[HAM] Chopping Hammonds

[Charles Buckingham]

Hi John.  Don't get me wrong.  I don't personally consider quality 
repackaging and customizing of organs for road worthiness to be 
"chopping" per se.  What grinds my tonewheels is the kind of thing where 
people think they can lighten and portableize a B3 by hacking the legs 
off.  The M3 "chop" I found in the garbage was a poor attempt at 
portablization (is that even a word?).  Someone had basically built a 
slightly smaller case for the manuals and generator.  The amp and pedals 
were history.  They had clearly spent a lot of time and effort doing 
this but the results were at best unsightly and at worst considerably 
more unreliable than than the original spinet (lots of extra wires and 
electrical tape connections).  What was gained over the original 
configuration?  20 pounds off of a couple hundred and a slightly smaller 
package?  When it comes to what you're describing below I completely 
agree.  I'm hoping to give the pile of parts I have a brand new and 
better treated life (resurrected if you will).  I guess when talking 
about "chopping" it boils down to semantics.

Best regards,

Charles

JOHN HABURAY wrote:
>    
>   John Haburay writes:
>   There are a few reasons why I chop Hammond's. Many of my pro players need the room. They travel with trailers and a chop does indeed take up less room. They are able to stack the rest of the band stuff in the same trailer. Another reason is because I totally rebuild these organs. To pull apart an A-100, RT-3 or D-152, rebuild it and then put it back in the case is just not what people including myself, want to show up at the gig with. We also don't want to road our B-3's either. We want a nice looking, sleet, screaming package that is as absolutly space saving as we can get it, and still have a real Hammond. Also, many players now are using SUV's to move their stuff. One of my chops and a Leslie will fit in any SVU even a jeep Cherokee. No more vans and/or trailers. I don't destroy organs here. Most of them are already more than half dead in the original form anyway as far as I am concerned. Functioning doesn't cut it here either. These guys are depending on their
>  instrument to make a living. When I am done with a chop the organ is given a new lease on life and will play and sound like it should for many more years to come. As far as the volume pedal situation. I use cable and relocate the swell cap. I like it but am always thinking of another possible solutions, because it is tricky, kind of expensive, a lot of work, and I do lose some of the "throw" of the pedal. And yes, duct tape is always within reach on most gigs unless there is rug on the stage. I have not come up with any acceptable alternative yet however, except the way I do it now. Most of my rock guys are loud and louder most of the time anyway, so it really isn't an issue with a shorter throw. Also, I find I got used to a shorter throw sooner than I ever thought I would. One thing for sure is this. I don't use Solid State and quarter inch volume pedals. Now that's destruction and mutilation of a Hammond. ---------John
>
>