IS the Leslie 142 the rarest Leslie?

[Outkaster]

IS the Leslie 142 the rarest Leslie? I rarely see them or hear about them but I am kind of a fan of the 145 and 142 Leslies! I know there are a lot of 145's out there but I just don't see 142s?

[The Real MC]

I think that honor belongs to 330s or 860s. The 860 is the smallest two rotor Leslie built, 12in speaker plus horn biamped system. The 330 is the next size up, except it uses a 15in plus horn and is single channel with passive crossover.

[B3Nut]

I think I've only seen one 142, connected to a C-3 at a church I visited. Nice sounding and playing rig, and boy did that church's organist make that sucker talk! Medium-sized church built into an old grocery store in Battle Creek, MI.

 

I would agree that the 860 and 330 are probably rarer. A 330 is desirable for modern clones, as it's an 11-pin unit (as is the 860.)

 

I like the "shorty" Leslies too...easy to lug around, and they have a nice tight sound.

[eric]

I think the short boys like the 142 and 145 are more rare than 122 and 147 brethren, but they are not *that* rare. I've run across a number of them over the years. Keep in mind that they are identical other than the 142 has a 122 amp and the 145 has a 147 amp. Oh year, and the sticker would be different if it is even still on the cabinet.

[Outkaster]

Me and my buddy had two 860's we were trying to fix. They are pretty cool little units. They can fetch some money.

[eric]

Me and my buddy had two 860's we were trying to fix. They are pretty cool little units. They can fetch some money.

 

What was the outcome? Did you fix them and fetch some mad cash?

[Outkaster]

Eric no I had to leave the shop here locally, they were not mine. I would have kept one of them if I could but I don't know the repair guy that well. I just sold a 22H that was damaged as you know. I am going to sell the cabinet off and have one lower motor left off it. I canibilizied the parts. If will try to buff up the finish on the 22H cabinet if I can. There is 1972 147 near me but the guy modded the amp and thinks it is worth 900 and it just is not. I have a mint 145 from 1966 that I will keep thought which is kind of like my baby of all the Leslies I have had.

[b_3guy]

As

IS the Leslie 142 the rarest Leslie? I rarely see them or hear about them but I am kind of a fan of the 145 and 142 Leslies! I know there are a lot of 145's out there but I just don't see 142s?

 

There's a M-3 & a 142 matched set for sale near me. They originally listed it for $1400, them they changed it to $1700. The reason being, there's a 145 for sale for $1600, so they think they really have something. As it's been discussed, if it's anything Hammond people think are putting some obscene value on it.

[musicbysterling]

I local Hammond repair guy is putting a 22H amp in a 145 box for me right now. Except for the nameplate, I'm getting a 142.

[musicbysterling]

 

There was a 142 on Craigslist last week going for $400.00 The ad said excellent condition. Two emails from me never got answered and the ad disappeared the next day.

[alvin13]

Moving out of lurker mode, couldn't resist chiming in here. Have you seen a leslie 312?? Right now on ebay australia (ebay.com.au) there's a leslie 312 from 1984. Search "leslie 312" in "musical instruments" (It's not in the organ section) 122 rotary horn four stationary speakers low rotor sim. There are good photos and an interesting link with more info. You'll have to dig deep if you want to add it to your collection, local pick up only !!

[Outkaster]

There was a 142 on Craigslist last week going for $400.00 The ad said excellent condition. Two emails from me never got answered and the ad disappeared the next day.

 

Yeah that is luck I have!

[zxcvbnm098]

At least here in SoCal, I have found the 142 to be the rarest of the "classic" Leslie's. In fact, I've never seen one for sale. Tons of 145's, and of course 147's and 122's. That's my experience anyway.

 

When I got my first XB2 around 1991 or so, I searched and searched and finally found an 860; I eventually found a second cleaner one. They indeed are super rare. I enjoyed it for awhile, but eventually determined that for the weight, it wasn't much better than an MS unit. Although smaller, they are still on the awkward side to schlep around. My 2 cents...

[Legatoboy]

31H are pretty rare to my knowledge but I may be wrong. My friend collects and rebuilds them. 1920's vintage and parts are hard to come by. They use I believe 'field coil' speakers for the low end.

Their bass response with the tall cabinet is very good. The first time I recollect seeing one was in The Last Waltz. Garth Hudson was using it or a similar model, also I believe Kieth Emerson used them based on some footage I've seen recently. I believe though there are rare-er models of Leslies. I have a 4 channel 720 that I had converted to single that I can use with my XK-3. 11 pin and a 90 W transistor amp but it has a 10 in drum with an offset 15 straight for pedals. The 4th channel is a couple of 6x9's. I found it in a Salvation army with a smaller Lowery theater organ, hence the 4 channels. $75 for the organ and the Leslie! duh! WE gave the Lowery to a church if I remember correctly. I kept the 720 and it's in my den for the time being as a tall end table.

 

http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/6/1/4/1/0/1/webimg/155059583_tp.jpg

 

Check out Captain Foldback's page:

 

The Captain

[B3Nut]

There were no Leslies or Hammonds in the 20's. The Hammond model A went on sale in 1935, and Don Leslie began his experiments in the late 30's, setting up shop around 1940.

 

The 31H came out around 1948. The 31A, around 1946. The 30A came out in 1941 but the war years limited production of those units, one does not run across 30A (or the even rarer 30C church model, which in all likelihood is truly the rarest Leslie model.)

 

Keith Emerson had a 31H in his early years with The Nice, there's footage on YouTube of him flinging knives at it.

 

720's are fairly common, they were sold in the 80's and early 90's with assorted brands of solid-state organs such as Kimball and Kawai and Lowrey. 710's and 720's were popular Rotosonic Leslies (with the 6X9 in a drum for the lower rotor and the traditional upper horn.)

[Outkaster]

I had heard about the Leslie 30 C. Also what about the military issue console Hammond CV with a speaker. I had heard as the war was winding down they tossed these in the garbage and took them out of chapels and NCO clubs on the military bases.

[B3Nut]

Government Hammonds are interesting critters. The first was the Model G, which was identical to the D except it had a 12" monitor speaker and a small amplifier as well as carrying handles. No vibrato, just a chorus generator (though some were field-upgraded with vibrato kits making them unofficially GV's.)

 

Later on they made the C-2G and then later the C-3G, which were identical to their civilian counterparts save for the monitor speaker and provision for handles. Uncle Sammy still has some of these scattered around, though they usually wind up in auctions. They turn up for sale here and there.

[Outkaster]

Yeah a tech was telling me as they closed military bases they basically junked them. It was too bad. I never see them Todd.

[B3Nut]

VintageHammond.com sometimes turns one up, and occasionally I've seen a C-3G pop up on the bay. Methinks when they do pop up gee-tar players make off with the monitor speakers and small amplifier... The 5-tube reverb amps from early A-100 and M-100 organs are frequently absconded with by gee-tar players...the first Dr. Z amps were based on this amp.

[Outkaster]

Figures they always fuck things up.

[HammondDave]

How about that crazy Leslie model that had four verticle rotating drums painted in flourescent colors? That MUST be the rarest Leslie. Who would have THAT in their home or studio?

[eric]

How about that crazy Leslie model that had four verticle rotating drums painted in flourescent colors? That MUST be the rarest Leslie. Who would have THAT in their home or studio?

 

That is the 950. We had a thread on that a few years ago as one of our forum members had one or was at a gig and saw one, if I'm not mistaken. Definitely much more rare than a 142. Very cool and strange.

[Outkaster]

Yeah I saw that. The thing is huge. There is a guy I know that gigs with a 760 and a VK-77 but it sounds kind of thin.

[mate stubb]

Back to the original question, my guess is that most 142s started life as 145s and had the amp switched out.

 

My home leslie is a 145 cab with a 122 amp - so I guess that makes it a 142.

[mate stubb]

Behold the Leslie 950 in its awesome psychedelicness:

 

http://b3daddy.com/Lombard%20Organs/Images/Wild%20Leslie%202.JPG

[B3Nut]

Something tells me one would have to be "chemically enhanced" to get into that thing...

[mate stubb]

Yeah well, there was a lot of that going around back when that cab was made.

[HammondDave]

I remember when that thing came out. Even when I was "chemically enhanced" I found it quite unappealing...

[Legatoboy]

B3nut,

 

My 720 doesn't have the 6X9 in a drum, it has a 10 " speaker facing down in a normal 145 like bass rotor configuration into a light brown styrofoam drum. The 6X9's in the 720 were for ch 4 I believe and they are located on the cut of the hexagon in the front of the 720. I disconnected mine.

 

Maybe the 710 has the 6X9 in a Rotosonic drum! I'm not really sure!

lb

 

710's and 720's were popular Rotosonic Leslies (with the 6X9 in a drum for the lower rotor and the traditional upper horn.)

 

 

Thanks for the clarification on that!

 

"There were no Leslies or Hammonds in the 20's. \:\) The Hammond model A went on sale in 1935, and Don Leslie began his experiments in the late 30's, setting up shop around 1940."

 

[B3Nut]

The 710 does indeed have a Rotosonic. I forgot about the 720 not being rotosonic...that's actually odd for that time frame, since Don Leslie preferred the Rotosonic and felt it was his best effort, and most of the multichannel Leslies had a Rotosonic drum. But that's what I get for posting in the morning without coffee...

 

Indeed, for the type of music Mr. Leslie played (theatre organ), the Rotosonic does give the best theatre-tibia effect. Rock and jazz, not so good.

 

I bet the 720 with the crossover sounds really good and punchy!