Comments on: Modding old organ bits into a guitar amps

By: dave

dave — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 02:11:50 +0000

We recorded an entire album through old organ and pa heads. I love em. Another good source is old timey console radios.

By: Kaj

Kaj — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 18:04:10 +0000

Funny, I did something similar with the power supply/amplifier section in an old Tube console set (Radio, Phono, amp) The circuit was in good shape so I built a control & input box for it. Now I can listen to CDs (in mono…) with warm 6V6 push-pull output.

By: Forrest Cook

Forrest Cook — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 22:40:12 +0000

A few answers to the comments:
If you want to deafen yourself, the amp can easily be rebiased
to work with 6L6 tubes (approx. 35W). 18 watt amps start to
distort (desirable) at a non-deafening volume.
The transformer's not rusty, that's the paper. The chassis
*is* rusty, but much better than when I started the project.
I've scraped lots of rust off with a wire brush. The rust
gives it character, imho.

By: theblunderbuss

theblunderbuss — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 07:19:59 +0000

I found out that mine is an M-2, fyi

By: andrew

andrew — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 23:22:31 +0000

@7: It’s clear you’re no audiophile; the rust deposits add a subtle but important inflection to the odd subharmonic cross-modulation which provides a clearer reproduction of the amplified audio source. It’s unfortunate that this hack uses Bakelite knobs, though, because the Bakelite causes a distal vibration when placed so close to the metal chassis. This completely offsets the rust’s inflective properties and degrades the entire listening experience.

It’s still an interesting hack, though, if only from an academic perspective. :-)

By: Elliott

Elliott — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 20:55:38 +0000

Am I the only one that thinks he should replace the transformer on the left? I mean it’s starting to rust…

By: mmon

mmon — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 20:06:42 +0000

Nice. I have a Hammond AO35 reverb amp that I’m using for a similar project. As for being low powered, that’s exactly the point. Nice power tube saturation at a volume that doesn’t get the cops called on you.

By: mainfr4me

mainfr4me — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 19:46:41 +0000

Just make sure it’s not a Hammond B3. IMHO, one of the best sounding organs ever.

By: TheKhakinator

TheKhakinator — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 12:15:08 +0000

Very cool, only thing I’d say is that it’s rather low powered.

By: jkent

jkent — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 08:13:12 +0000

woah, I have some hammond guts out in my garage and I was thinking about building a guitar amp from it for my brother-in-law… awesome!

By: Dirk

Dirk — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 08:08:12 +0000

this hack is totally useless without audio clips.

definitely a clever re-use of parts though.

By: theblunderbuss

theblunderbuss — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 07:32:28 +0000

I have an old Hammond right here.
I wonder how much the parts are worth to someone who wants to try this kind of hack?