Hammond C3 Organ Demonstration with special guest Don Shinn

Steve from Vintage Keys Studio demonstrates the workings of our Hammond C3 Organ.
The C3 organ had no internal amp (other than a preamp) as it was designed to be used with a PR40 speaker - with a balanced connection between the output of the organ and the speaker. Here it is running through a Leslie 760, which didn’t have a balanced input, so it runs through an unbalanced connector box and cable, with a remote Leslie speed switch built in.
Recorded and filmed by Louisa Revolta at Vintage Keys Studio, Lockerley, UK.
Visit our website for more information and to book sessions / remote sessions with Steve
vintagekeysstudio.com

[@Clyde_Lewis]

So good to see Don. Sure miss him, and so this morning, I had another listen to his "A-Minor Explosion". 🙂

[@VintageKeysStudio]

He will always be with us :)

[@davidthelimey]

Don Shinn + Hammond. Match made in Heaven !!

[@burmesecolourneedles4680]

Wonderful to see Don - LEGEND! 🤩😎🤩

[@patothen9109]

Sadly my partner Don Shinn passed away on 18th Feb 2023 ,he was indeed a legend ,Thank you

[@davidmccall4776]

I have the same organ, a C-3 formerly owned by Steve Walsh, same 760 Leslie, same everything! Sounds great bro! 🎹🎹🎹👍

[@patothen9109]

Steve ,an excellent video demo of Don Shinn's Hammond C3 . I shall show Don later ,I wondered did he know what all stops and knobs were for ?.I must say I did enjoy the versatile mobil moustache /beard / Quiff /fringe ,Thank you for getting the ole girl working again .Don enjoyed his little play on it ,first time for almost 2 years .You are so clever .

[@patothen9109]

Steve it would be nice if you could please send me an edited version of this clip ,with just Don Playing or basically with out you talking. Its a great shame that you were always too busy for Don to come out and play on it .

[@g7eit]

I’m a big fan of the Hammond. It started when I discovered Klaus Wonderlich who I was fortunate to meet in Birmingham when I was a child. Many amazing and famous songs played on them old Hammond’s. It takes me right back. Thank you for making these brilliant videos Steve.

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Cheers! I love Klaus Wunderlich!

[@donaldstanfield8862]

​@@VintageKeysStudioHave you ever had or played AN RT-3? If so, did you like it?

[@iplaymytele]

My father and I owned a recording studio in my hometown of Mattoon Illinois, in the Mid 70’s , and we had a C3 in the studio….! It was used on I do not know how many albums, commercial jingles and soundtracks for several years till I went on the road with my band…🙏🏻🎸 What a wonderful instrument…🎼❤️❤️❤️🎼🎹🎹🎼❤️❤️❤️

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Fantastic! Yes it is!

[@HeathenHammer80]

It’s amazing that it lets you set the levels of the harmonic series that the notes are built from. That is awesome and I want a Hammond Organ immediately!!

[@LFOVCF]

Most informative C3 video on KZbin

[@JohnInSeitz]

Sounds like deep purple 💜

[@stkeyna]

Great video, thank you. Hammond is my favourite organ - after heart.

[@louisarevolta]

Steve needs many organs to survive 😄

[@johnsonmonsen]

Thanks for this journey into the realms of long time forgotten drawbar science. I'm impressed about the harmonic fine tuning and can imagine how to sit in front of the C3 and tinker along the bars without finding the final settings to play the keys eventually. There even seems to be a distinct sheet notation for that settings ... it's all new for me, thus I'm so excited. Also thanks for live playing demonstration feat. Don Shinn! Great to hear the history behind your Hammond. Making music with such an individual instrument always adds something new to that story - if someone hits the keys not just music is played, it's history written itself. An interesting perspective in my opinion. All the best :-)!

[@Dolores5000]

Sooo cool

[@paulmcdonough9595]

Sounds like a beast, the C3 that is !

[@francescobettoni3365]

Bravo...hammond c3 grande organo.....👏👏👍🎹🎹🎹

[@socialite1283]

The drawbars relate to the harmonic series as understood on pipe organs. The white draw bars are 8' pitch, 4', and 2' - the fundamental, octave, and superoctave. The two draw bars to the left of the first white drawbar are the 16' suboctave and a 10 2/3' (a 5th above the 16'). The colored draw bar between the 4' and 2' white drawbars is 2 2/3' pitch - this is the drawbar that adds the most recognizable "Hammond" quality as heard in A Whiter Shade of Pale. The pedal drawbars are 16' and 8'. The colored drawbars above the white 2' pitch are overtones are used like mixture stops on a pipe organ. They are 1 3/5' (a 3rd above the 2'), 1 1/3' (a 5th above the 2'), and 1' (octave above the 2'). They add brilliance to the sound.

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Thank you :)

[@revtonynewnham]

Interesting post. I used to play an L100 many years ago. These days I've got a Nord C2D "clonewheel". Annoyed that I just missed out on a Hammond RT3 with a pair of Leslies last year - rather annoying. For completeness, the main motor is a synchronous motor that won't self-start (like some old electric clocks where you have to spin a wheel on the back to start them). The Start motor is a basic self-starting motor that gets the tonewheels up to speed so you can then switch over to the synchronous motor, which is tied to the mains frequency so that pitch is stable. Very clever.

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Thank you very much for the info Tony! -

[@revtonynewnham]

@@VintageKeysStudio No problem Steve. I came across a few of them back in the day.

[@Jenairaslebol27merde]

as you mentioned the electric clocks - in fact mr. hammond invented the electric clock with a synchronous motor (afaik) and used that motor for his organ some years later. but i was quite surprised to find out that some simple digital clocks (like an alarm clock or in a microwave oven) still rely on grid frequency instead of a quartz element to keep in time... and normally this works fine as grid frequency is kept very stable, but some years ago we indeed had some issues in europe where the frequency was just a tiny bit too high. and people were wondering why their kitchen clocks were going some minutes fast .. ;) but i think you would not be able to notice it on a hammond organ. luckily i have an electronic frequency converter (50 Hz -> 60 Hz) installed in my organ anyway ;)

[@revtonynewnham]

@@Jenairaslebol27merde I knew that Laurens Hammond had invented synchronous motors & originally produced electric clocks. As to mains frequency, in the UK anyway, the specification is for very good accuracy (I can't remember the actual figure) over 24 hours, but a wider tolerance to allow for peaks & troughs in demand, so medium term accuracy isn't as good.

[@timothyverbist5795]

It would be fun if Hammond re-release their Tonewheel Organs!

[@annother3350]

so its additive synthesis?

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Yes :)

[@hubbsllc]

Exactly!

[@reubenhopkins1996]

The lowest C on the preset keys is a cancel key, hence why no tones sound.

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Thanks Reuben

[@user-we2bk6qb3n]

You shook me perhaps

[@luisfloresgonzalez2337]

That plant on the Hammond ☠️

[@sonijam]

What do the different colors of drawbar knobs indicate?

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Hi. The different colours are to do with the intervals of tone harmonics.

[@louiscornale5667]

Great job but how about wooly bully watch it now 😮

[@waltertomaszewski1083]

A hippeastrum?

[@thomaskorthals5894]

Chorus/Vibrato ist 6 selections not 8.

[@PetraKann]

What's in the small bottle when Don was playing the organ?

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Smelling salts

[@PetraKann]

@@VintageKeysStudio ......thought so. I just wanted to make sure. I was up all night and couldn't sleep thinking about this conundrum

[@patothen9109]

Medicine ,whiskey .

[@PetraKann]

@@patothen9109 ....I have been tossing and turning in my sleep for 8 months over that conundrum. Thanks for clearing that up 🥃

[@guillermoibarrapasos5658]

Que se le callo el pelo buen peluquin

[@VintageKeysStudio]

Solo usamos los peluquín más finos aquí en Vintage Keys Studio

[@thesynthfloyd]

I hate plants

[@adamziolkowski2549]

I do like smoking them though