From ynottnaro@yahoo.com Fri Feb 28 14:05:53 2003
Subject:Re: Bill Beer on eBay/hammondstore chop

Actually, the case the Hammondstore rig is in is
specially built. Nothing from the original cabinetry
is used. He has indeed built a case with less wood,
although its tensile strength is impressive. And
there are pros and cons to both approaches. I can
squeeze my Hammond into places the Beers might not
make it to. My Motif does NOT fit on top of this
Hammond (although a strategically cut 2x4 placed at
the back end elevates it enough to get it over the lid
cover, thereby allowing me to stack). As for the
claim on the ebay auction of 200lbs...not likely.
That road case alone, even if it were made of 1/4",
which would NOT be advisable for panels of that mass,
would still weigh over 100lbs. And as you said, the
main components of the Hammond are non-negotiable when
doing a chop. My Hammondstore chop is a little heavier
than my NumerousComplaints chop, but it is in a much
more attractive package. And he built downwards for
the guts, as opposed to "out", which kept the
available real estate used on stage to a minimum (or
at least as minimum can be).

This is all Quibbles and Bitz in the long run. It all
comes down to sound and playability. Beers obviously
was a talented guy (Chester still uses his, which used
to be Coster's, if I'm not mistaken). The rig looks
nice. I definitely spoke too soon, and realized it
when I finally got to see the other pictures. Is
there a $1500 difference in the two organs? I don't
know about that, but obviously no one else decided to
bid on that organ either.

Being a proud owner of a Hammondstore piece, I think I
took offense at the crack "anyone can cut....." Which
in reality is funny, because most Hammond techs WONT
undertake that kind of job: It's a specialist's field.
And while I love the way the Numerous Complaints
organ sounds, it's a bear for a tech to get into and
work (because of the reduced case size, which of
course was the attraction for me!); When the
Hammondstore piece was delivered, I had my tech look
into it immediately, and any qualified tech can open
this up and know what's happening immediately, and not
curse up and down because of the tight squeeze.

So...in conclusion (finally, right?), I will go back
to my original statement, "I can say honestly you'd
dig one of his organs, as it is a quality piece of
work", but you're right: it bears little resemblance
to the Beers organ when viewed from everywhere except
the overhead pix (which was the only shot I was able
to see except for the bottom.)

T
--- Chuck Hasley wrote:
> No pics on my end. I've never chopped one-I was
> only saying that the
> Hammondstore chop-although a clean looking job-looks
> like someone
> took an A100 or C3 and took all the extra wood off
> it and added legs.
> I'm sure they didn't do that but my point is that
> not much has
> changed in the way of the mass of the organ. If you
> cut the legs off
> of a B3, as I have seen MANY people do, you still
> have most of the
> weight still left in the box.
> The HS chop appears to have kept the location of the
> guts intact
> while Bill's chop moves things around and squeezes
> them out and
> presse them closere together.
> Also, removing the B3 case altogether and building a
> case with less
> wood on the sides will eliminate some of the weight.
> The biggest
> problem with chops is that the manuals and the TG
> are the two
> heaviest pieces of gear that you have to leave in.
> You can eliminate
> about 100 lbs+- by losing the amp and case wood.
> You still have the
> big footprint. And 350 lbs-150lbs is still 250 lbs.
> My whole clone
> rig weighs almost as much as a chop.
> My BX3 is about 65 and the case is probably about 30
> to 40. After
> that is the leslie and that's it.
> I guess it's just the kid in me that has to have
> another toy. I've
> got more keyboard gear than I can possibly use.
> Something tells me I
> don't need that chop but there is the devil on my
> other shoulder
> telling me to buy one. Of course I always listen to
> the devil. I
> don't always take his advice but I do listen.
> Chuck
>
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