Well done there on the C3! Hopefully the following may be helpful:
Most Leslies can be used with this providing a suitable connector box is supplied with the Leslie you go for. All rotary speakers are in their own way cool yet the old favourites still tend to be the 122/147 series. The 147 is also the least hassle to connect, and you don't necessarily need any kind of connector box as signal and power can be tapped straight from the organ, a six pin Amphenol socket can be substituted for an existing 5-pin in the brown-painted output box that lives in the bottom of the case, connect up the switch of your choice and wail..
Do you already have a half-moon switch fitted, or even two? If so, then chances are that you'll a six pin socket lurking on the output box and if you have a switch marked MAIN ENSEMBLE ECHO then you should have an output for at least 1 Leslie and either one of Hammonds tone cabs (5 pin, mains supply + balanced pre-amped signal) or another Leslie. Even if switches have been removed most of the wiring might still remain and hopefully the Leslie sockets. Feel for screw holes along the underside of the front lip of the organ.
There's a bit more involved in connecting a 122 owing to different switching arrangements. 122s respond slightly differently when speeds are switched and the balanced signal makes for less susceptibility to interference from stage lights. The C3 is designed to output a balanced signal, fairly heftily pre-amped, which needs to be attenuated (simple job) if you want to wire in a jack socket for use with your favourite amp. This is always a handy way of getting around the lack of reverb on most Leslies, simply have a small guitar amp there just for reverb or any other effects you fancy. Reverb model valve Leslies have stationary reverb speakers anyway. You'll have fun playing STUPIDLY loud Hammond through the Big Rock Guitar Wall Of Doom for a while but Leslies are more fun. They breathe.
Mechanically, 147 and 122 are identical. 145 ! and 142 are, respectively, 147 and 122 in shorter cabinets. A 145's amp will be marked '147'.
Important: If you're wired for a 122 NEVER plug a 147 in and vice-versa, even though they both use the 6-pin connection. Just don't. Always check when you get the opportunity to try other Leslies, or are borrowing or lending Hammond/Leslie stuff.
If the Leslie's lost it's labels there's an easy way to tell- A 122 amp has 2 identical small valves (12AU7) at the front end and 1 volume pot, a 147/145 has just 1 12AU7, a volume control and a rotary switch for impedance matching (these amps were designed to be used with unbalanced signals, making them easier to use with non-Hammond organs.)
Valve vs solid state...
solid state Leslies are cool. They're Leslies, and all Leslies are cool.
Valve ones sound nicer. Transistor ones are handy for the motor stacks so don't be afraid of tatty cheap 760s once you get your 122/147/145.
You don't need a pre-amp pedal. You have a perfectly splendid valve preamp in the C3. Use the RCA jack on the 'conning tower' of the preamp (the AO-28) and you also have a valve Leslie preamp that you can run guitars into. ..that happens to be C3 shaped.
Also, benefiting as you do in the USA from lower mains voltage you get to switch at 110v instead of 240, so straight away your connection issues are simplified.
now, if you can get TWO 147s, or 122s... that's a sound to die for.
Best whooshes,
MSW
To: newmellotrongroup@yahoogroups.com
From: unobtainiumkeys@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 6 Jul 2011 09:59:46 +0900
Subject: Re: [newmellotrongroup] Somewhat off topic.... Hammond C3 story....question or two....
The closest I ever got to this was buying an M3 (no tubes in it) for $5.00 at a Goodwill. They had it alongside other junky organs at the time.
On Tue, Jul 5, 2011 at 10:02 PM, Jack Younger
<e4103s@yahoo.com> wrote:
| Hello, All!
So, I tend to frequent a particular flea market in Northern Massachusetts every Sunday and have found quite a few music-oriented things for short dough over the years. But this takes the cake. Allow me to set the scene:
A producer friend of mine and I park the car and just as we are leaving the field to where the vendors are (it's outdoors), I notice a bench to a C3. I make a joke about where the organ is and think nothing further on it. We browse around, pick up some small things, see some friends and its time to go so we head back to the car. My friend decides he likes the bench (he recently got a CP70b and needs something to use with it) and the vendor gives it to him for $25, a sweet deal in and of itself. I quip "The organ is included in that price, right?" The guy says, "Well there IS an organ that goes with that, but you'd have to talk to the woman who owns it." They have no idea what model it could be, "...but it's a Hammond". We get her number and leave, excited by the mystery.
Later in the day, I call her out of curiosity. Turns out, it was an estate item that didn't sell and she says, "We were going to smash it up and toss it in the dumpster. You can have it for the moving." !!!! I ask for pictures and model numbers. She sends them to my phone. Lo and behold...indeed, it's a C3! Purchased in 1959, it has sat in their living room, lightly used since then. Unfortunately, the tone cab was sold in the sale, but the organ remains. Apparently, it needs only one tube to function, but its mint, so even if there's more to be done, it's most certainly worth it.
Long and short, I have movers grabbing it this week. So psyched! This will be an amazing addition to the studio and a nice friend for my Mellotron and recently purchased Rhodes 73 Suitcase.
Now the questions for the B3/C3 folks out there....
Obviously, I need a Leslie (which is why I'm not crying over the tone cab). I'm looking for a 122, 147, etc. and have a few local leads. My query is this:
Do any of you prefer a Trek pedal to the half-moon switch? Tube or solid state? Pros and cons? There's a great tech here in MA that I'll have go through it, but I'd like to avoid any expensive experimentation. Any insight would be helpful.
Thanks, and Cheers! -Jack
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