S
stevieb
Just another guy, really.
Picked it up about a month ago, for $40 (about 4 years ago, I could have had the same basic organ, for free, but didn't really have a place to put it at the time.) Everything worked, although when I got it home, the bearings on the motor had developed a considerable noise, so I may need to replace them.
Tested the tubes on the way home by dropping by Northwest Speaker in Marietta, Ron has a tube tester and he lets anyone test their tubes- even will assist you if you are not sure how to do it.
Originally, I was just going to do a "blow out," removing various assemblies enough to vacuum or blow out the dust and cob webs, etc., but one thing led to another, and now the entire guts of the thing are out of it (except the wiring from one sub-assembly to another are, in most cases, soldered together, so the pedals are still in, but just barely) and I am almost finished removing the old, soft finish from the cabinet. Here's a tip: lacquer thinner works as well as Min-Wax Finish remover, and cost one-fourth as much. I also learned you can remove much of the thinner-and-finish with a flat-blade putty knife, faster and easier than with steel wool, but you must complete the finish removal with steel wool and thinner. I have not decided how I will re-finish it- boiled linseed oil ("BLO") looks very good on one of the legs, but BLO may have some drawbacks.
I probably won't do much to the actual "organ" part, except re-solder the two or three wires that have pulled off while I was moving it around and replace the two brass leaf springs that broke on two of the keys. The organ works, I hope I can get by with just replacing the noisy motor bearings and filling the tonewheel reservoirs with Hammond Organ Oil- a google search did not result in a single, definitive post saying what is a good substitute, so I had to pay drive into Atlanta and pay $15 for 10 ounces of honest-to-gosh Hammond Organ Oil. The google search revealed plenty of dire warnings to NOT use 3-in-1 oil, etc.
But here's the cool part- the organ is a spinet, designed to be pushed up against a wall of someone's living room. Thus, it's got 2 12" speakers, firing towards the organist and the room. I've got a 100-watt Carvin, 2-rack space power amp, and I might mount it, in addition to the original amp, and drive an additional 2 speakers, perhaps 15's or 12's. This would mean there would be two speakers firing towards the organist, and two out to the room, assuming the organ was not backed up to a wall. That out-in-the-room configuration is likely, as this organ is headed to our rehearsal/recording business in New Orleans.
Tested the tubes on the way home by dropping by Northwest Speaker in Marietta, Ron has a tube tester and he lets anyone test their tubes- even will assist you if you are not sure how to do it.
Originally, I was just going to do a "blow out," removing various assemblies enough to vacuum or blow out the dust and cob webs, etc., but one thing led to another, and now the entire guts of the thing are out of it (except the wiring from one sub-assembly to another are, in most cases, soldered together, so the pedals are still in, but just barely) and I am almost finished removing the old, soft finish from the cabinet. Here's a tip: lacquer thinner works as well as Min-Wax Finish remover, and cost one-fourth as much. I also learned you can remove much of the thinner-and-finish with a flat-blade putty knife, faster and easier than with steel wool, but you must complete the finish removal with steel wool and thinner. I have not decided how I will re-finish it- boiled linseed oil ("BLO") looks very good on one of the legs, but BLO may have some drawbacks.
I probably won't do much to the actual "organ" part, except re-solder the two or three wires that have pulled off while I was moving it around and replace the two brass leaf springs that broke on two of the keys. The organ works, I hope I can get by with just replacing the noisy motor bearings and filling the tonewheel reservoirs with Hammond Organ Oil- a google search did not result in a single, definitive post saying what is a good substitute, so I had to pay drive into Atlanta and pay $15 for 10 ounces of honest-to-gosh Hammond Organ Oil. The google search revealed plenty of dire warnings to NOT use 3-in-1 oil, etc.
But here's the cool part- the organ is a spinet, designed to be pushed up against a wall of someone's living room. Thus, it's got 2 12" speakers, firing towards the organist and the room. I've got a 100-watt Carvin, 2-rack space power amp, and I might mount it, in addition to the original amp, and drive an additional 2 speakers, perhaps 15's or 12's. This would mean there would be two speakers firing towards the organist, and two out to the room, assuming the organ was not backed up to a wall. That out-in-the-room configuration is likely, as this organ is headed to our rehearsal/recording business in New Orleans.
