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Chapter 15 Vintage B3 429
A brief Hammond history
Three inventions inspired Laurens Hammond (1895–1973), a manufacturer of electric clocks, to
construct and market a compact electromechanical organ with tonewheel sound generation.
The Telharmonium by Thaddeus Cahill was the musical inspiration; Henry Ford’s mass production
methods and the domestic synchron clock motor were the other factors.
The Telharmonium (built around 1900) was the rst musical instrument that made use of
electromechanical sound generation techniques. Its immense tonewheel generators lled a
two-story building in New York. For a short period around this time, subscribers could order
Telharmonium music over the New York telephone network (the streaming audio system of
the time). The only amplication tool was the telephone’s mechanical diaphragm because a
proper tube amplier and acceptable speakers had not yet been invented. The Telharmonium
was a commercial op, but its historical status as the predecessor of modern electronic musical
instruments is undeniable. The Telharmonium also introduced the principles of electronic
additive synthesis (see Additive synthesis with draw bars on page 427).
Laurens Hammond began producing organs in 1935 in Chicago, Illinois, making use of the same
sound generation method. However, he used much smaller tone generators and fewer registers.
The patent for his model A organ dates from 1934.
Hammond also holds the patent for the electromechanical spring reverb, still found in countless
guitar ampliers today.
The Hammond B3 was manufactured between 1955 and 1974. It is the Hammond model
preferred by jazz and rock organ players, such as Fats Waller, Wild Bill Davis, Brother Jack McDu,
Jimmy Smith, Keith Emerson, Jon Lord, Brian Auger, Steve Winwood, Joey DeFrancesco, and
Barbara Dennerlein.
In addition to the B3, there are a number of smaller Hammond instruments, known as the
spinet series (M3, M100, L100, T100). Bigger console models, many of which were designed
to suit the needs of American churches or theaters (H100, X66, X77, E100, R100, G-100), were
also manufactured.
The production of electromechanical organs ceased in 1974. Thereafter, Hammond built fully
electronic organs.
The Hammond name lives on in the Hammond-Suzuki range of electronic draw bar organs,
starting with the 2002 release of a digital B3 model that mimics the design and functions of the
classic B3 (without the weight). This model, as well as newer units, can be partnered with real,
mechanical, rotor speaker cabinets, also from the company.