1961 Hammond B3 (Church)
The Hammond came to us from a church, they had purchased it some years ago and it was put into storage while they rebuilt the church.
The storage facility was damp and rain had got onto the case.
When we got delivery of the Hammond it was then tested. It was the worst sounding Hammond and Leslie we had ever heard. It had had a hard life.
The TWG had jammed and damaged tone wheels.
The original B3 case had been cut away and brass bolts fitted so a panel could be removed to access the front of the TWG.
Over the years many repairs and mods had been fitted leaving a lot of incorrect wiring and odd connectors. Someone had tried to adjust the pickups.
The TWG was restored and took three voicings to make it sound acceptable.
Mains had fried the scanner.
The manuals had little wear on the keycombs but 12 bussbars had to be replaced and the manuals had to be realigned, as the contact area was not consistent with the bussbars. The manuals are from another PRE 1965 Hammond.
The Preamp was from a post 1963 Hammond and had been heavily messed up
We would have preferred to have restored the Hammond back to its original condition but the budget was limited so just a mechanical restoration was carried out.
We did a lot of work we thought was justified as it looked so sad and didn’t want it going out looking so bad
The keyboard manual panels front and base were replated. The case was reassembled, as it was unsafe, and cut and polished to get some colour and shine. the base pedal assembly was restored and refinished so was the swell assembly: we didn’t charge for the cosmetic work.
The Leslie
770 case, motors, cross over, treble driver.
147-power amp incorrectly wired 147 bass speaker
The case was falling apart, top panel was very thin and resonated with the Leslie
ADVICE
Only use an original 122 or 145/ 147. Don’t mix transistor Leslie with valve Leslies, it doesn’t work.
With an original 122 or 147 this Hammond just sings and screams at you. You can play what ever you want (if you can play that is!).
