Hammond M-100

The M100 (Mine's an M101) is a fine organ, best of the tonewheel spinets. I don't use the presets much, but they're the standard M100 presets: Ensemble, Flutes and Diapason for lower, Trumpet, Clarinet and Full Organ for upper. They're as realistic as Hammond presets get!

Editing patches? Who needs em? This is a Hammond. Pull some drawbars and make your own sound. The drawbars are like a paint palette. You gotta learn what sounds good at what times.

Mine actually came with the player guide, not quite the manual, but it does give a few pointers if you don't know how the thing works. Mine just hit its 45th birthday, so chances are if you get one it won't have the manual.

Polyphony: Full and then some.

Built in effects: Reverb, Vibrato, Chorus, and Celeste. Good for hymns, Radio music, and that good ole' campy style. You gotta respect it for what it is. Find yourself a Leslie. Even if it's a single rotor, you'll be rockin till the cows come home.

Expansion capabilites: A Leslie. You might want a tone cabinet, even if it already's got speakers in it. You can never have too many speakers (get-yourself an HR-40 - it's got like a dozen speakers - I'm not exaggerating).

No midi here, just wood, tubes, wires, tonewheels, and bakelite.

It's a Hammond, so it's got more sounds than you can shake a stick at. You can use it to emulate other instruments, but it won't sound like the instruments you intended it to! You can use a Hammond for pretty much every type of music you can think off, it's very versatile (even more so than a guitar). It is quite reactive to playing, even though it's not touch senestive. You'll hear subtle nuaces in the clicks and pops of electrical contacts as you press each key at different speeds.

People do gig with these, but I wouldn't suggest it. These are pieces of history. But they are very reliable. You can pick one up along the road not working at all, give a little oil, some love and new tubes, and it'll work till doomsday.

Original company's kaput. And don't go to Hammond Suzuki. They'll try to sell you one of their over-priced "psuedo Hammonds".

I highly doubt anyone would try ot steal my Hammond, and only a complete idiot would lose theirs, but for the sake of answering the question, I would go after a CV or an E100. Console Hammond for cheapo.

Hit one of the preset tabs or grab some drawbars, vibrato if you feel like it, dial up some reverb. All right there and easy to figure out.

It sounds like a tonewheel Hammond through rinky dink amplification. The reverb is okay, vibrato is lame. Pedals are fair. Needs more bottom end. And this is a personal peeve: The Hammond knuckleheads changed their wonderful smooth "waterfall" keys when they went to the L-100 / M-100 series, and did the standard cheesy concave plasticky keys. Why oh why? It really changes the feel, and not for the better.

It's Hammon tonewheel, so it can't be all bad. Like others have said, though, if you want a big sound, get a Leslie 147 series (145 or 247) for ease of connection. Lots of places on the web tell you how to set it up so you don't need to drag it to a technician or pay for an expensive kit. 251 or 44 will work, but trickier to set up. Forget about trying to use a 122 unless you want to shell out for the connection kit, though; there's no way around it.

But by itself with its on-board amp, this Hammy is just a plunker. Maybe you can have some fun, or even do some campy recording, but not worth taking to gigs unless you've rigged a big Les.

Bulletproof, like all Hammonds. Oil it once a year, and wait 100 years for something to go wrong.

Long gone.

Well, I had one, my first Hammond by the way. Paid $200 to the local Catholic church, which was too much, but it went to a good cause. I even had a chopped (split) leslie 147 (top and bottom for easier travel) that I ran it into. But between the lack of bottom notes, and new-style keys, and a lack off bite to the note attack, I just got frustrated with it.

I eventually ended up with a cheaper full-size console as my gigging organ (a 1946 CV) which IS worth taking on the road because it IS capable of the real sound, blows away the crowd with its cool looks (95% of 'em wouldn't know a B-3 if it was in front of them) and just feels SO DAMN GOOD to play. It's truly transforming.

And in my living room I have the mammoth, full-meal RT-3, which is the concert/AGO style B-3 (it's huge and I'll never move it, but it sure can be the very Voice of God) matched with a gorgeous 122.

You'll see. Pick up an M-100 (or M-3) if it's truly your only option. It IS a Hammon, and every performing keyboardist should have a go at one. But sooner or later you'll make the move to a Big Boy as soon as you commit yourself to putting together enough bread for one. We all do eventually.

I have a B3 with a Leslie 122 - so I have a pretty good frame of reference for the M100. Got my M100 from my nephew who found it in a garbage dump. No foolin! It appeared to have sat in water for a time too and the tubes were gone. Since I have a pretty good tube stash, I was able to re-tube it easily. Put a light bulb in series with it before I plugged it in (the bulb served as ballast in case there was a nasty 100 volt short) so I'd not burn down the house too. Sure enough, the start motor needed a push (the first time only) but she came to life. Ran it into a 2-channel Leslie 700(?) and it sounds GREAT. Painted it black (the wood was trashed) and then sprayed it with black "fleck stone" spray paint I got in Home Depot. Now I have a GRANITE M100! Need to make a few more repairs and replace the speaker cloth. A truly great instrument that can take take a beating; but play like a champ when given a new home. The B3 is still boss though.

This is a Hammond M-143 Tonewheel Spinet, made in 1966. All M-100 series organs are basically the same, the last two digits simply denote various cosmetic differences or colors in the organ.

As the previous reviewer said, the controls are very simple. There are three presets per manual (which simply means keyboard in organ jargon), though you probably won't use them very much, favoring the drawbars. There is one set of drawbars per manual. I give it an "8" on ease of use, it is very easy, but will take much experimentation to find your sounds.

The previous reviewer pretty much said it all...3 presets per manual plus drawbars, vibrato, chorus, and percussion. All M-100's came with a music stand on top, mine is still there, though many have been removed over the years. There are 12 bass pedals on the M-100...an entire octave...earlier spinet models only had 11.

To add to the previous reviewer, the M-100 sounds pretty churchlike. There are musicians that have gotten good use of an M-100 without Leslie, including Booker T. Jones of Booker T. and the MGs. The extremely famous song, "Green Onions" was done on a stock M-100 without Leslie, as was most of their earlier songs. John Paul Jones of Led Zep owned an M-100 and it was used on the few songs that have organ in them. There was an M-100 in Apple studios, so much mid 1960's British stuff used an M-100...though I'm pretty sure that on the Beatles' "Let It Be", Billy Preston used a B-3/C-3/A-100...the organ just sounds too full to be a spinet...but, you never know.

One sound that the M-100 shares with the B-3 is the "keyclick", a slight popping sound that the key contacts make when pushed...this sound is very desired by jazz musicians.

The percussion on the M-100 sounds pretty much exactly like the B-3. I personally find the chorus and the vibrato unusuable, to put it simply, the "vibrato line box" is not as extensive as on the B-3 and other Hammond consoles...it can be modded to be the same, and I have been told that it greatly improves the sound.

And yes, the M-100 sounds 1000% better with a Leslie. I personally don't have one right now, I have a Leslie 120, which is an unamplified drum rotor (lower half of a Leslie 122/147). Used with external amplification, it greatly improves the sound, but no, it ain't no real Leslie. If you want to hear an M-100 used with a "real" Leslie, it can be heard on: Focus "Hocus Pocus" and "Sylvia", Procol Harem "Whiter Shade of Pale" (though the organ solo is done through the stock amp with reverb on), John Mayall and the Bluesbreaker's "Beano" album, Yes the "Time and a Word" album, and Pink Floyd "Live in Pompeii".

There are several Leslie emulators out there, I have yet to try any of them.

I give the M-100 a "9"...it is great, but it ain't a B-3.

The last M-100 was built 1n 1968, and there are literally millions of them still working...yes they are reliable, with a small amount of maintenance.

Though I would not recommend performing without a backup, lugging one organ around is a real pain...carrying one as a backup is pretty rediculous, unless you are Joey Defranchesco.

Hammond Organ went out of business in 1985, and Hammond-Suzuki does not work on Hammond tonewheel organs.

Most large cities, and many smaller ones, have techs that can work on Hammond organs. Just because someone can work on organs, or on old electronic stuff, doesn't mean they can work on Hammond organs. Do yourself a favor and use only knowledgable techs.

I paid 400 bucks for this pristine M-143 with a Leslie 120. It would take a strong guy to steal it, as it weighs over 250 lbs, but yes, I probably would eventually replace it.

I really just tinker with the organ, I am really a guitar player.

I love the looks of this organ, and I love the smell of real wood and warm vacuum tubes.

Of course, I really wanted a B-3 with 122 Leslie...but $400 sounded much better than $4000.

I really wish I had a 147 or 145 Leslie...I'm still looking for that garage sale or thrift store prize....

I have used this organ on several blues recordings, and will do again in the future.

Whatever anyone says, nothing sounds exactly like a Hammond tonewheel except for the real thing. Some of the digital stuff comes close, all cost over $1500. They say the new Hammond-Suzuki B-3 does sound like the original...great, if you have $20,000 to spend on one. Hammond Spinets are cheap, often free to a good home. If you have the urge, I highly recommend you go for it.

Like all Hammonds, this spinet model is a breeze...maybe even more than a B3 because everything is on a nice, clearly labeled tab. One quirk, though, is the tab which turns OFF the vibrato-chorus circuit, just the opposite of what you'd expect.


I won't dock any points for the old-fashioned Start/Run switch setup since it doesn't have any bearing on the sound as such, but for your information, here's how to turn the organ on:

1) Lift the Start switch and wait for the motor to get up to speed.

2) While keeping the Start switch up, also lift the Run switch and hold both up for about 5 seconds.

3) Release the Start switch (it will snap back off by itself) and let the organ warm up, in about 10-20 seconds the organ is ready to rock.

Internally this is a good old-fashioned Hammond tonewheel organ, not much different from the legendary B3. It's basically just smaller than the famed console model in most respects:

M-100 B3
Keys/manual 44 61
Pedals 13 25
Presets/manual 4 10(?)
Drawbar groups/manual 1 2

B3 users will gripe about the lack of bottom end keys and pedals.

That aside, the hallmarks of the B3 are there, especially the 2nd/3rd harmonic touch percussion and the all-important scanner-type vibrato/chorus generator; plus a few features that the B3 doesn't have, such as some interesting envelope options for the pedals and built-in reverb. Oh, by the way, since this is a spinet model, of course it contains its own amplifier (22 watts of real tube power, I believe) and speakers (three: woofer, tweeter, and one for the reverb).

I'll say this up front: get a Leslie speaker for your M-100. Besides making it sound *almost* indistinguishable from a swirling B3, ie amazing, it will boost the volume quite a bit and add just the right amount of overdrive growl.

You'll likely find M-100s without Leslies, though. By itself, the M-100 sounds strikingly different than with one. Compared to the swirl the Leslie imparts, a straight Hammond tone is fairly flat and dull, although still plenty more organic than your typical electronic organ. Any modulation has to come from the built-in vibrato/chorus generator, which sounds great, although to today's ears it might remind one more of a roller rink than jazz or rock. Careful tweaking, however, will get you pretty close to that late '50s Jimmy Smith/early '60s Booker T. Jones sound. But remember, this was designed as a home organ for affluent middle-aged ladies in Jackie Kennedy hairdos. So get a Leslie, dammit.

I would dock it a point or two, having been spoiled by my Leslie and never looking back, but 1) the Leslie wasn't standard equipment--in fact, Hammond actively discouraged customers from buying them! It's like knocking someone for having ugly feet; and 2) this is still 100% authentic tonewheel Hammond tone as nature intended, which is way better than anything else. So I'll go easy on the rating.

Built like a Bell System telephone: industrial-era overengineering, all solid metal and polished wood and vacuum tubes and point-to-point hand-soldered wire. Keep the tone generator oiled and it will probably last you a lifetime. Mine still has the original Hammond-branded tubes. You may run into microphonic tubes or dirty contacts which may or may not be simple fixes.

Now here's the kicker: when something does go wrong, this thing is so complex and made of so many (often heavy) parts intricately put together that you will *need* to hire an experienced Hammond Organ repairman to right it. And this is a vanishing breed--your local tech will probably be an elderly gent who's been fixing Hammonds since the '50s and is thinking about moving to Florida. Hopefully there are some young enthusiasts in your neighborhood to take his place.

Like other in-name-only current renditions of classic music manufacturers, Hammond-Suzuki probably has nothing to say about the M-100. There is, however, a large Hammond fanatic community on the web who will probably assist you (although you may find some of them haughtily loathe to even think about spinet organs, since the only one really worth owning is a B3, of course). And your local organ tech.

If you love Hammond organs, this is a great way to start playing one of your own. I advocate spinets as a real alternative to the super-price-inflated consoles because they can be had very cheap and people are always getting rid of them--you may find one in pristine shape at the local Goodwill store, or even out in the alley behind your house waiting for the trashman! By itself, it's still pure unadulterated Hammond. Add a Leslie speaker, and you have the heavenly sonic equivalent of a real B3 for nada lada dala. The Hammond M-100 is in short one of the best kept secrets in music.