Type: Hammond A-102 (A-100 Series). US Model (117V).
Uses a converter to get from 220V / 50 Hz to the required 117V / 60 Hz.
Likely built in 1963. I figured this out using the information available on The Hammond/Leslie Age Determination List available at Tonewheel General
- Fluted vibrato knob – 1962 and older
- Small Hammond script (very much faded) – 1935 – 1965
- Pilot lamp by the start switches – 1961 and later
- AO-28 transformer color black – from mid 1962 (silver up to mid-1962)
- Non-engraved drawbars. Engraved drawbars are used on organs built from 1969
The serial number, 22535, slots in between two other organs on the tonewheel general list that were both identified as 1963 production units.
Speaker serial AO-23232-0 18658 285315 shows a ‚3‘ for the last digit of the year. They are Rola speakers, produced in the 15th week of 1963.
The coding scheme for the speakers is XXXYWW where XXX is the company EIA code (Jensen = 220, Rola = 285, Heppner = 575), Y is the last digit of the production year, and WW is the production week. 285315 would be a Rola speaker made in the 15th week of 19×3 (you have to figure out which decade using other information).
Hammond used Heppner, Rola, Jensen, and Magnavox alnico speakers as tuned pairs. One speaker has a ribbed cone and is voiced for the low end of the organ’s tone spectrum and the other one has a smooth cone and carries the mid tones.
Color: Dark Cherry.
As far as I can tell everything is original, with basic maintenance done, like replacing the original power cord, and the addition of a Leslie kit (6122 with line out written on the added panel with the line-out and 6-pin Leslie 122 connector, labeled as ‘Leslie 428-13 Tremolo Control Terminal Box’, which is mounted inside the organ), half-moon switch (Chorale / Tremolo) and a switch to toggle between the internal speakers or the Leslie, or both. The Leslie socket had been rewired to accept a 220V power connection to power a Leslie set up to European specifications.
Here’s some more pictures from a few years back that was used in an advertisement to sell the organ locally in 2015.
I live in upstate New York, USA, and just acquired my dream organ, a 1963 (determined tonight using the same formula as you did Hammond C-3! OH MY GOD—I finally have a real tone wheel, and one of the 3 best at that! It was donated to the place where I do my lighting displays in Schenectady, NY, The Edison Tech Center, and then passed on to me. I went to the folder fellow’s house last Wednesday to pick her up. She is in good condition, save for some scratches, a little dust, etc, internally she is like new! Hasn’t been run since about 1996, but she fired right up! She has a Leslie 22 R cabinet, and I want to make it a 2-speed like the 122 eventually. I am paraplegic in a wheelchair, so I will be playing without bass pedals, cannot use them at all, but they are available for others who might want to use them when jamming with my band. I can just wheel up and play! I CAN operate the expression pedal, and I also play drums (classic vintage Rogers R-380 set, 6 piece pearl white, PAiSTe 2oo2 “red logo” cymbals) using a special heel-operated bass drum pedal, so I have some function. Besides, I want this beautiful organ for rock and roll, so bass pedals usually won’t be needed as a rule and take up too much of my tiny music room! 😉 I am giving her the maintenance she needs, wil get and use tone wheel general oil for the Leslie and tone generator, and synchronous motor in my already beloved C-3! i haven’t played keys since I was 11 and had a little reed chord organ that I pretended to be a Hammond B-3! 😀 I was into Captain & Tennille, and the song that made me want a B-3 was “Smokin'” by Boston! I am also learning trumpet, and Chris Botti has autographed my horn not ONCE, but THREE TIMES! He remembers me by name now! Awesome guy and one heck of a trumpet player! Guess I need to start playing that B-3 once she is all set up in a day or so, and start working on it! I believe this organ will also help me with sight reading, my big bugaboo on the horn currently! I am SO HAPPY with my FREE C-3/Leslie 22 R combination, and still have to go in my music room and look at her to believe it is REAL! Already understand the draw bars and preset keyboards, how to start her up properly, and the basics! Even the rock draw bar settings! Yeah , go ahead and say it, I am one lucky Chap! (I love all things British, too!) I want to post some pictures and maybe some video clips in time here on this site as well! She even has a pedal light! There is a Heaven—it sits in my basement music room right now! I also have a rare Wurlitzer ES 4601 ElectroStatic organ, to which I rigged a Leslie 121-38 from a parted out Hammond console, 2 speed, also gotten free and rescued from a certain death. Not a tone wheel, NOTHING is a tone wheel, but she still sounds sweet, and is also from around 1963, too! I am restoring a rare Wurlitzer Model 700 electric piano, serial number 13059, production number 130, made in 1959. Brought back from the DEAD. Tube amp too, and with 12AX7/ECC83/EC883 pre amp tube/valve, she distorts to HIGH HEAVEN on high volume control settings and sounds like a Model 200 Wurlitzer on STEROIDS! In a cute spinet cast and the only EP ever made with a sustain AND una corda (“soft”) pedal as well! The rarest of all the Wurlitzer EP’s, too! My friend started it ll by giving me a working Hammond S-6 chord organ year before last, now I have a C-3!!!!!!!! Yup–still have the little S-6–cute little thing! Typical Hammond–TONS of options and features on it! Looks like the C-3 will be played the most, though–HMMMM I wonder WHY? ;-D I am SO excited! Thanks, and CHEERIO! Rick “C-6” Delair–USA!
Congrats on your C3, 1963 is a great year, the last year of the wax caps but they were sealed better than ever before so did not drift so much, ultimate Hammond tonewheel sound still today. Enjoy!