"They don´t have tubes inside the preamp, but they use an old style tube circuit!" Do you know what you are talking about? This statement is just weird.
Did Speakeasy pay you for that clip? There are so many modifications in you Leslie that make no sense to me. And in general: why customizing a thing that can´t be beaten - like a 142 or 122 or 145 and so on?
Ok, but as I said - i own three Leslie cabs, two orig 122s and one customized 251. That´s louder, but at least not better. IMO modifications are useless. But that does not say that Speakeasy is a bad company - of course.
Wow - I have just found out about the Leslie speakers and I really appreciate that you put this out. I'm totally fascinated by the system and how it all works.
it seems the 45/47s spun in the same direction. the 122/142/145s spun in opposite directions. but that was not always the case. generally; the single-speed models spun the same direction. but the dual-motor versions tended to spin in opposite ways. convoluted but true lol...
and the dual motor versions had different ramp speeds for rotor and horn (which made for a pretty cool sounding effect if you switched from low to high speed then back to low before the bass rotor got up to full speed)
Do you like the sound with both upper and lower rotors spin in the same direction? Originally, most factory Leslies had rotors spinning in opposite directions. I would think at times when both rotors sync up, you would get a throbbing sound. Very nice project.
Personally for me, it makes no difference. I've done it both ways. Same direction and opposite direction. Actually the rotors in single speed Leslie's would spin the same direction because the motors were mounted in the same direction. In the 2 speed Leslie, the lower motor is mounted upside down, thus, the rotors would spin opposite of each other. The direction of the rotation can be changed easily by flipping the motor laminations 180 degrees.
Been a very long time since having a single speed and thanks for reminding me that they did spin the same. I have five leslies including a 122 and a 145. I had no idea there would be an interest in such projects. My Hammond/Leslie repair business clientel has been further shrinking here in the NYC metro area. It's good to know young folks are keeping the "real" thing alive.
It's really turned out to be a great driver. The 122 amp uses a pair of new production Tung-Sol 6550's. EQ's on the XK-3 are Bass +9, Mids +7, Freq. 700Hz, and Highs +3.
This cabinet was sold to me with only a Jensen driver and Jensen woofer, so there was no amp to begin with. The Jensen driver was blown so I replaced it with this hot rod driver.
Your Leslie setup is great! I can hardly believe it's the same board coming through the real thing. I wish I could have kept my 122. I didn't have room for it in my office/music room & my wife reclaimed her office space, so out it went OUCH! Oh, the tears I've shed over that. The only thing I could fit in my office now is the Leslie 2101 & perhaps the 2121. They're plug & play but I just can't fathom how authentic it would be without a lower bass rotor? Whew! & expensive too!
That's a real shame you gave up your 122. Should've kept it bro. I couldn't do without a Leslie. If I ever sell this one, it'll be because I'm replacing it with a different Leslie. If you can ever convince the wife to let you have one, Ebay's a great place to find one.
Thank you for the tour. I must play it over and over to fully understand it all. I'm not smart when it comes to all this set up. My Hammond B-3 with 122 is very nice and like new and I was out ($10,000) on it. But your set up sounds just as good to me. We have Hammond C-3 with 122 at Calvary Assembly and it does put out very well.
XK3 from ToneWheel General Hospital costs $1775 + $160 for the EXP100F expression pedal. The Leslie cost me (if you count everything I've done to it) probably over $1000. The Speakeasy preamp cost me about $550 with the extra mods. So you're looking at a good 3 grand for everything. I had to sell a number of things before I could afford any of this. :-)
FYI - Manufacturer XK3 stock is sold out, but Hammond is releasing the XK3c which I think has the newer Leslie sim and independent V/C for a two manual setup, among other improvements. Thanks for the vid. Can your leslie plug directly into the XK3 with Hammond's converter? I'm trying to figure out what the Speakeasy preamp adds to the sound?
Yes, I could use the Hammond-Suzuki 1122 kit. I've never used the Leslie without the Speakeasy preamp so I can't say what the XK3 would sound like without it. However, the Speakeasy preamp is the "AO-28 preamp" for the XK3. (or whatever clonewheel you use) You can control the gain, treble, and bass using the preamp.
That being said, the XK3/Speakeasy/Leslie setup leaves nothing to be desired when it comes to sounding just like a vintage B3. Every nuance, every detail has been implemented into the XK3's tone. Yes, I've also heard they are coming out with a new XK3. Separate C/V controls, with the ability to change the C/V depth, improved Leslie sim, among other new features a well. I'm not that hyped about it since most of the new features aren't relevant to me.
If the TrekII satisfies you, that is perfectly fine. Have you tried or even owned a Speakeasy preamp? If you have, you would know it's not exactly made out of plastic.
Hey man, im a player myself. Thanks for posting this video.
ab1982ab 2 weeks ago
stupid shaking idiot, learn to hold camera or place it somewhere retarded bastards!
MultiCreek 7 months ago
@MultiCreek Niiice....
musicmaker85 7 months ago
Play it, brother! Greetings from Battle Ground Pentecostals in Battle Ground, WA!
TearTheVeilStudios 1 year ago
wasnt the 122 a tube leslie....so why have a tube pre amp???
aarmington 1 year ago
"They don´t have tubes inside the preamp, but they use an old style tube circuit!" Do you know what you are talking about? This statement is just weird.
anonymusum 2 years ago
Why dont you rebuild the Leslie to 11 pin standard?This seems a bit akward.
Then you just plug in 1 cable from the XK system to the old Leslie.Whatever old Leslie you got..
Tonewheeldude 2 years ago
Would you be willing to sell me a leslie i have a hammond c3
tahishawilliams 2 years ago
Did Speakeasy pay you for that clip? There are so many modifications in you Leslie that make no sense to me. And in general: why customizing a thing that can´t be beaten - like a 142 or 122 or 145 and so on?
anonymusum 2 years ago
Nope. In fact I wasn't even asked to do this video from Speakeasy. They really do make great products though. The Caribbean Controls is my favorite.
musicmaker85 2 years ago
Ok, but as I said - i own three Leslie cabs, two orig 122s and one customized 251. That´s louder, but at least not better. IMO modifications are useless. But that does not say that Speakeasy is a bad company - of course.
anonymusum 2 years ago
Have you seen the NEW Leslie? There is a 2 part video for the new Leslie
speedtroller 2 years ago
Wow - I have just found out about the Leslie speakers and I really appreciate that you put this out. I'm totally fascinated by the system and how it all works.
speedtroller 2 years ago
it seems the 45/47s spun in the same direction. the 122/142/145s spun in opposite directions. but that was not always the case. generally; the single-speed models spun the same direction. but the dual-motor versions tended to spin in opposite ways. convoluted but true lol...
shnewsman 3 years ago 2
and the dual motor versions had different ramp speeds for rotor and horn (which made for a pretty cool sounding effect if you switched from low to high speed then back to low before the bass rotor got up to full speed)
005davidragon 3 years ago
shouldnt the roaters be spining in opposite directions?????
themilksnatcher 3 years ago
They can but they don't have to be.
musicmaker85 3 years ago
first thing i noticed too!
sooty33 3 years ago
Is it possible to use a stomp footswitch in place of the hand switch for leslie speed?
danitz56 3 years ago
Yes, one is provided on the Speakeasy preamp.
musicmaker85 3 years ago
haha...night stand. What a great classic sound.
kyle51651651651 4 years ago
the leslie speaker slash nightstand haha
bornfedslaughter 4 years ago
where can I get my own rotor motors, that can have their speed adjusted by a footpedal?
I'd like to go from 0-100rpm
petejt 4 years ago
you can see the best "portable" leslie made in the world
w w w . t a s t i e r e v i n t a g e . c o m
leave spaces
MADE IN ITALY
joeymauro 4 years ago
Actually, our preamp DOES have tubes inside - it's the only way to get the tone!
SpeakeasyVintageMusi 4 years ago
I stand corrected. :)
musicmaker85 4 years ago
can anyone tell me how to build a Rotary speaker ith a cone? i'm trying to build one but have no idea.
jhachey222 4 years ago
Do you like the sound with both upper and lower rotors spin in the same direction? Originally, most factory Leslies had rotors spinning in opposite directions. I would think at times when both rotors sync up, you would get a throbbing sound. Very nice project.
edonmusic 4 years ago
Personally for me, it makes no difference. I've done it both ways. Same direction and opposite direction. Actually the rotors in single speed Leslie's would spin the same direction because the motors were mounted in the same direction. In the 2 speed Leslie, the lower motor is mounted upside down, thus, the rotors would spin opposite of each other. The direction of the rotation can be changed easily by flipping the motor laminations 180 degrees.
musicmaker85 4 years ago
Been a very long time since having a single speed and thanks for reminding me that they did spin the same. I have five leslies including a 122 and a 145. I had no idea there would be an interest in such projects. My Hammond/Leslie repair business clientel has been further shrinking here in the NYC metro area. It's good to know young folks are keeping the "real" thing alive.
edonmusic 4 years ago
I wish I knew about you when I lived in Philly... I was ALWAYS looking for a good tech ! ! !
EddieLandsberg 4 years ago
Checkout my homemade Leslie that spins the actual speaker. My username is HarpMaker.
HarpMaker 4 years ago
i really like the tone on your setup , i have the same
horn driver in my 122 , what are you using for power
tubes ? how is your frequency-middle set up on the
xk-3 ? iv,e got the pro-system lower manuel , it,s
a really nice addition
squawkboxfive 4 years ago
It's really turned out to be a great driver. The 122 amp uses a pair of new production Tung-Sol 6550's. EQ's on the XK-3 are Bass +9, Mids +7, Freq. 700Hz, and Highs +3.
musicmaker85 4 years ago
Hey musicmaker85, you should break off those deflectors, it will improve the tremolo (7 times out of 10). Why did you switch out the 147 amp?
JustinComparable 5 years ago
This cabinet was sold to me with only a Jensen driver and Jensen woofer, so there was no amp to begin with. The Jensen driver was blown so I replaced it with this hot rod driver.
musicmaker85 5 years ago
I think that your motors in the leslie run to fast. They should go slower to get the right amplitude-modulation.
hogge69 4 years ago
The 2-speed kit has DIP switches to adjust the slow speed. I personally like it the way it is.
musicmaker85 4 years ago
Yeah that it was what I thought.
nittyranks 4 years ago
Seems I'll be upgrading to a Weber 15A200 AlNiCo speaker. Basically it's the same speaker as the Jensen P15LL, only with the Weber name on it.
musicmaker85 5 years ago
Your Leslie setup is great! I can hardly believe it's the same board coming through the real thing. I wish I could have kept my 122. I didn't have room for it in my office/music room & my wife reclaimed her office space, so out it went OUCH! Oh, the tears I've shed over that. The only thing I could fit in my office now is the Leslie 2101 & perhaps the 2121. They're plug & play but I just can't fathom how authentic it would be without a lower bass rotor? Whew! & expensive too!
HammondOrganGospel 5 years ago
That's a real shame you gave up your 122. Should've kept it bro. I couldn't do without a Leslie. If I ever sell this one, it'll be because I'm replacing it with a different Leslie. If you can ever convince the wife to let you have one, Ebay's a great place to find one.
musicmaker85 5 years ago
Bro. Ryan
Thank you for the tour. I must play it over and over to fully understand it all. I'm not smart when it comes to all this set up. My Hammond B-3 with 122 is very nice and like new and I was out ($10,000) on it. But your set up sounds just as good to me. We have Hammond C-3 with 122 at Calvary Assembly and it does put out very well.
Thanks.
Rev. Michael Capps, D.D., Th.D, Ph.D
mcmiraclevalley 5 years ago
How much would this total setup cost?
leroyfj 5 years ago
XK3 from ToneWheel General Hospital costs $1775 + $160 for the EXP100F expression pedal. The Leslie cost me (if you count everything I've done to it) probably over $1000. The Speakeasy preamp cost me about $550 with the extra mods. So you're looking at a good 3 grand for everything. I had to sell a number of things before I could afford any of this. :-)
musicmaker85 5 years ago
Well for the exceptional sound you're getting, 3 grand isn't too bad.
leroyfj 5 years ago
FYI - Manufacturer XK3 stock is sold out, but Hammond is releasing the XK3c which I think has the newer Leslie sim and independent V/C for a two manual setup, among other improvements. Thanks for the vid. Can your leslie plug directly into the XK3 with Hammond's converter? I'm trying to figure out what the Speakeasy preamp adds to the sound?
jwbbaker 5 years ago
Yes, I could use the Hammond-Suzuki 1122 kit. I've never used the Leslie without the Speakeasy preamp so I can't say what the XK3 would sound like without it. However, the Speakeasy preamp is the "AO-28 preamp" for the XK3. (or whatever clonewheel you use) You can control the gain, treble, and bass using the preamp.
musicmaker85 5 years ago
That being said, the XK3/Speakeasy/Leslie setup leaves nothing to be desired when it comes to sounding just like a vintage B3. Every nuance, every detail has been implemented into the XK3's tone. Yes, I've also heard they are coming out with a new XK3. Separate C/V controls, with the ability to change the C/V depth, improved Leslie sim, among other new features a well. I'm not that hyped about it since most of the new features aren't relevant to me.
musicmaker85 5 years ago
I agree. If it sounds that good across a YouTube video, it must be awesome in person. Keep up the great work.
jwbbaker 5 years ago
Not much it is overated for what it is. I like the Trek II pedal. It is better built.
nittyranks 4 years ago
If the TrekII satisfies you, that is perfectly fine. Have you tried or even owned a Speakeasy preamp? If you have, you would know it's not exactly made out of plastic.
musicmaker85 4 years ago