# A wild new addition to my studio. Oh the Hammond sound! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 5, 2026, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836 "2026-09-05T04:50:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gnarator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gnarator/32/8266_2.png) [@gnarator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnarator)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/21 "2026-09-06T17:14:17Z")
Does the “old and broken” knob have scratchy sliders as part of it? All I can remember is the weight of all that stuff… ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/22 "2026-09-06T17:25:49Z")
[Here’s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuXgnn8TZ14&list=RDuuXgnn8TZ14&start_radio=1) a good demo of the classic B-3/Leslie sound. As an undergrad in the mid-’70s, I played keyboards in a garage band. My arsenal consisted of an electric piano, a Wurlitzer organ, and an ARP Odyssey synthesizer. We played Pink Floyd and other suitably keyboard-heavy stuff. We never made much money—basically chump change—but we had lot of fun. I always wanted a Hammond B-3 with a Leslie. Unfortunately, a B-3 was expensive, weighed approximately as much as a Buick, and wasn’t exactly ideal equipment for a bunch of college kids hauling gear around. But I still wanted one. I still do, but I’m sure I’d be thrown out of my condo for playing it (loud). ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/23 "2026-09-06T18:01:38Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > How about “Road Ladies” off Frank Zappa’s “Chunga’s Revenge”? Don’t it ever get lonely when you go out on the road? That was my first Zappa album. ---
**Author:** ![StringsandHammers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stringsandhammers/32/17933_2.png) [@StringsandHammers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StringsandHammers)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/24 "2026-09-06T18:23:07Z")
Whiter Shade of Pale ~Procal Harem Smoke on the mountain ~Deep Purple Freebird ~ Skynryd Black Magic Woman ~Santana Perfect Strangers ~ Deep Purple Mr Crowley ~ Ozzy You got lucky ~ Tom Petty The Sky Is Crying Stevie Ray Vaughn ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/25 "2026-09-06T18:31:51Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > I’m curious: how does the Leslie effect change to the listener if s/he walks from the back of the church to the front or the reverse? For that matter, the effect must sound different in every location in the church, no? Fascinating accessory. It’s not really about the distance or your position in the room - the effect is achieved by a “double doppler effect” of one horn coming towards you and the opposite one moving away, and the resulting change in volume. As long as you’re more than 6 feet away from the speaker, it should sound the same wherever you are. If you are miking one for recording or live sound, be sure to place two mics at the top with a 90° “difference” - that means that one mic is looking at a horn straight, and the other is directly in between horns. That will give the most interesting stereo effect - but you also need a third mic for the bass speaker at the bottom. Last year, I had the privilege of doing sound for a huge production of Jesus Christ Superstar, and one of our keyboarders had a synthetic B3, but with a real Leslie. It was a real treat watching him go to town on the drawbars and the switches - unfortunately, his half-moon switch didn’t work, and he had to use the foot pedal version, but with his hands. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/26 "2026-09-06T18:46:32Z")
Well, here I am, boldly showing my nonexistent keyboard chops to the Internet. Remember, I’m a bassist! I used a recording of our worship team from our live stream as a backing track. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/yC-oy47hNdo/maxresdefault.jpg "Hammond B3 Sound in Worship — From Steppenwolf to “Draw Me Close”") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC-oy47hNdo) ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/27 "2026-09-06T20:02:41Z")
Heheh, nice! I get my organ sounds from a Yamaha Reface YC. I can do Hammond, Vox, Farfisa (the one I use most often), Ace Tone, and Yamaha organ sounds. It’s got a dandy Leslie effect that can do the two speeds and the stop sound, and has a believable ramp between them when you switch them. Plus, it’s got distortion, reverb and percussion settings. Similarly, I get my electric piano sounds from a Yamaha Reface CP. It can do both types of Rhodes sounds, a Wurlitzer, a toy piano, a clavinet and a Yamaha electric baby grand. It’s also got distortion, reverb, phaser, auto wah, tremolo, chorus, and analog and digital delays. Both of them were about $350 when I bought them about 5-7 years ago, which was a screaming deal. Now they run about $500 each, which brings them up to the cost of your Ferrofish. There’s a couple of Hammond sound modules I’ve seen that can fake a dual manual organ by having two drawbar settings and allowing you to assign a split (low keys on one setting, higher keys on another). That seems pretty attractive to me, but I haven’t picked one up yet. Can the Ferrofish do that? ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/28 "2026-09-06T20:04:39Z")
Very nice! Speaking of a **fat organ sound** , you really can’t get much fatter than the [Wanamaker Organ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkIh3N8pyWg&list=RDtkIh3N8pyWg&start_radio=1) in Philadelphia—the largest functioning pipe organ in the world. I live about a half-hour from it, and as a kid I loved hearing it during the Wanamaker Christmas Show. It was one of those sounds you didn’t so much _hear_ as have imposed upon your internal organs. When the Center City Macy’s closed, there was some concern about what would happen to the organ. I briefly considered offering to take it off their hands for a few bucks. 😇 Unfortunately, they decided to keep it in the building. Probably just as well. I suspect my condo association might have objected to a [28,000-pipe musical instrument](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanamaker_Organ) being installed in my living room. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/29 "2026-09-06T22:45:04Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > There’s a couple of Hammond sound modules I’ve seen that can fake a dual manual organ by having two drawbar settings and allowing you to assign a split (low keys on one setting, higher keys on another). That seems pretty attractive to me, but I haven’t picked one up yet. Can the Ferrofish do that? Yep. Apparently you can tell it to split the keyboard at an arbitrary note and have the right half go to the “upper” manual and the left half go to the “middle” or “lower” manual. Then you can set them up with different Hammond settings. This thing has everything the real deal has and then some. I found it used at Guitar Center in “excellent” condition, and saved quite a bit. By the way, the drawbars aren’t servo-controlled, like sliders on a fancy MIDI control surface like we use at church. The little display shows images of all 3 drawbar settings, and there is a button to cycle through the active manual. If the physical positions are different from the display, as soon as you start moving one, the display jumps to what the physical position for that one drawbar is. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/30 "2026-09-06T23:14:59Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > Yep. Apparently you can tell it to split the keyboard at an arbitrary note and have the right half go to the “upper” manual and the left half go to the “middle” or “lower” manual. > Then you can set them up with different Hammond settings. > This thing has everything the real deal has and then some. I found it used at Guitar Center in “excellent” condition, and saved quite a bit. Ooooooo, three manuals? Nice! Yeah, that one is going to enter my gear browsing rotation. Thank you! > [@minor7flat5](#): > > By the way, the drawbars aren’t servo-controlled, like sliders on a fancy MIDI control surface like we use at church. The little display shows images of all 3 drawbar settings, and there is a button to cycle through the active manual. If the physical positions are different from the display, as soon as you start moving one, the display jumps to what the physical position for that one drawbar is. Hehe, it hadn’t even occurred to me that servo controlled drawbars were even a thing. But that matches the operation of pretty much every synth I have that has presets, it loads the values, but if you touch the knobs or sliders it’s gonna take the new value instantly. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/31 "2026-09-07T00:35:43Z")
I love using the Behringer sound board at our church. When you turn it on, just press “scan” and it finds the mixer on the network and all of the faders simply shuffle into position and the scribble strips light up with things like “Mic 1” and “Lav” and “Bass” ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/32 "2026-09-07T11:46:14Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > I found it used at Guitar Center in “excellent” condition, and saved quite a bit. Excellent find ! > [@minor7flat5](#): > > “Lav” What’s Lav ? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/33 "2026-09-07T13:17:07Z")
WAG: Lavalier mic. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/34 "2026-09-07T15:08:25Z")
Ah, could be. I’ve never heard the term before. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/35 "2026-09-08T19:24:09Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Ooooooo, three manuals? Nice! Yeah, that one is going to enter my gear browsing rotation. Thank you! Apparently you can set them up with different _drawbar_ settings, but stuff like drive and crunch and Leslie speeds are all global. So it’s cool that I can split the keyboard or use multiple, but I wish it would allow “Steppenwolf” on one and something completely mellow on another. > [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > WAG: Lavalier mic. > [@pjd](#): > > Ah, could be. I’ve never heard the term before. Yep. The scribble strips have only 8 characters I think, so we have to be brief. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/36 "2026-09-08T21:23:09Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > Apparently you can set them up with different _drawbar_ settings, but stuff like drive and crunch and Leslie speeds are all global. So it’s cool that I can split the keyboard or use multiple, but I wish it would allow “Steppenwolf” on one and something completely mellow on another. Hehe, I can see where a complete different set of settings would be desirable, but just the drawbar settings being different is a more realistic emulation of how a multi-manual organ works. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2026, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/37 "2026-09-09T20:26:30Z")
New toys are always fun. I recently acquired a Variax guitar.. had always thought about getting one but they stopped making them. It’s bittersweet… I inherited it from an old friend who I recorded a couple of albums with over the last few years… he died suddenly at the end of last year… ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2026, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/38 "2026-09-10T01:52:39Z")
Was the Leslie used just with a Hammond or could it be used with any organ without cobbling the connections together? Also, can the speed of the horn and woofer be operated separately to get a different sound? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2026, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/39 "2026-09-10T03:14:37Z")
Come on, **Magiver** , you should be able to rig it all up with a paper clip, a wad of chewing gum (not Juicy Fruit) and a blade of grass! Get busy! The future of the Republic is at stake! 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2026, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836/40 "2026-09-10T03:44:07Z")
I actually tried to make stereo speakers as a teenager. And they sounded like they were made with a paper clip, a wad of chewing gum and a blade of grass. I’ve always been fascinated by Leslies. They were a large part of the music I listened to. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-wild-new-addition-to-my-studio-oh-the-hammond-sound/1032836.md?page=3)