I'd love to sit in on guitar. Unfortunately I'm in Ohio. Hey Rory if you ever come across a Hammond S6 chord organ they make great honking barking key perc saxxy, or woodwind right hand solo instruments. Here is an incredibly simple mod for the chord buttons ( which btw the buttons grab successive notes of the chord as you press down, great musically sensitive). The mod is switchable and it takes the *chord buttons-out* > at the preamp/power amp RCA junction [like all Hammonds have], and moves it back one tube stage to the "2-bass pedal" preamp tube ( a single triode tube stage that terminates at the RCA junction). The result is the most incredible biting, smooth, controllable distortion you've ever heard, and a whole different manner to play it. I discovered you play the buttons with both hands, as well as with the root/ 5th bass pedals, which changes as soon as you press a different button. I'd love for someone with your arranging skills to explore this thing. I thought it would just be a novelty, but it's musically versatile. So here is the mod [I just cut and pasted from my notepad file, opening paragraph explains button cleaning lever]. Save this Rory, hope you jam an S6 some day! 🙂 I have a 1955 S6 with Hammond 3 spring necklace reverb and AO-35 reverb amp. Absolutely you can play modern music on it. I set a band in a box Yamaha keyboard on top with decent drum beats. It's an incredible solo w/ right hand and jam left hand on top keyboard. The knee volume is actually more dynamic and quicker to change levels versus a foot pedal. About the chord buttons, you clean the contacts by rapidly moving back and forth an inset lever directly under chord buttons (looking straight up from the pedals. THE MOD!: 1 wire mod, You'll need to reference this S6 PREAMP/ AMP SCHEMATIC- web.archive.org/web/20040525091507/users.rcn.com/clonk/ChordOrgan/Schematics/Figure6.gif MOD- The chord buttons can sound like the heaviest thundering, but very controllable smooth guitar like distortion with the flip of of a switch spdt ( single pole double throw switch), The mod is 1 wire change. On schematic locate: V20 12au7 tube [v= valve aka tube] Locate Pedal output wire at V20 pin 2 Now the mod is simply moving the pedal signal _back_ one tube stage, thus doubling the gain. The tube stage is V20 pin 7. Yes, V20 is a dual triode, so the pin 7 is the adjacent stage directly before the pedal into pin 2 V20. WIRING THE SWITCH: [Note SPDT= Single pole Double throw, a 3 terminal switch, where center terminal '2' is the 'in'+1 or 'in'+3] If you want a totally invisible switch, you can change the " PEDAL BALANCER " control knob on the organs front panel [the 1 meg potentiometer R265 ], change to a *1 meg SPDT Pull pot switch* and wire it, [or a separate SPDT flip switch, your call...btw, you can mount the switch in a tiny metal box and velcro it under the key desk], Anyway, wire as: -------------------- lift pedal signal wire from V20 PIN 2 and solder to center [terminal 2] on the 3 switch. ------------------- run wire from the switch's terminal 1 to V20 pin 7 ------------------- run wire from the switch's terminal 3 to V20 pin 2 It is very worth while getting an S6 service manual. It also has playing tips. Fortunately I printed the full manual when Klonk uploaded it. For some reason it was removed, but I found the schematic above on the way back machine. It being Klonks, they saved some of it anyway.
Very nice alternative to the recording of the song by Walter Wanderley on “Kee-ka-roo” from 1967.
the magic of the DSO1..... la la
la la la la la
hello Rory a greeting
That was great!
❤
I'd love to sit in on guitar. Unfortunately I'm in Ohio. Hey Rory if you ever come across a Hammond S6 chord organ they make great honking barking key perc saxxy, or woodwind right hand solo instruments. Here is an incredibly simple mod for the chord buttons ( which btw the buttons grab successive notes of the chord as you press down, great musically sensitive).
The mod is switchable and it takes the *chord buttons-out* > at the preamp/power amp RCA junction [like all Hammonds have], and moves it back one tube stage to the "2-bass pedal" preamp tube ( a single triode tube stage that terminates at the RCA junction). The result is the most incredible biting, smooth, controllable distortion you've ever heard, and a whole different manner to play it. I discovered you play the buttons with both hands, as well as with the root/ 5th bass pedals, which changes as soon as you press a different button. I'd love for someone with your arranging skills to explore this thing. I thought it would just be a novelty, but it's musically versatile.
So here is the mod [I just cut and pasted from my notepad file, opening paragraph explains button cleaning lever]. Save this Rory, hope you jam an S6 some day! 🙂
I have a 1955 S6 with Hammond 3 spring necklace reverb and AO-35 reverb amp. Absolutely you can play modern music on it. I set a band in a box Yamaha keyboard on top with decent drum beats. It's an incredible solo w/ right hand and jam left hand on top keyboard. The knee volume is actually more dynamic and quicker to change levels versus a foot pedal. About the chord buttons, you clean the contacts by rapidly moving back and forth an inset lever directly under chord buttons (looking straight up from the pedals.
THE MOD!: 1 wire mod, You'll need to reference this S6 PREAMP/ AMP SCHEMATIC- web.archive.org/web/20040525091507/users.rcn.com/clonk/ChordOrgan/Schematics/Figure6.gif
MOD- The chord buttons can sound like the heaviest thundering, but very controllable smooth guitar like distortion with the flip of of a switch spdt ( single pole double throw switch), The mod is 1 wire change.
On schematic locate:
V20 12au7 tube [v= valve aka tube]
Locate Pedal output wire at V20 pin 2
Now the mod is simply moving the pedal signal _back_ one tube stage, thus doubling the gain. The tube stage is V20 pin 7.
Yes, V20 is a dual triode, so the pin 7 is the adjacent stage directly before the pedal into pin 2 V20.
WIRING THE SWITCH: [Note SPDT= Single pole Double throw, a 3 terminal switch, where center terminal '2' is the 'in'+1 or 'in'+3]
If you want a totally invisible switch, you can change the " PEDAL BALANCER " control knob on the organs front panel [the 1 meg potentiometer R265 ], change to a *1 meg SPDT Pull pot switch* and wire it, [or a separate SPDT flip switch, your call...btw, you can mount the switch in a tiny metal box and velcro it under the key desk], Anyway, wire as:
-------------------- lift pedal signal wire from V20 PIN 2 and solder to center [terminal 2] on the 3 switch.
------------------- run wire from the switch's terminal 1 to V20 pin 7
------------------- run wire from the switch's terminal 3 to V20 pin 2
It is very worth while getting an S6 service manual. It also has playing tips. Fortunately I printed the full manual when Klonk uploaded it. For some reason it was removed, but I found the schematic above on the way back machine. It being Klonks, they saved some of it anyway.