Leslie Amp

[Highlander]

Is the little one the peddle...?

66 or 132 pounds - that's a lot of hernia...

[pbassplayer]

that is the same (cts) 15 spkr that is used in the older ampeg B15's

[Rhythm N. Bliss]

This is what happens when I try and help hook the keys player in my band up with leads on a Leslie speaker

Anyone ever try one with bass?  The guy I got this from only had the "combo preamp pedal" to use it with.  That pedal provides the Leslie with its mains power via the big multi-pin cable, and provides a means of connecting anything with a 1/4" cable into it.  I took the BaCHbird over to test it - sounded nice!  Low volume (only 40 watts), but it dirties up in a good way.  I'll have to pick up one of those pedals at some point...  (I'd like to try it with guitar too)

Here are some pics of the beast.  Quite the nifty contraption...

Full frontal:


Backside:


All nakey.  Uses a crossover network with 15" driver firing into lower baffle (big spinning cork thing covered with fabric), and pair of spinning horns up top:


Horns:


Woofer:


Relays inside of the amp switch the motor speeds for the rotary effect.  You can signal them using that pedal, or in my case via a switch on the front of the hammond


Pretty inside:




6550s glowing in the night:

MIGHTY envious am I! C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S !

SRV used a Leslie in his rig, didn't he? As for bass, I imagine it'll stand up to the task. 

[chromium]

MIGHTY envious am I! C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S !

SRV used a Leslie in his rig, didn't he? As for bass, I imagine it'll stand up to the task.  

Thanks Terr!  That setup kinda fell in my lap- an overly generous local deal through another forum.  Really nice fellow... and our own Nokturnal was extremely excited to help me schlep it back home since he recently took up organ moving as a hobby interest!

In time I'll still need to get one of those pedal units to use the Leslie with bass, guitar, other keys... but I did get hold of an additional mic to use on its 15" driver.  It records beautifully!

[Nocturnal]

Thanks Terr!  That setup kinda fell in my lap- an overly generous local deal through another forum.  Really nice fellow... and our own Nokturnal was extremely excited to help me schlep it back home since he recently took up organ moving a hobby interest!

It almost literally fell in your lap a couple of times while moving it! I usually prefer to handle my own organ, but In Chromium's case I made an exception. 

[chromium]

At least its all solid mahogany with clear lacquer from circa '64 - so as it crushed and maimed us, it did so with a highly resonant and open tonal character.  Not like those new poly-finished clonewheel organs...  

Hey - at a modest 3-400 pounds, it was almost like playing a Les Paul!  

[godofthunder]

Man that is in beautiful condition! I worked with a guitar player in the 70's who dragged one around, sounded great as I recall.

[Grog]

I picked up a Leslie 16 about a year ago, I never considered trying it with bass before, thinking it would buzz. The Leslie 16 or it's counterpart, the Fender Vibratone is what SRV, Clapton & many others used in those early recordings. It's a bit more portable, but doesn't have the horn. I have since changed the speaker to a 12" Peavey Scorpion that I had laying around, so it's sort of a Leslie 18 now. It doesn't have any kind of amp in it, so you can use any kind of head you like. The original footswitch, mine was missing, has a crossover to filter out some of the highs & lows. It has that swirly goodness, I'll have to see if it works with bass.....................

[chromium]

I picked up a Leslie 16 about a year ago, I never considered trying it with bass before, thinking it would buzz. The Leslie 16 or it's counterpart, the Fender Vibratone is what SRV, Clapton & many others used in those early recordings. It's a bit more portable, but doesn't have the horn. I have since changed the speaker to a 12" Peavey Scorpion that I had laying around, so it's sort of a Leslie 18 now. It doesn't have any kind of amp in it, so you can use any kind of head you like. The original footswitch, mine was missing, has a crossover to filter out some of the highs & lows. It has that swirly goodness, I'll have to see if it works with bass.....................

That is very cool!  Thanks for sharing those photos of the insides too.  I've seen the Vibratone cabs and wondered what they looked like inside.

Makes me think even more of modifying my little ampless Leslie 120 (also uses a 12" driver) to function more like yours.  As it stands, I have to use that multi-pin Leslie connector for connecting the amp (leeches off the Hammond's internal amp), powering its rotor and switching between speeds, and there isn't an input for connecting an external head to it - rendering it pretty much organ-use-only.  It wouldn't take much doing to add a mains connection, fuse, toggle for the speeds, and a speaker input.. hmmm...

I figured the Doppler effect might be fun on bass in certain contexts - melodic/chordal playing, experimental, etc...  I thought of this song, even though it's not a Leslie - more of a tremolo effect on the bass:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grvr4nK4AZA&feature=related


I'm mostly looking forward to trying mine out with guitar, rhodes, and who knows what else!  IIRC, I remember reading that the backup vocals on Floyd's "Time" were run thru a Leslie for that swirling effect.  Also love Trower's Bridge of Sighs sound (although, I think that was a Leslie sim- Univibe?).

[Grog]

Cool effect! It could work! My Leslie sounds more like a phase when it's idleing on slow speed. If I ever make another switch, I'm going to try to incorporate a kill switch. The speaker & the speed switch both are connected through the five pin amphenol plug. I always thought that this would be a good way to modify a normal Leslie to use with a guitar head.



It's a lot easier to hook a jack right to the speaker, then you wouldn't need all of the capacitors to filter out the switch pops. The original idea for the Vibratone was to patch it in between a Fender combo amp & it's speaker. I bought an aftermarked footswitch with a coil crossover, but I still like my home made footswitch that that sends the whole signal right to the speaker. You can EQ the extreme highs & lows on the amp.

[Pekka]

I finally got the "Leslie" I wanted for the 12-string bass. Not the real thing but a good enough alternative, Rotosphere Mark II. I'm pllanning to use it for the treble pickup channel and with the breaker on it serves as a preamp/booster to make the sound slightly distorted and when releasing the breaker it's the heaven of swirling sounds.

I recorded a sample using the Waterstone TP-2 12-string bass with the neck pickup (slightly panned to the left) going direct and bridge pickup (slightly panned ton the right) through the Rotosphere. Drive 2 o'clock, Output 12 o'clock, rotor balance a notch on the horn side (HF).

[chromium]

Hey Pekka- just saw your post.

That Rotosphere sounds good!  That's the smart way to go since you play out with it...  No way I'd ever drag that 145 to a gig lol.

I did manage to get it shoved into a closet in my space here.  Sort of a pseudo isolation booth, and I can mic it and also crank it up more that way without causing domestic disturbances