Saturday, February 21, 2009

Hammond XTP Spinet for the Space Age

In my opinion, the Hammond XTP is the best of the early spinets. It is based on the T-400 series transistorized organs, and the cabinet is based on the X-66 and X-77 style that looks good from any angle. This is very different from the open-back organs that look like a "science project." The cabinet looks like a capital "H" laying on its side. The open spaces between the keyboards and the pedals have two detachable speaker cubes that can (and should!) be dismounted and remotely located. One is a simple speaker with RCA cable, the other is a Yamaha whirlythingamajig (techspeak for styrofoam-coned rectangular speaker on a rotating arm with counterbalance) with a 7-pin connector that does a fair job of imitating the sound of a Leslie Speaker.

Aside from the usual troublesome plastic drawbar assemblies for the T-400 series, this organ is a must-own for the serious Hammond Addict. I still have one in the other warehouse, along with an extra Yammycube. I haven't gotten around to fixing it up yet. Leave me a comment if you can't live without one, and I'll get right to work on it.

"Hi, my name is Feeshy and I'm a Hammond Addict."

[everyone says] "HI FEESHY"

16 comments:

  1. Can the tone wheel from the XTP be connected to an AO28 and be "chopped" like a porta B?

    derek@covertopsband.com

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    1. Yes, BUT...
      You shouldn't do that to the XTP. You can find a T-400 spinet (which the XTP is based on) and chop that to your heart's content. XTPs are way too rare and cool to use a chainsaw on.
      Feeshy

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  2. Hi Feeshy! After 40 years of sobriety and attempts to play piano (I could never find the "start" switch on the damn thing) I have relapsed and got an A-100 (with Motion Sound Pro-3X rotating horn amp and twin Peavey amps for the bottom. I am having lots of trouble with my key switches. (The A-100 has the round gold-plated busbars?) Anyway, I think it is the key switches themselves and not the busbars. I get intermittent and weak notes. Besides cleaning and lubing the busbars, what can I do? Is there some way of reaching the key switches to clean or swap them?
    I also have some filter-capacitor problems, I think. There are some very unpleasant partials coming through.
    I'm out in the sticks, no tech is willing to come out here. What can I do? I'll check back, or e-mail: mooser42001@yahoo.com

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    1. Hey Mooser, those round gold-plated busbars are BLACK right now if you haven't cleaned them yet. I'd suggest doing a busbar cleaning and THEN we will talk about the contacts. I suspect that the contacts are fine. The gold busbars reacted to outgassing for about the first 5 years of the product life. All the gases are finished behaving badly now, so once the gold busbars are cleaned, they will probably stay clean for a good while. If you have bad crosstalk, first tighten ALL the screws on the preset panel. This will clean up much of the crosstalk.
      Whatever you do, DON'T shift the busbars at this late stage! Not all A-100's had the gold busbars! If you need help with the busbar cleaning, you can pick my brain for my current shop labor rate. Call me at 619-460-9199 and have your credit card ready. :-) Feeshy

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  3. I bought an XTP and have included photos at the link. But it needs some work. I am having problems finding a tech who wants to work on a hybred. But it is a good looking organ.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/calldon/sets/72157601832964067/

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    1. It's a great organ. But it has to be in good working order for that greatness to come out. Great pics on your flickr site. Where are you located? What problems are you having with the organ? I'm thinking about overhauling my XTP when I get time. I'm in the San Diego area. Feeshy

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  4. Hi Feeshy! Well, the key switches are the least of my problems now! Anyway, they have improved with playing, and are now passable. My biggest, oh wait, did I tell you I picked up a Bee-u-ti-ful M3? I did, and she is great, and I don't like spinets.
    Anyway, my big problem now is that the A-100 sounds lousy, terrible. All kinds of bad partials, undertones, just ruining the sound.
    The local Guru, Macintyre Organ, having been bribed with ivory, apes and peacocks are coming Wednesday. Let's see what they can do. I'm pretty sure the organ has not been serviced for twenty years, and they say they are ready to do just about anything I can pay for. So we will see.

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  5. update! My A-100 got a set of new caps from Goff, all the filter caps, the additional late R/C networks, and new vibrato line caps. All fixed, sounds wonderful. Turns out the problem with the keyswitches was that the organ was never played. The thing sounded so bad, so quick after it was bought, it just got stored for 45 years, and it's virtually new! And now it sounds B-eauty-full. Playing through a Pro-3x and two Peavey KBA-100s and it's own speakers. Wonderful!

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  6. I need some info on a Hammond XTP with a Leslie 700. We have one to sell. Thanks.

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  7. I just unloaded the big "H" in my shop. The pervious owner said it just stopped playing.
    I like to tinker around with electrical stuff but do not know if any schematics are available
    for this organ. Looks to be a 1961 model along with my wife ( born that year )
    There is a fuse cap on the lid but I have not seen a fuse anywhere yet . Will test with a VOM on Saturday to see if its something simple.
    Its in real good shape otherwise with bothe detachable speaker and matching stool.
    If I get her running I'll let you know. There are two plastic white keys broken off and I have those can I get replacements somewhere?

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  8. Timcat Productions's Lee Arboreen has just created a piece of nostalgia, with his vido tribute to the late, great, Hammond organist, Ethel Smith. The video can be viewed on Youtube at ETHEL SMITH

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  9. I have a xtp running through a Leslie 710 and it sounds fantastic!

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  10. i just recently bought an xtp but the previous owner said that it has never been oiled since his grandpa died and no one in the family knows how. i googled for a service manual but found only a manual missing the "how to oil" part. i haven't play it for long coz i read somewhere that it has to be oiled first to avoid "serious" problems later. please help..

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    1. There are 4 spots to oil. Find the blue run motor. It has 2 oiling tubes. One for each bearing. Flip open the spring-loaded covers and squirt oil into the tubes. The tone generator has two oiling funnels on the top filter plate. Oil both funnels a few times if the organ has been without oil for many years.

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  11. I have an XTP which my deceased mom had. I have it in the garage doing a once over to clean it up. Does the Leslie only have the choral speed and not fast?

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    1. It is supposed to switch between Chorale and Tremolo. That's slow and fast. The rocker tab may be faulty.

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