From larry.a.schurr@boeing.com Mon Aug 23 11:34:43 2004
Subject:Re: Was leslie 21, but now is Pro145/Leslie

This strikes me as a curious conversation.
Why is it when Don Leslie made all these compromises that he gets a free
pass, but when a musician makes all these compromises, there's some sort
of stygma attached?
There's scores of Leslie models that sound better or (much) worse than
others. There are boxes with the Leslie name that would make you, me,
and John Fisher all puke. They don't happen to be 122/147, but they
carry the name.
DL made tons of compromises -- even in the beloved 122/147 -- just to
get things built. Heck, even the venerable 145 could be considered a
compromise as such. Nor was it he that decided the 122 was the pinnacle
over even, say, the 900 series. Furthermore, I know guys that think of
the 122 as a cheap and portable imitation of a 21H :-) There's always a
bigger fish.
Never yet have I found the perfect Hammond. Never yet have I found the
perfect Leslie. There's always SOMEthing that I can say "y'know, if
only had a little more (or less)....". And considering all the
evolution of all the different models, a fairly strong case can be made
that both Laurens Hammond and Don Leslie were that exact same way.
Unlike the homeowner or parishoner of the 50's, the contemporary
musician is far more sophisticated in taste and discerning ear. IMO,
we've come to a time when there really IS no standard, but only whatever
it might be that you can really make work for you.
Like anyone, I'll put the sound of my rig up against any other (mostly
so I can get more ideas and maybe cop a few licks ) as I'm quite
satisfied with it for what compromises I've made. And really, is there
much more than that?

L.