My new project - playing with my organ

Chebass88 · #1 11-02-2011, 08:06 PM

Hey all,

I acquired a neat little toy today. The music teacher at my wife's school gave me his Hammond Porta B organ. We just bought a house back in April, and I commandeered one bedroom as the music room (my wife completely supports this, by the way). I recently acquired a drum set, so all that was left were some keys.

My plan is to thoroughly clean it, and replace whatever parts need replacing (broken keys, etc.). I want to get it to a decent playable condition. I don't have a Leslie speaker yet - that might come with time. I would like to think that I will take periodic photos showing the improvements - perhaps.

First comment - this mother is HEAVY.

And because this is TB, here are some pics.
All closed up:

The keys (including some broken ones):

The guts:

Apparently mice lived in here, complete with droppings (it has not been played in a while):

Bottom piece:

The best part about doing this in our basement - low overhead!

ian

BartmanPDX · #2 11-02-2011, 08:57 PM

Sweet!

I've always wanted a Hammond but can't play worth beans . . .

They are heavy though. I used to help move a friend's chopped B3 and it was a beast, despite being relatively small. Made my Hartke 410XL (way back when) seem positively lightweight in comparison.

Nice work on the music cave. Love the thread title too.

T-Bird · #3 11-02-2011, 11:45 PM

Hi.

Nice.

If the one example I knew about a decade or so ago is any indication, it's a bitch to maintain though

. Goes with the (relative) portability I'd guess.

Do not get discouraged if You cant get it to hold tune that well though, IME the generator Hammonds are never in tune.

Regards
Sam

Chebass88 · #4 11-03-2011, 05:08 AM

Thanks! I just spent an hour doing some research online - this will be challenging!

Frank Tuesday · #5 11-03-2011, 07:11 AM

Looks like fun. I picked up an M3 is excellent condition for not much money. I love the way it sounds. Once I finish:
1) Rebuilding the power supply in my Farfisa Mini Compact
2) Fixing the 'C' oscillator in my Farfisa Compact Deluxe
3) Replacing the felts and hammer tips on my Rhodes
4) Replacing the sliders on my Moog Opus 3
I plan on adding foldback and tapering to the upper keys of the M3 to make it sound more like a B3. I almost wish it wasn't in such good cosmetic shape. I just can't bring myself to chop it as it is.

I love vintage keys, and I can't pass up a deal on a project. I've only got $550 into all five keys so far. It will be a nice colleciton once I'm done. So many projects, so little time...

gbazinet · #6 11-03-2011, 07:20 AM

Having a house is dangerous. As soon as my wife and i bought one i started collecting vintage organs and Electric pianos!

FreshTrooperXBL · #7 11-13-2011, 07:02 PM

Reminds me of getting my M-103 a few weeks ago and cleaning the 40 years of crud build up off it. What I found worked great for the cosmetics (buttons, knobs, tabs, ect ect) is to buy many boxes of cheap cotton swabs and a cheap bottle of windex. Go through and swab everything until it pretty much doesnt show any dirt or colors coming from it.

get all sides of those keys. Get the sides by squeezing it in between and cleaning until no cruds comes off anymore. My M-103 now plays amazing and its super super clean.

Those Porta B's are pretty sweet.

tplyons · #8 11-13-2011, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FreshTrooperXBL

Reminds me of getting my M-103 a few weeks ago and cleaning the 40 years of crud build up off it. What I found worked great for the cosmetics (buttons, knobs, tabs, ect ect) is to buy many boxes of cheap cotton swabs and a cheap bottle of windex. Go through and swab everything until it pretty much doesnt show any dirt or colors coming from it.

get all sides of those keys. Get the sides by squeezing it in between and cleaning until no cruds comes off anymore. My M-103 now plays amazing and its super super clean.

Those Porta B's are pretty sweet.

Same with me when I acquired my M-111. Gotta clean every little bit and the insides are certainly fun to play with. I rewired an entire pedalboard to function as a MIDI Controller.

Chebass88 · #9 11-27-2011, 12:36 PM

Thanks for the tips about cleaning it. I had to take a couple of weeks off due to work and family travel. I am looking forward to making some headway between Christmas and New Years. As a result of spending some time reading organ forums - common recommendations include replacing the capacitors, so I will do that in addition to replacing the broken keys and miscellaneous wires.

I had an idea - I would like to refinish it in Tolex (like an old Ampeg amplifier).

Also, whenever I work on it - I listen to Soulive, Medeski Martin & Wood, and Joey Defrancesco. Inspiration.