Greetings, potential Hammond organ owners. This may seem like a long story, but to a Hammond B3 devotee I think you'll find it's worth the read.

Does this sound familiar?
When was the last time you bought a car from a dealership? When's the last time you bought a house? Think back on the experience. You're all excited about the purchase, you're bubbling with anticipation of getting behind the wheel or your new car that is just what you wanted or pulling into the driveway of your new home. Enter the "joy patrol!" The people who just have to suck the fun right out of the experience. For the car purchase, it's the sales manager - you know him (and it's always a "him") - the person in the office somewhere out of sight who really makes the price decisions. For the home purchase, enter the "house closing" meeting - the one where the figures just aren't right somewhere or some document is missing that ruins the joy of the moment. If you're like me, you'd rather take a beating than deal with either of those situations and the personalities involved.

Well once and a great while, you experience something so enjoyable that you must tell as many people as you can. So here's one that will restore your faith in how a business transaction can be.

I told Jim Huss halfway through my organ purchase, "Once this is done, if you would like a written testimonial for your Website on how excellent your service and support has been in this purchase, I’d be thrilled to write something up for you. I have never experienced a company or someone like yourself who takes as much personal interest in a customer’s purchase and ensuring they get the what they want as you and Keyboard Exchange have done. This has been one of the most rewarding and enjoyable large item purchases I’ve ever experienced. If car dealers did this, people would stick with them for life.

Jim's reply: Wow, Your last paragraph is a testimonial. You will not need to write one, it is already written. Thanks very much for your kind words... BUT, lets wait until your organ is delivered and our job is finished before we publish anything on the Website. We will be sure to "stay on our toes."

OK, the job is finished! My organ is sitting in my family room, but where to start? In 1977 I bought one of the last Hammond B3's made for $5000, brand new. That included a Leslie 122 sound cabinet. I'd always wanted to have the same organ used by all my favorite bands of the 60's and 70's - Deep Purple, Billy Preston, Yes, Jethro Tull, Bob Seger, and for many of us, the band that made the B3 famous, Procol Harum (A Whiter Shade of Pale). Wouldn't you know it, I gave the organ up in a divorce making the stupid decision to take an upright piano instead of the B3.

Well, here it is, May 2004, 27 years later. I'm watching American Idol and it's Elton John night. It took me right back to the 70s and that's all it took for me to decide to get back into my music and start searching to see if I could possibly locate a B3 on the Internet that someone might be willing to sell. To my delight, I don't just find individuals selling some pretty worn organs out there, but up pops Keyboard Exchange International - a company that buys, restores and sells the very instruments I'm hoping to find. There they were, Hammond B3's, C3, A-100s, and more, along with Leslie sound cabinets. I flipped, then looked at what well kept and fully restored B3's go for today. There's an old comment guys from the 50's say in jest now and then that popped back into my head - "I'd be a millionaire but my mother threw away my baseball card and comic book collection!" That's the feeling I had when I realized that if I'd kept the B3 it would be worth BIG BUCKS today given the way I took care of it. If I could only go back in time and change that decision.

After kicking myself for ever choosing that upright piano over the B3, I started looking at the site and was thrilled to learn that the only difference between the B3 and the C3 was the full cabinet instead of the four spindle legs of the B3. The videos on Jim's sight told me everything I needed to know about the C3, how they restore them, and the inventory they had at the time.

It didn't take long for me to e-mail Jim asking about the organs I saw. That is when my wonderful experience with Jim and his company began. We traded e-mail after e-mail as I researched options within my budget and asked question after question to gain adequate understanding of what I was looking for in an organ. This was going to be a big purchase for me and I had to make sure I had all the facts necessary to make the right decision.

Below are the photos Jim sent along with excerpts from his email's. I share them because if you pay attention to the "conversation" sequence, you see how Jim cares as much about your instrument as you do and goes out of his way to make sure you get exactly what you expect.

In a word, Jim Huss and KEI are phenomenal! I have never experienced a someone who takes as much personal interest in a customer’s purchase and ensuring they get what they want as he and Keyboard Exchange did. Whether it was wood finishes, technical specifications, tone quality, performance, or mechanics, Jim knew the answers and made me completely confident that I was dealing with a professional in the field of Hammond organs and Leslie sound cabinets. It surely didn't hurt that he and I are close to the same age. When I told him that what I love to do is put on a CD and play along with the music in my rock band wanna-be fantasy, he knew exactly where I was coming from.

I even burned him a CD of my favorite 1970's"B3 band" tunes so he could hear just what I was wanting to do. We discussed using Leslie 122's vs. the shorter 145's. I was concerned that the shorter 145's, while better for decorating from my wife's point of view, would sacrifice sound from having a smaller cabinet. "Not the case," Jim assured me and provided detailed information on the comparison they'd done between 145's and 122's to ensure that was true.

I could go on and on about the experience, but I think I can best sum it up by saying this. If you are looking for an outstanding company and people to deal with in making your organ purchase, you need look no further than Jim Huss and his team at Keyboard Exchange International!

Damon Hearne
Mooresville, North Carolina

Post Delivery Technical note: While checking out all the toggles and drawbar's after delivery, I found what I thought was a technical problem. I dropped Jim an email and his response may be educational for you as well. (See images below for reference)

Me: With the percussion switch OFF, second set of drawbar's for the upper manual (used with the percussion effect) all produce the tone they normally produce. However, when the percussion toggle is ON, the 1 foot drawbar ceases to make it's normal high pitch tone plus the percussion effect and only the percussion effect sounds. Yet the rest of the drawbar's continue to make their normal tone as well as the percussion effect. The book states that when in the ON position, the percussion switch lowers the normal drawbar effects (and it does).

So either it’s lowering the 1 foot drawbar (9th on in the set) so much my ears can’t detect any of the normal high pitch of that 1’ drawbar, or it’s actually canceling out that drawbar. I’m not sure if anything is malfunctioning or not. What do you think? If you can still hear some of that high pitched bar with percussion on in your other organs, then mine is malfunctioning. However, if you, too fell like you lose all of the high pitch tone of the 1' when you put on percussion, then all is well. Please let me know."

Jim's immediate reply: GOOD NEWS REPORT for you today! There is nothing wrong with your ear! ALL B3, C3 and A-100's do not play the 1 foot drawbar when the percussion is on! The percussion overrides the one foot drawbar when turned on. That is the factory design. (The circuits "share" a busrod). When we add percussion to a B2 or C2 with a retrofit unit, we retain the one foot drawbar and omit the harmonic one next to it. We had the factory change their design/instructions so that we could retain the pure one foot, but that does not relate to your situation with the C3. So, the good news for you is that your ear is perfect. The good news for both of us is that the organ is perfect! THAT makes me very happy. Please keep in touch with me in the coming months to let me know how you are doing. It has truly been a pleasure being of service to you. I wish you much musical enjoyment with your Hammond and Leslie's.