MAGIC UNREVEALED

I haven't added a serious ProKeys page for a long time.  Recently, I've been thinking - remembering the failures when we built something wrong, and also the success when we worked through the problem.

Someday, maybe I'll meet the right person to "carry the torch" - another Hammond perfectionist with a creative streak a mile wide.  If that happens, maybe I'll pass along the hundreds, or possibly thousands, of secrets that nobody has ever heard of.  Maybe I'll give away all the vintage Hammond parts we've collected through the years.

Years ago, we gave away some secrets as fast as I could write them.  Look around at today's world of Hammond fanatics: nearly everything Rebecca and I discovered, perfected, and made public, is now pretty much standard procedure - generator secrets, scanner secrets, Leslie amp secrets, manual foam secrets.  Speakers.  Stable power.  Leslie particle board solutions.  Relays.  Motor switching.  Wiring replacement details.  Cables, connectors, and tricks.  For years, we were like a pump - we did the work, spent the time, effort, and money to arrive at solid solutions, and then we gave it away to help Hammond lovers. 

That's just about over with now.  Sometimes, I get emails asking for help, but I don't waste time with emails anymore.  If the letter appears to come from somebody who can think and reason, I give them my phone number.  If they want to listen and learn, I can talk and teach.  If they love the sound of their own voice, I hang up the phone.  I guess that's part of the aging process.  (There is a fee for the free phone help.) 

In 1963, I began earning a living playing Hammond.  I spent over 4 straight years on the road, playing 5-7 nights a week, 48-50 weeks per year.  Then I spent another year with a name group, the Soul Survivors, playing much larger concerts, but playing live shows less often.  Nobody was ever available when my Hammonds needed work - so I learned to do it myself.  45 years of Hammonds is a lot of years.  I think you have to learn, even if you don't want to.

I'm glad I have a mind full of secrets.