Thought I Had One Hooked!

[Joe Isom <isomj@buffnet.net>]

Hi Fellow Wheelheads:

I've been a member of this list for awhile now.  I am normally "listen" and
don't usually have too much I could contribute, but I wanted to tell you
about my experience over the last few days.

I, like many of you, am patiently watching for that once-in-a-lifetime-deal
on a pristine B-3.  In my opinion, I am a elementary-level organist.  I can
barely read music, but I can play enough to entertain myself.  To me, that's
all that matters.  I love the tone-wheel sound, and I believe the genuine
B-3s to be true religious icons.  I would support the death penalty for you
selfish turds who are prone to chopping them up like they are pieces of
cheap furniture.  I wanna B-3. I wanna put it in my house and look at; play
it; play with it; dust it; brag about it; pray to it; all that good stuff.

Well, I ran across an ad in a Watertown, New York, paper for a "Hammond
organ, Model B-3, with Leslie Tone cabinet.  Very good condition.  $2,500."
I naturally was keeping this good deal all to myself.  No telling any of you
about it for fear of someone snatching it out from under me.  (KEI?)  After
about two days of no answer at the number, I finally reached what sounded
like a little old lady.  (MAN-O-MAN, THIS IS IT!!!)  She put me on with her
husband.  He said he had purchased the organ about 20 years ago, and that it
was five years old then.  He said it had been in the same spot ever since.
Needless to say, I thought I had possibly found the Holy Grail.  I asked him
if it was definitely a B-3, and he came back with a definite yes.  I asked
what model Leslie he had, and he had no idea.  He said, "would that number
really mean anything to you?"  I assured him it would.  He said he would
have to pull it out away from the wall to look, and that he would call me
back the next day.  If I had not been so excited, I could have simply asked
if it had a slow and fast, because that was my biggest concern -- that it
wasn't a 21H, but I wasn't thinking to clearly.  He called me back the next
day. "It's a model 122," he said.  I told him that was a good number.  I got
more excited.  He even said he could arrange delivery to Buffalo for me.  I
was really getting excited.  I made the trek to Watertown.  Went to his
house.  He led me through a maze of rooms, down the basement, way in a back
room.  He went through a door and pointed towards the wall where I couldn't
see, and said, "Well hear it is."  I walked through the door holding my
breath.  It was a C-3.  My heart sank. I really wanted a B-3.  I said, "Oh,
I believe this is a C-3."  He said, "Oh, it is?  I always thought it was a
B-3.  What's the difference?"  I had a copy of the "Hammond FAQ" and I
showed him the illustration that comes with that.  I said, "the innards are
all the same -- it just has a different cabinet."

Anyway, to finish this terrible story, I had him turn it on.  It sounded
very good.  One of the pedals doesn't fire.  The condition is, I would say,
"good," but not "very good."  The Leslie is not a good match to the finish
of the organ -- it had kind of a dull chocolate color to it, and didn't look
to be in very good shape.  On fast, the treble rotor makes an annoying noise
-- kind-of-a muffled knocking sound, and the entire cabinet wobbles.  He
also has one of those old -- oh hell, I can't even remember what the thing
is called, but it is a box that he had sitting on top of the organ.  It had
a row of push buttons.  He said it makes all of the diffrent drum effects
like bossanova, samba, etc.  Apparently it was as old as the organ.  He said
he never uses it.

This gentleman -- Mr. Holloway, was a very nice man.  I feel like his price,
though not great, is reasonable.  However, when I found it wasn't a B-3, and
that the condition was not as good as what I would have liked, and the
Leslie appeared to need some work, I just didn't have a good feeling about
pursuing it any further, even if he had lowered his price dramatically.  But
I thanked him for taking the time to show it to me.  I gave him the Hammond
FAQ and left.

Oh well.  I'll keeping looking.  I won't die if I don't get a B-3.

But for any of the rest of you who are interested in such a deal, I wanted
to leave you with his number.  Though I didn't even make an offer on the
organ, I got the impression he is probably pretty firm on his price of $2,500.

Here it is.
Ken Holloway, Watertown, New York.
(315) 782-0806.

Good luck to any of you who call him.

Joe