In Loving Memory of Arch Aikman

Soul Amp's new vintage Hammond "M3" AKA Arch Aikmen

This saturday M1 and I are hitting the road in his GMC pickup with topper to fetch this beauty of a M3 in South West Indiana. It will be a bit of a haul but it should be worth it. The story on this little gem is that it began life as all Hammonds did in Chicago at the Hammond factory and settled into it's first and only home the Dugger Methodist Church in Dugger Indiana. FOr the next 46 years this organ was played a few times a week and kept under a canvas cover. This particualr organ was dedicated to "In Loving Memory of Arch Aikman" engraved in a small brass plate attached to the cabinet. We won't be removing this plaque. Think of all the weddings, services, baptisims and funerals this little organ saw in it's service to Dugger Methodist Church. I dug that.

I snapped this baby up as I am member of the Music Comittee at the church I attend, UUCW so I am familiar with the care that churches take when it comes to instruments used during service. So the scenario was the better than the "grandma" owned Hammond, at least theroetically.

For those unintiated to the qualities of a Hammond organ let me start by saying it is one of the most versitle instruments ever invented. The tonewheel sound of the Hammond has found itself in all genres of music, motown, gospel, blues, rock, pop, jazz to name a few. This model the M3 is essentially a B3 cut down to size and put in a spinet cabinet. It uses the same tube pre-amp and amplifier as the B3 and has the percussion, vibrato,chorus and familiar start run switches. The main differences are in the keys 44 as oppposed to 61 be manual and the M3 lacks the "harmonic foldback" feature. these lttle "baby b's" are farily easy to find but rare to find in as good of condition as I expect this one to be. While B3 consoles are going for the thousands of dollars now the M3 remain relativly undiscovered bargin. they can be had between $100-500 currently. You can even find them for free if you keep your eyes open. I expect these spinets to become increasingly rare as they have the Hammond sound without the back breaking wieght or wallet busting cost. M3's can be fitted with Leslie cabnet connectors and modified to have the "harmonic foldback" feature found on the B3.

The Hammond is making a comeback after fading for awhile in the 80's and early 90's but listening to alternatvive modern rock and pop you will hear it's unmistakable sound sliding up through the mix.

Famous recordings you probably know are Booker T and the MG's "Green Onions" recorded with a Hammond M3. The race scene in American Graffitti had this tune as the back drop. Boston's "Smokin" are probably the most famous of the pure Hammond organ hits. How many of us early 60's kids remember downing beers listening to that over and over again. Styx and Kansas the Beatles and a host of dozens and dozens of bands made the Hammond a indespensible memeber of the band. The synth replaced the sound and for a time it was lost. But the renewed intrest in pure tone and tube sound in our digital age as brought the Hammonds back.

As a guitarist this is the first time I have played in a band with a organ and it has been quite inpiring. The deep and rich tones of a hammond tonewheel generator goes well with the guitar both clean and dirty and provides a rich pallete of sound to lead over.

With SOul Amp being thick with Hammond Organ samples at this time it was a no-brainer to pick up the real thing for recording. The samples we currently use are at 16/44 and sound okay but seem to lack a genuine character. when captured at 24 bit and 48 kHz sampling rate.

So the journey begins and soon the little gem will be resting in the basement singing into a tube microhone and captured in 24/48 glory. I will keep you posted as to the progress of "Arch".

Click here for info on moving the Hammond M3

Click here for info on recording the Hammond M3 using the Zoom H4

Click here for a tune recorded with the Hammon M3 through the Motion Sound

Click here for another tune recorded with the Hammon M3 through the Motion Sound