From mate.stubb@gmail.com Tue Aug 28 09:22:49 2007
Subject:Re: Clonewheel vs. Tonewheel

Your question is deeply philosophical, and the truth is that fewer and fewer
40 and 50 year old tonewheel organ and leslie combos have "that sound".
Aging components, tired speakers, etc. - they all play a role. While some
tonewheels had "that sound" when they were new but lost it, others aged into
it.

That's how you know a tonewheel organ is more akin to a guitar or violin
than a modern all electronic keyboard. I currently own 2 B-3s, both of which
have been rebuilt (one completely and one partially). And while they sound
mighty fine, they are creamed by a C-3 that I sold to a guitar player buddy
of mine, which is completely restored straight out of 1959.

IMO, the leslie is 60% to 70% of "that sound". You have to spin real air,
although leslie sims are better than ever. The further you deviate from the
classic design - the original plastic horn, on an original V15 driver, the
original Jensen 15" woofer, firing into a wooden drum, with that original
800 Hz crossover, driven from a nice pair of 6550s in that original leslie
amp, in that original wooden cab - the harder it is to get "that sound".

The other 30% to 40% is the organ. All clones have the basic tone very
close. Some do a better job than others modelling the subtle things like
crosstalk, key click, and loudness robbing. The treble boost when the chorus
vib is engaged is important to the shimmer, as is having the right speed and
depth, and lack of phasiness on the effect.

The final subtlety is how successfully a clone can emulate the liveness of
spinning wheels. In a real organ they are not rigidly locked together, but
are spring loaded and can have subtle phase shifts which keep it interesting
to your ear. The acid test is to turn off leslie chorale and just hold a
chord - do your ears get tired of the sound?

Given your setup, the first thing I would try would be other leslies.

Moe