Re: Heads over the parapet

[Russ Evans <russ@seismo.demon.co.uk>]

Keith Pomfret writes:

>I am a novice player with an elderly C3 and a PR40 cabinet that I rescued
>from a church (=A3150 sterling)

You wouldn't have, if I had got there first! :-)

>I know nothing about the insides of the C3 or PR40 and can't find anyone
>in the UK who knows or understands them.

No problem.  There are at least four individuals in England dealing in and
servicing tonewheel Hammonds :
        Clive Botterill, t/a Hammond Service (UK), St Albans
        Graham Sutton, t/a ????, Milton Keynes
        Paul Edmunds, t/a Northern Organ Centre, Leeds
        Dave Major, London
plus Octavo Music and Sensible Music in London who hire and service.
I have full addresses and numbers for most of the above -- does anyone
have further contacts?  Can Al Goff tell us if any of these or anyone
else acts as an agent for his products?

I note that Al can supply manuals; although I don't have one, I know
where in Scotland there are copies which could be xeroxed.

>In an ideal world I would like to
>
>1       Play like a cross between  Jimmy Smith and Keith Emerson

I'd like to be able to play like either at will, but I'm not so sure
about playing like both simultaneously!

>2       Convert the PR40 into a drinks cabinet and buy a Leslie

Mark Trainer, organist with the Beat Poets, is a cabinet maker; I expect
he would be delighted to rebuild the PR40.  He might even sell you one of
his Leslie's.  Botterill, Sutton and Edmunds all have Leslie's in stock,
and I have worked up a short list of Leslie's which are or might be for
sale around Scotland.

>3       Work out how to rejig the presets so that it sounds like a
>rock/jazz/funk organ not a church

Not hard!  I'm sure we can explain that, or perhaps even show you.

>4       Find someone in Scotland  who is also interested in Hammonds

Err, me for a start, in Edinburgh, and my recent active searches have
brought me into contact with at least a dozen others, amongst whom Mark
in Anstruther is arguably the most evangelical!  I'll happily exchange
some phone numbers.  I'm on 0131 664 5831.

>5       Find out the difference between a C3 and a B3 (other than the
>spindly legs)

None of great significance.  Apparently no real B3's were ever imported
into the UK.  Those that appear to be are the guts of other 240V/50Hz
Hammonds transplanted into new boxes by the likes of Botterill.

>A long time ago in a galaxy far far away, I owned a Minimoog. does anyone
>know of any newsgroup where I could go to reminisce about VCOs, monophonic
>keyboards and Bob Moog?

rec.music.makers.synth; maybe we should start up rec.music.makers.synth.retr=
o!

>A Lancastrian in Scotland

Err, Scotland is rather a big place ... any particular bit of it?

Russ

A Welshman in Edinburgh

I guess Keith and I should take the core of this to email, but others might
like to comment on the peripheral issues, so I'm copying to the list.