From rick155@aol.com Wed Dec 24 07:29:34 2003
Subject:Re: Hammond-Leslie Half-Moon Switch

In a message dated 12/24/2003 9:47:28 AM Eastern Standard Time, jake92028@yahoo.com writes:

> In all the years I played Hammonds, first an M3, then the B3's, the
> thing that bothered me the most about Hammonds was that dawgone
> switch I had to take my fingers off the keyboards for. Today I think
> I could wire a footswitch or piano sustain pedal into the
> Leslie motors' AC, almost for sure a sewing maching pedal.

On the E-100 (and probably some other models, but I'm familiar with this one), Hammond mounted a small spring-loaded switch on the upper left side of the volume pedal for on/off vibrato control. It faced sideways, so pivoting your right foot slightly to the left would actuate the switch. I've always thought this would be the ideal solution for Leslie switching on a console organ, since it not only allowed me to keep both hands on the keys, it also allowed me to keep my left foot on the pedals. For a portable clone with no pedals, IMO there's no question that a footswitch is a better solution than a half-moon. My Speakeasy/Motion Sound setup accomplishes that.

Rick