Jon Hammond USA --- 40 years ago when I was 18 years old in the year 1971, I was a member of an
original rock band called HADES. My first full size Hammond organ I had purchased from Boz Scaggs
which was a model A-103 with 2 Leslies and road cases. What I really wanted was a Hammond B3 organ
with 122 Leslie. My previous organ I had custom modified by the legendary Bill Beer of Keyboard
Products in Los Angeles. This was the organ that I lent to Chester Thompson at the time he joined
Tower of Power. Chester liked the organ so much, that he went down to L.A. and had Bill Beer
build him the rig that he used for over 30 years in the Carlos Santana Band.
Always on the look out for a B3, I went to a party in Berkeley CA in a house where there was a
beautiful Hammond B3 and Leslie 122. The young man who owned the organ told me he would be
interested in selling the organ. I told my Dad about it and the next day we went back to the
house, checked it out and made an offer. I had to take out a bank loan for the organ and so I
then sold my A-103 organ rig to Leo of Leo's Music in Oakland CA. When I got the B3 I took it
down to Los Angeles in a cloased U-Haul trailer on the back of my Dad's 1967 Lincoln Continental
I had Bill Beer install a few custom 'mods' including Spring Reverb, Aux Inputs and Outputs,
and a voltage controller. I used to like to stack 2 Leslie speakers as in this photo:
I could have never bought my Hammond B3 organ and Leslie if my Father had not co-signed the bank
loan, thanks Dad!:
Here is the inside of my 1965 Hammond B3 - serial number 96994
You can see some of the custom modifications Bill Beer installed in my B3 organ
more mods by Bill Beer Keyboard Products
Serial Number plate of stock model 122 Leslie Speaker 27777
Over the years I have played many concerts with my 1965 Hammond B3 organ in places such as
Bill Graham's Shoreline Amphitheater and right in front of San Francisco City Hall *see here:
YouTube clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtSqGfmV628
Custom Inputs:
As I write this, I am prepping my B3 and Leslie for a long trip to Bernies Music Land in
Ringwood Victoria Australia. I want to thank Bernie Capicchiano for keeping the legacy of
this magnificent instrument alive. My organ will be in the museum of Bernies Music Land and with
good luck I will be returning again to Australia in the future to play it again on the other
side of the planet and next time it will be powered by 240 volts folks!
Thank you Bernie and Bernies Music Land Award Winning Musico Team!
1965 Hammond B3 Organ and Leslie 122 in my Mom's living room with the back off, Jon at Organ:
Bernie Capicchiano and Jon Hammond in Bernies Music Land Ringwood Australia:
Bernies Music Land, Organ Museum, 1965 Hammond B3, Leslie 122, Bernie Capicchiano, Ringwood Australia, Berkeley California, Shoreline Amphitheater, San Francisco City Hall, Bill Beer, Keybaord Products
