schundog Posted May 1, 2014 Posted May 1, 2014 No, not my recently purchased 1956 M3. I'm digging that thing too much! Today, while working in Springfield, IL, our State Capitol, I stopped by a local Habitat for Humanity thrift store. They had an old Hammond organ there with more tubes than I've ever seen in any electronic device. It was a one level keyboard organ, with accordian keys on the left side for chording, and no bass pedals. I'd never seen one like it, and didn't even catch the model #. What I DID catch, after looking around the back, was that it had 2 GE 6V6GT tubes, some Sylvania 12AX7 tubes, and a huge Sylvania 5U4GB that I am assuming is a rectifier tube of some sort; have to look it up. Also, there were around 15 12AU7 tubes, and several 6BA6 tubes, which I'd never seen before. Dirk, a 20 something worker with 2 lip rings, a trucker cap and flannel shirt saw me rooting around in the back of the organ, and asked if he could help. I said I was checking out the tubes, we struck up a conversation, and he told me he was a guitarist, and thought the thing had potential, too. They had $40 on it; I'm in a Malibu, couldn't haul it home if I wanted to, but said I'd give them $20 for the tubes alone. We haggled, and agreed on $30. I went up front to pay the lady, and Dirk went to work pulling the tubes and carefully wrapping them for me. I told him he could have the rest of the thing, as he was interested in the OT and the nice wood on the thing to make pedalboards. The only other piece I salvaged from the organ was the flat wooden piece that acts as a music stand; My M3 was missing it's stand after nearly 60 years. The stand and the clip that attaches to the organ worked perfectly. I'd probably have given $30 for THAT! Here's the problem; I have 4 6V6 amps. My Fender DRRI, 5E3 Clone, Egnater Tweaker, and Ibanez TSA15H. I either need to swap away, or find more old organs..... Next post will show the tubes. Gold....
GASguy Posted May 1, 2014 Posted May 1, 2014 I believe an amp maker from the southeast part of the country, Richard Goodsell uses, or used to use Hammond organ tubes, and parts including the "iron" in his amps.
slider313 Posted May 1, 2014 Posted May 1, 2014 Nice! The GE blackplate 6V6GT's sound great in cathode biased amps. They can be a bit bright in fixed biased Fenders. What, no Jensen or Rola 12" speaker? The iron should be good for something; a repair or a home made build.
schundog Posted May 1, 2014 Author Posted May 1, 2014 Thanks, Mike! I may have more questions as I get into this, if you don't mind me bending your ear.
rockabilly69 Posted May 1, 2014 Posted May 1, 2014 Those GE 6V6GTs are what's currently in my Victoria and they sound great! Although like slider said, my amp is cathode biased. Still, if they test good, I imagine they'd sound better and would last longer than most modern tubes in most 6V6 amps though:)
PunkKitty Posted May 1, 2014 Posted May 1, 2014 People often convert the amps in those old organs into guitar amps. Often you can build a 30 watt tube amp from them.
Gitfiddler Posted May 1, 2014 Posted May 1, 2014 Smart score, grabbing those old tubes. Man, I bet they'd sound killer in my 80's Champ II or Super Champ amps. They use 6V6GTA and 6V6GT's respectively. Let me know if you want to sell em down the road.
fxdx99 Posted May 1, 2014 Posted May 1, 2014 Cool, Brian. I've a couple of those GE blackplates from a swap meet a few years ago. Tried them in my Allen, but were kinda 'harsh'. Didn't dawn on me to try them in the tweed (thanks, Mike). Organ diving... is that what the Rev was talking about in Tube Snake Boogie?...
tulk1 Posted May 1, 2014 Posted May 1, 2014 Dr. Z material right there!! His Carmen Ghias were originally built from old Hammond organ chasis, plus any tubes he could pull from them. I'd call that a Find!!
slider313 Posted May 1, 2014 Posted May 1, 2014 Thanks, Mike! I may have more questions as I get into this, if you don't mind me bending your ear. Brian, Any time. Shoot me a PM.
HANGAR18 Posted May 1, 2014 Posted May 1, 2014 I went through that whole thought process when I was selling a Hamond organ. I discovered that there is a small used market for old tubes like that and that there is at least one company which makes guitar amps from the electronics. But, what I wound up doing with the organ was to sell it in whole on Craigslist. Turned out that it worked just fine when the guy came over to check it out in person. Those organs sound really good if someone knows how to play one.
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