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A-100A-100 - best in its class'The best B-3's are A-100's' - now what does this statement mean? Itpoints to the fact that a Hammond A-100 organ is in fact the exact sameorgan as the legendary B-3, and then some. As many may know, the A-100 isthe home version of the B-3/C-3 organs. The cabinets of the A-100 modelswere all, with one exception, tailored for home use: No locking top,built-in speakers and reverb, and a wider selection of wood finishes andstylings. Today, the A-100 series organs have become increasingly soughtafter because they are generally well kept and less played than B/C-3 organspreviously owned by churches or professional musicians.
Also, the slimmerprofile of the A-100 cabinet (especially the 'plain Jane' A-100 model) isprefered over the B-style cabinet for taking on the road.A quick history reviewThe first A-100 organs were produced in 1959. They had thenecklace type reverb as found in contemporary Hammond Tone Cabinets. TheA-100 was the first tonewheel console with built-in reverb. In the early60's a few more models of the A-100 theme were issued, the French ProvincialA-102 and the spiffy 'Contemporary' A-101. Also, the C-3 cabinet was adaptedto contain the A-100 speaker system, creating model A-105 (complete with alocking top). In late 1964 the lasttwo models, the A-122 in Patina Walnut and the the Early AmericanA-143, were issued and in 1965 the A-100 series wasdiscontinued. However, the A-105 remained in production until the very lasttonewheel organs were made in the mid 70's.
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Since the A-105 was still aroundafter 1965, the special parts needed to make it - i.e. The speakers,power amplifier etc. were too, so regular A-100 organs were actually beingproduced well into the 70's in the U.K., Belgium and Germany.ModelDesign nameFinishes availableFeaturesA-100TraditionalRed mahogany, light walnutFirst model to be introduced in 1959. First version hadthe 'necklace' type reverbA-101ContemporaryGrey mahogany, brown mahogany, translucent blackLeslie models 51 and later 251 could be ordered to matchthe finish of your A-100 organA-102French ProvincialLight and dark cherryNot recommended for road or church use because of therelatively fragile, thin, sculptured legsA-105TudorLight oak, dark walnutC-style 'church' cabinet with locking top, very similarto C-3.
In production until 1975A-122ContemporaryPatina walnutA slightly altered version of A-101, only produced for ashort period in 1964/65A-143Early AmericanMapleThis model and model A-122 are the rarest A-100 versionsBelow is a nice brochure from the early 60's, kindlyscanned by Don Resor Jr. Of California, U.S.A.A wonderful A-100 in rosewood. This one was custommade by Hammond Organ Co. In the UK in the 1960s. Picture kindly supplied byBevis Peters, United Kingdom.Connecting a Leslie speaker toA-100 organsThere were a few options available when it came to connecting an A-100organ to a Leslie speaker.
Because the organ had its own dual channel soundsystem, the console could be regarded as a self contained organ with twooutput channels (main and reverb) or a single channel organ with a separatetone cabinet built into the lower part of the cabinet.