Ok, I'm going to look at what will be my 1st tonewheel in the next couple of
days. An M-143, with a Leslie 120. (I know, the leslie is unamplified and
nearly worthless, but will probably be the platform for a future homemade
project) I've seen photos, it is in excellent cosmetic condition. He wants
400 bucks for it, which is a little high compared to Ebay, but it's only
about 30 minutes away, and already has a Leslie kit. The guy has owned
other tonewheel organs, so he is not totally ignorant of them, but I am not
automatically assuming he knows much about servicing them. Hopefully, I
will be carrying a friend that owned a B-3 and M-3, but he has not played
the real thing in over 30 years, and admittedly has forgotten most
characteristics.
Besides the obvious, (won't power up, squeeling noises, lots of static,
wires hanging out of the back, shredded speakers, etc) what should I
specifically look at? I figured the first thing I would do is play a chord
and individually pull each drawbar, to see if each work. Try each key and
pedal, try the expression pedal, percussion, vibrato, reverb, leslie, and
presets.
Any other suggestions?
Frank Stroupe
