Late 1950’s Hammond RT3 organ (wooden checkblocks were used until 1959) normally would have been larger with a 32-note pedalboard and an area to the right of the manuals for pedal solo switches. In 2007 Donna The Buffalo bought it and took a chainsaw to the cabinet resulting in almost a foot less wide.
Then they put thinner wooden panels on the sides and build custom folding steel legs and that’s been their chopped Hammond organ for 14 years. The organ is paired with a late 1940’s Leslie 47 speaker and both are toted around the county playing over 100 dates a year. It’s been through so much use and abuse. Moving stress, scratches, rainstorms, beers, dirt, etc.
The organ is paired with a late 1940’s Leslie 47 speaker and is toted around the county playing over 100 dates a year. In that time it got very worn.
I brought the organ home and put in a 2-speed conversion kit in the Leslie to give it tremolo and chorale speeds. I recapped the organ’s tone generator – which I don’t recommend doing again. Repaired the cabinet, did a buss bar lube and complete cleaning/overhaul on the organ.