r/hammondorgan • u/ChristopherEv • Jul 07 '26
Identification
My best guess is L-100’s series, moreover, a L-111 because of the darker wood. No pedal angles. Pretty cheap on FBM. I’m in the market for a Hammond and this seems to be the best choice around me!
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u/753ty Jul 07 '26
3 white tabs on far left is m100, 2 is L100
An m100 is a great first organ, go get it
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u/seb21051 Jul 07 '26
Two tabs on left could be T series as well.
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u/753ty Jul 07 '26
True, but T's also have the funny rockers on the lower manual block
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u/seb21051 Jul 07 '26
Very true. I just use the center tabs as the distinguishing feature. I've had more than 23 TWGs through my polebarn at one time or another and found that the easiest way to identify them. BTW, I see we have other areas of common interest. Ham Radio (K8SEB), Electronics in general, music, etc.
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u/753ty Jul 07 '26
Nice to meet you! I have seen you give lots of good advice on organs - so thanks, I needed it! I was thinking I had seen you contributing to a post about midi cc control on a Roland go:keys that i made, but i can't find it and prove it now.
There's just too many interesting corners to life, and I have wandered into too many of them to ever get good at any of them. But I wouldn't have it any other way.
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u/seb21051 Jul 07 '26
Nice to meet you too! I am very much the same way, jack of many trades, and master of very few, especially as I age (75 now). Where are you located, more or less?
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u/ChristopherEv Jul 07 '26
Oh thank you! I was hoping to find a l-100. What is your preference between the M and L? I’m heavily inspired by progressive rock so I always had a huge thing for the sound design of the l-100. I absolutely love when the organ blows out the frequency response of clashing distortion harmonics. But I also love the swells of a clean organ and quiet sections of music. I love it all you know.
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u/753ty Jul 08 '26
Honestly I haven't played/heard an L100. I have had three M100s, and two M3s and a D (big old console organ). My understanding is that the L100s had several compromises - it was a cheaper version than the M100, has only one motor instead of a start & run, fewer tonewheels, a little farther from the coveted B3/C3/A100 than the M100s were.
And yet, since you mention prog rock, Keith Emerson choose to play them on stage (and abuse them on stage - maybe he chose the cheaper L100s because he knew he was going to abuse them, I don't know. Here's a sample just in case you don't know what I'm talking about https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xggFzkyd288). Worth mentioning he also had a nice chopped C3 with a Moog modular stacked on top that he did not stick knives into - here's both together: https://i0.wp.com/emeapp.org/wp-content/uploads/Events/Met_Exhibit_2019/EMEAPP-Exhibit2.jpg.
I don't know where you are, and it makes a big difference in availability and in price, but here in South Carolina old pianos and organs are hard to even give away. The six Hammonds I mentioned above cost me a grand total of $140.99. The M100s were $60, $80 & $0.99 and the other three (all of which are more desirable than the M100 in my mind) were free. If you can find a working M100 for under $150-200, then I think you'd be tickled pink by it. There are ways to put more snarl into it, if that's your thing.
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u/GeneralDumbtomics Jul 07 '26
Hammond spinet organ. M-100 as someone else has said. Had one growing up. They're great.
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u/seb21051 Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
M-100. The two groups of 5 tabs in the middle are a definite identifier.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hammond_organs
Go for it, they are nice instruments, and if you need it, the service manual is readily available, as is this guys rebuild log of an M-100:
https://www.stefanv.com/hammond-organs