modern conveniences the original doesn't. It's portable, great sounding with updates always coming in to make the sound even better, headphone out, built in leslie sim, the new XT version even has the 11 pin leslie connector. The downside seems to really be no multi-contact, doesn't match the original console layout, and it could be obsolete in just a few years as the newest hotness comes out and sounds even more "like the real thing". I don't gig right now since I'm really just kicking off my learning in earnest but someday if I want to I'd need to get one of these at that point anyway. Dragging around hundreds of pounds of hammond and leslie furniture is a non-starter.
So my question. Is it worth keeping the A100 to learn on the real deal (adding a leslie or a vent 2 when I can) or better to just jump into the 21st century and be blissfully ignorant of what's missing? For those of you who have moved over to the digital realm and left the console behind do you regret selling it? For those that stuck with the console are you still loving it or wishing you had all the modern conveniences? Or is the only true way to start saving and own ALL the things so you have the best of both worlds?
My head says get the mojo, my heart says keep the a100, my wallet says please don't buy all the things like you usually do . Help, vote and give me some details on why you landed where you did!
This is cross listed over on the organ forum, trying to get as many opinions as possible so forgive me if you frequent both