"Discovered" a Hammond A-100 organ today!

[PolkaHero]

Just finished playing a service today at one of the churches I play at when the priest says to check out an organ we have in the back chapel. Not expecting much, it turned out to be a vintage Hammond A-100 which is exactly the same as the B-3 model but with built-in speakers and amplifiers. Fired it up and everything seems to work except for one preset key on the lower manual. Nobody plays it at the church and he said they may consider selling it for "a few hundred dollars". I've been looking at getting one of these for a while, just have a hard time finding room for one. I'm really into John Lord from Deep Purple, just would need a big Leslie speaker and I'd be all set!

[bebop1]

Great score. I picked up a Hammond L102 (all tube, mini B3) for $100 and got a Leslie 145 up and working for it. Great for recording and playing with in my studio, but not a giggable setup these days!

I use the Leslie with my Roland keys at some blues gigs just for the visuals and sound. I found that the Roland Leslie effects are really good when I AB then with the real thing though so I often just go with the digital boards. There is no replacement for the tone and physical feel of a Hammond, though, but I have no way to cart it when playing.