[HAM] Leslie 25/M3

[Keith Cary]

I've had almost that combo, on my first Hammond/Leslie combo. It  
worked fine, though I certainly wanted more highs. It's way better  
than no Leslie, and with an M3 you don't really need the big bass  
sound of a 15". If it comes all hooked up, with the switch(es), then  
yeah, I'd say get it, if it's under $200. You can always sell it down  
the road, keeping the switches.  Hooking up a Leslie isn't as trivial  
as it sounds and is worth quite a bit of money in itself, if it's  
done well. I wonder if you could put one of those Motion Sound units  
on top to get the whole sound? I actually did something like that  
with my old M3/125 combo and it improved it a lot.

I recently installed a Leslie 125 in a recording studio, hooked to a  
C3. Yeah, I know, pretty crazy, but my friend wanted it. He's had  
gospel organ players in there since, at least one well-known player  
who I can't name, and they've dug it. Maybe it's the way he's miking  
it, or it's the fact that he has it up high on blocks. However,  
installing it was not a ten-minute job, not at all. I've thought that  
maybe putting a 12" speaker with a co-axial tweeter horn would  
sweeten it up a little.

I've owned a B3/145 but I prefer my CV/44W, with Trek percussion. It  
works for me, not for everyone. Believe me, the 44W is a wonderful  
Leslie, especially with 2 speeds.--- Hammonds are only my hobby, my  
work is string instrument repair. This debate comes up in all musical  
instruments, maybe in all art, and maybe in all life. Some people  
need/want the "true, classic sound" that only certain makes and  
models can provide. Others are happy with an approximation or, better  
yet, an oddball sound that nobody else has. A lot of us are somewhere  
in between. But, I'm pretty sure a lot of the people we emulate first  
used gear that nobody else wanted. They heard a sound in there that  
somehow worked for them and then made it so the rest of us could hear  
the beauty too.

Keith CV/44W