From dougsyolists@aol.com Mon Aug 12 09:10:17 2002
Subject:Re: OT - Which Real Tonewheel

In a message dated 8/12/2002 11:48:56 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
DAVIDO@LYNXFS.COM writes:

> Sorry for the post - not clone specific i know but many of you
> cloners also own the real thing so i thought i'd ask the question.
> I'm considering getting a 'portable' tonewheel. There are a number of
> people in Europe that are taking old Hammonds and chopping them into
> a new 'portable' case. Problem is i can't decide what to go for.
> Does anyone have any opinions reagrding the difference between
> B3/C3/A100 and the M3/M100 range. I know that the M series is cheaper
> and lighter, but would i be sacrificing a lot of sound quality,
> playability etc if i go down this route.

Spinets aren't good for LH bass - there's no foldback, 16', or 5-1/3'
drawbars on the lower manual. In addition, there's no foldback at the upper
end - when the TWG runs out of notes, there's "dead space". On a console,
they wrap the previous octave, so the upper end sounds "fatter". You can add
upper-end foldback to a spinet if you can get the parts (key contacts and
busbars, if it's an M-3).

In the USA, a good clone will cost you less than a good console chop, but
probably more than a chopped spinet. You can even chop a spinet yourself if
you have the time and technical know-how to do it right. In Europe, YMMV.

I'd suggest the hammond@zeni.net mailing list for further discussion.

Doug (A-105, L-295 - both intact - and new CX-3).

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]