Hammond M1 Organ
I have a Hammond Organ Model M1 Form A1 Serial 95444 sitting in my music room, left by a former bandmate who still owes me money... Anyway, 2+ years and this organ is still sitting here, never being used. I'm not a keyboard player, but the organ does start up and appears to work in all respects, as far as I can tell. When I do play keyboard, I use one of my portable Yamaha GM keyboards which I jack staight into the mixer.
At any rate, I'm wondering if this forgotten Hammond M1 has any value, musically or money wise, or should it get thrown out of the music room? Currently, it does not get used and just takes up lots of space. If someone could tell me the relative worth of the organ either in terms of music or dollars, it would help me decide what to do with it. If you guys think it's a good musical instrument worth keeping, please let me know. As I said, I'm not a keyboard player and really don't have a clue to the value of this organ. I figure it can't be worth too much if my former bandmate left it with me and never came back for it. He is the type that would have sold it to a pawn shop if he could....
Any help appreciated. Thanks.
At any rate, I'm wondering if this forgotten Hammond M1 has any value, musically or money wise, or should it get thrown out of the music room? Currently, it does not get used and just takes up lots of space. If someone could tell me the relative worth of the organ either in terms of music or dollars, it would help me decide what to do with it. If you guys think it's a good musical instrument worth keeping, please let me know. As I said, I'm not a keyboard player and really don't have a clue to the value of this organ. I figure it can't be worth too much if my former bandmate left it with me and never came back for it. He is the type that would have sold it to a pawn shop if he could....
Any help appreciated. Thanks.
Comments
Depends on the kind of speakers it has, too - rotaries are a novelty item. And the condition of the speakers, like were they blown by high-volume playing.
With something that old (presumably 50 years or so), condition will play a great role. Simple stuff - for example, do all the pedals work? All the keys, on both keyboards? Register shift keys? A piano student of mine had one of these (parents got it from the neighbors across the street for pretty cheap), and half of the functionality wasn't there anymore. You could get a basic organ sound - and the lower keyboard was pretty busted. None of the drawbars did anything, either - it was a glorified piano that sounds funny.
As far as musical worth, you can get most of those sounds with a computer these days. It's like owning a vintage car - neat, but unnecessary. I'm sure that a modern keyboard will reproduce most if not all of the idiosyncracies that a Hammond has. M series isn't quite the same as B series for tone or playability; the upper register is weak and its smaller scale limits you physically. If you're not a trained organist, whether self-trained or otherwise, it's basically like having two small keyboards and maybe a bass note or two with your foot.
http://organforum.com/forums/thread/73157.aspx
I've played with guys back in the day who had the B3. There aint nothing out there that sounds like it with a leslie.. Unfortunately you had to have the offensive line of the Pittsburgh Steelers to move it..LOL..
But you'll have to put up with her \"big organ\" jokes.
There are further side effects, but I don't want to give you guy's nightmares. :shock:
The organ is in great working condition, but it's too heavy to take out gigging. Also, I don't think it's all that great sounding by itself. I'm better off with software plug-in's for recording.