Is it possible to modularize a Hammond?

[ABECK]

Is it possible to modularize a Hammond - for example, one "box" for the Keybed, rocker switches and key contacts, one for the tone generator, and one for the preamp?

 

[AnotherScott]

Back in the 70s, I took a tonewheel Hammond and split it into a Tone generator box, Upper manual with all drawbars, and Lower manual, all connected with big multipin connectors. (With a fourth piece being the base.)

[lightbg]

Looks like these guys have been down that path. Some good references in the responses.

 

https://groupdiy.com/threads/hammond-b3-chop.9525/

 

 

[ABECK]

1 minute ago, AnotherScott said:

Back in the 70s, I took a tonewheel Hammond and split it into a Tone generator box, Upper manual with all drawbars, and Lower manual, all connected with big multipin connectors. (With a fourth piece being the base.)

Cool - so it sounds at least possible (and yes, I totally forgot about the swell pedal and bass pedals (M3).  So that would be an additional component to account for.

[CEB]

Yes but I will never recommend it.  The main reason for the original chops were so that the organ would fit in the cargo bay of a Silver Eagle bus. 

[Bill H.]

In the 1960s, Portland's Sunn amplifiers attempted to make L's and M's more manageable by putting the keyboards in a separate cabinet from the tone generator. This was during a time when visuals were very important, and they did look better onstage than Hammond's home cabs. When I was a teen I saw Don and the Goodtimes use one, and it made an impression on me because I still remember it. Looked for a pic online, but couldn't find one. 

 

When it came time to chop my L101 my father built an all in one cab, and I Tolexed it with a speaker grille across the front. It was by far the easier way to go, and was less hassle setting up. 

[Delaware Dave]

This is why i bought my L100p years ago. Handles on the side so that two people could move it and if I put it on a handtruck I could move it myself.  i thought about buying an A100 and chopping it but quickly realized that I would F it up.  I'm decent with electronics and my brother has an electronics degree and be said I was taking on a huge task so the L100p was the next logical step.  i gigged with it for a couple of years until the band stopped helping me move it then I retired it to the studio.  good luck...

 

p.s.     put your DMC through a tube leslie and you will only notice the small difference.  Check out the T115, under 70 pounds.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1449903441935326/permalink/3518949565030693/?mibextid=Nif5oz

[Old No7]

1 hour ago, ABECK said:

Is it possible to modularize a Hammond - for example, one "box" for the Keybed, rocker switches and key contacts, one for the tone generator, and one for the preamp?

 

1 hour ago, ABECK said:

Cool - so it sounds at least possible (and yes, I totally forgot about the swell pedal and bass pedals (M3).  So that would be an additional component..

 

Here are some old pictures of my Chopped M3 from 1980-82.  I recall getting the large plugs soldered correctly (and well) was a major pain in the a**, and when you added the Leslie -- it still was a load to move in/out.  I never thought of separating the boards from the tonewheels though; and I don't think I knew of any that had been done that way back then.  I do recall that we got it working OK but it had a 60 cycle hum -- so I needed the services of a Hammond Tech to add a doohickey (capacitor?) somewhere to account for the extra cable lengths involved; at least that's what I recall him saying.  He also made sure that I wouldn't get "Shocked!" by the aluminum trim and he added some type of ground or insulator (maybe both).

 

Good luck if you go that route.

 

Old No7

 

[Radagast]

Anyone want to buy my T200 and chop it up?

[wineandkeyz]

19 minutes ago, Old No7 said:

 

 

Here are some old pictures of my Chopped M3 from 1980-82.  I recall getting the large plugs soldered correctly (and well) was a major pain in the a**, and when you added the Leslie -- it still was a load to move in/out.  I never thought of separating the boards from the tonewheels though; and I don't think I knew of any that had been done that way back then.  I do recall that we got it working OK but it had a 60 cycle hum -- so I needed the services of a Hammond Tech to add a doohickey (capacitor?) somewhere to account for the extra cable lengths involved; at least that's what I recall him saying.  He also made sure that I wouldn't get "Shocked!" by the aluminum trim and he added some type of ground or insulator (maybe both).

 

Good luck if you go that route.

 

Old No7

 

 

My back hurts just from looking at the pictures.

[mate stubb]

Absolutely.

 

I built a 3 piece B3 split up as top manual/preamp, bottom manual, and generator/vib line box. It had an aluminum chassis and the generator snugged up under the manuals for shorter wire runs. It used big Elco connectors for swell to great and swell to generator. i omitted the pedal keyboard harness as it was for non jazz use. You could set it up as a single manual if you wanted.

 

 

[mate stubb]

But was it worth it? As a fun project to keep me busy building something, sure. As a practical gigging instrument, nope. Instead of one 300 lb piece I now had to wrangle 3 100lb pieces, plus all the stand scaffolding. I took it to one gig and parked it in a studio, where it remains to this day.

 

This led to my Hammond midi controller project, where I got two manuals down to 70 lbs, at the cost of a real generator/preamp.

[ABECK]

16 hours ago, Old No7 said:

 

 

 

Damn - haven't seen a WBCN sticker in a minute!  I miss the days of rock radio in Boston with WAAF and WBCN (and for a really brief time, WCOZ!)

[Delaware Dave]

11 hours ago, matted stump said:

But was it worth it? As a fun project to keep me busy building something, sure. As a practical gigging instrument, nope. Instead of one 300 lb piece I now had to wrangle 3 100lb pieces, plus all the stand scaffolding. I took it to one gig and parked it in a studio, where it remains to this day.

 

This led to my Hammond midi controller project, where I got two manuals down to 70 lbs, at the cost of a real generator/preamp.

 

Now that Guido has the gemini module and the mojo desktop you could install either into your controller.  Through a real leslie you could probably fool alot of people.  i believe either one is only about two pounds.

[eric]

Cool thread!

 

I never made the commitment to chop a Hammond. There was about a 1-2 year period where I was carting a Hammond M3 to gigs and the studio in the earliest days of my original ska/reggae/pop band. I had my tech friend help me install a 1/4" output on the M3 and I added wheels to it. We carted it around to as many gigs as possible, along with a Leslie 145. It was kind of a beast, so it was mostly replaced by first an analog Korg CX-3 and then Hammond XB-2. This was around late '80s into very early '90s.

 

Here's a picture of it in the studio for I think our second album around 1991. We had talked about chopping the lower half with speaker and pedals to make it more portable. I don't know if that would have done a whole lot.

 

I see some pro Hammond players (even without roadies) that do wonders moving A and B console Hammonds with dollies plus Leslies on wheels. There's a guy Todd Phipps (not sure if he's on this forum) who plays all his gigs with a console Hammond and two Leslies! He has a transit van with ramps and makes easy work of it. That's dedication to the cause!

 

 

[ABECK]

If I had the time (I do not!!), it would be an interesting project.  I was thinking a single manual M3 could theoretically be housed in multiple boxes and carried easily by 1 person.  But in reality, by DMC/Gemini and hell, even the VB3m, meet my Hammond needs as far as gigging goes.  I do like tinkering though (which is why I should never, ever dip my toes into the modular or Eurorack world!)

[Noah DC]

https://www.bossorgan.com/custom-organs

[Old No7]

48 minutes ago, ABECK said:

I was thinking a single manual M3 could theoretically be housed in multiple boxes and carried easily by 1 person. 

 

Sounds like a Mojo 61 would be a lighter and possibly better option.

 

I'm loving my SK Pro-73 for the Leslie sim, extra voices and layering -- and even the synth does a very reasonable job of emulating the Lucky Man synth solo (with ring modulation added at the end) -- but I often miss that easily-accessible chicken-head overdrive knob of the Mojo.

 

Old No7

[CEB]

The manuals are heavy.  The preamp and generator is heavy.  There is no way around that. Personally I have found it easier to move a B cabinet on ROKs than most chops.  
 

Stairs and sharp corners in some old club entrance ways suck.   If a move in is going to suck just go digital organ with a Leslie. 

[SamuelBLupowitz]

Y'all, this thread is so cool. I do not play the kind of gigs where I have ever thought "I should try to move my A100 to the venue" (thank goodness for my Mojo), but there was a time when it was that or nothing, and I love to see the creative solutions.

[Floyd Tatum]

14 hours ago, matted stump said:

This led to my Hammond midi controller project, where I got two manuals down to 70 lbs, at the cost of a real generator/preamp.

I'd be interested in seeing photos of that!

[Delaware Dave]

looks like someone did the work for you.

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/12459319594/permalink/10161806786859595/?mibextid=Nif5oz

[ABECK]

20 minutes ago, Delaware Dave said:

looks like someone did the work for you.

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/12459319594/permalink/10161806786859595/?mibextid=Nif5oz

Even with one manual, the M3 is still a big beast.  Not much smaller than a B3 chop, really.

[mate stubb]

3 hours ago, Floyd Tatum said:

I'd be interested in seeing photos of that!

 

Here's a few. There was a long thread about it but all my image links were broken when this forum moved to the new software and server.

 

 

 

 

[Outkaster]

Problem is with chops is the have a terrible resale value. Even Bill Beer chops.  The guys that I know are very wary of taking them on because its tough to resell them. As a gigging instrument they are fine. 

[bjosko]

I remember years ago something about a company that put the tone wheels in a box, and as I weakly remember something about that it could be triggered from a midi board. 
I don’t know what was up with the rest of the electronics. 
As we know the mojo is in many of the original components, and how they work together. 
But that was before we got the better clones. 

[Floyd Tatum]

3 hours ago, matted stump said:

 

Here's a few. There was a long thread about it but all my image links were broken when this forum moved to the new software and server.

 

 

 

 

Oh, that one!   Thanks.   I remember that - I thought you were talking about something else.   I forgot you built two portables.  👍

[bill bosco]

On 11/6/2023 at 3:03 PM, ABECK said:

Is it possible to modularize a Hammond - for example, one "box" for the Keybed, rocker switches and key contacts, one for the tone generator, and one for the preamp?

 

i've read it described as " putting an anvil in a paper bag " , i've chopped two  M3s , two different chops on my  L102 , and have done three different  chops 

on my c3 . I think the anvil comparison is about right .