Vintage Leslies!!! have question for experts...

Discussion in 'Amps and Cabs' started by Chi, Jul 2, 2005.

  1. Jul 2, 2005 #1
    Chi

    Chi Member

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    Hey guys-
    I traded out a my Gibson GA 15 RV for a vintage Leslie and picked up another from someone local for $350. Both are in excellent shape.

    Have you guys played through these things? Not very pracitical (the wooden cabinet on both is HUGE) but they sound AWESOME. DEFINITELY NOT AT ALL like any pedal I've tried... Amazingly 3-D.


    The first one only has the rotating speaker on the bottom, and no tubes. The footswitch allows you to use the speaker from your amp cab or the Leslie. I hook this one up to my '57 Twin, and it sounds SO MUCH warmer....it will remain hooked up to the Twin permanently I think. The sound makes me melt.

    The other one is tube driven, with the power amp inside the cab and a giant footpedal with the preamp inside it. I think you have to plug directly into the pedal. Is there away to use the preamp from another amp with this Leslie? I think it's a model 147. It has the rotating tweeter horns on the top and the counter rotating woofer ont he bottom of the cabinet.


    Does anyone with experience with these know if I can set the footpedal to take a signal from another amp, and if so, how?

    Any info is greatly appreciated!
     
    Chi, Jul 2, 2005
    Chi, Jul 2, 2005
    #1
  2. Jul 2, 2005 #2
    drbob1

    drbob1 Silver Supporting Member

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    The preamp pedal matches the output impedace of your guitar to the input of the amp, and amplifies the signal a bit (IIRC). Yes, you could run the signal from another amp into the pedal, but you'd need to make it a line level signal-so a line out from a load box or attenuator would work. Otherwise you could bypass the amp in the leslie and run power from your amp directly to the speakers. You'd probably need a crossover and two amps to separately power the horn and the woofer.
     
    drbob1, Jul 2, 2005
    drbob1, Jul 2, 2005
    #2
  3. Jul 2, 2005 #3
    908SSP

    908SSP Member

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    I have a Leslie the little one like the vibrotone sounds great, it is like the first one you have unamplified passive speaker. :D

    I would use a A/B-A+B foot switch run one out put to the Leslie's pre-amp and your home free. You can set it up to sound like you want either alone or with your regular cab. If you do decide to run it as a passive speaker cab you do need a cross over but you don't need to bi-amp it. I would make sure that the crossover had an attenuator built in as I found mine to be too loud compared to the 4x12 cab so I put an attenuator between it and the speaker out of my amp. :dude
     
    908SSP, Jul 2, 2005
    908SSP, Jul 2, 2005
    #3
  4. Jul 2, 2005 #4
    riffmeister

    riffmeister Member

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    That's cuz it **IS** 3-D!!!!! :D



    The sound of a guitar thru a Leslie is un-freakin-believable!

    (just ask Eric, George, Peter, and others.....)
     
    riffmeister, Jul 2, 2005
    riffmeister, Jul 2, 2005
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  5. Jul 4, 2005 #5
    Chi

    Chi Member

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    Riff- but the sound of a guitar through two Leslies in stereo will make you sh*t your pants!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Thanks for the tips guys, I'm going to see what I can do...

    Bob/Alex-
    I don't have a crossover, but I'm thinking maybe the line level out on the Weber Mass that I recently picked up from Alex might do the trick on the 147.

    Guitar -->A/B box

    The A side goes to a head with an attenuator witht he line level out to the preamp pedal of the 147 which feeds the Leslie.

    B side will be a normal rig w/out the leslie. basically the Leslie will have a head dedicated to it.

    Question- on the A side do I need to still have a cab hooked up (other than the leslie) to the speaker outs of the attenuator? ( idon't want to fry my transformer by not having a load...) From what I understood from Bob's post is the line level output feeds the Leslie pedal....do I have to hook up cabs to the speaker outs on the attenuator?

    THanks in advance guys...
     
    Chi, Jul 4, 2005
    Chi, Jul 4, 2005
    #5
  6. Jul 4, 2005 #6
    908SSP

    908SSP Member

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    If the 147 has a preamp in a peddle and a power amp built into the cab you don't need an attenuator at all. Go from the A/B peddle to the 147 preamp it should have some kind of volume control you can use a volume peddle at line level if it doesn't. The other side of the preamp goes to your regular head and cab.

    You use the attenuator if you bypass the 147's amp completely and use it as a passive speaker. The reason for the crossover is to send the high frequency signal to the horns and the low to the speaker. You can get a crossover lots of places and they are easy to make. Your 147 has a crossover but if it is built into the amp it would be a pain to access if it is after the speaker out of the power amp you could tap in there and use the one it already has.

    Here is a picture of my Leslie it was built by Leslie which is owned by CBS same as Fender was and Cardovox which was their accordion division.



    [​IMG]
     
    908SSP, Jul 4, 2005
    908SSP, Jul 4, 2005
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  7. Jul 4, 2005 #7
    Chi

    Chi Member

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    Alex, that Cordovox is actually pretty cool looking!

    I know I could plug straight into the LEslie pedal witht he guitar signal (out of the A/B box, but I wanted to see if I could use the pre amp from another amp. That's what I do with the other Leslie (as it is a passive speaker) I put my '57 twin reissue through it (and switch between the Leslie speaker and the Twin's speakers iva a footswitch.

    Using the Twin as the powering amp behiind the Leslie sounds so much better than using the Leslie for power...
     
    Chi, Jul 4, 2005
    Chi, Jul 4, 2005
    #7
  8. Jul 4, 2005 #8
    riffmeister

    riffmeister Member

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    Yeah, same here.......the f*ckin B3 also sounded like God, but was ENORMOUSLY heavy & bulky!!! :eek:
     
    riffmeister, Jul 4, 2005
    riffmeister, Jul 4, 2005
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  9. Jul 4, 2005 #9
    drspencer

    drspencer Member

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    Does you Cordovox/Leslie have a crossover like a Fender Vibratone?
    Thanks.
     
    drspencer, Jul 4, 2005
    drspencer, Jul 4, 2005
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  10. Jul 4, 2005 #10
    908SSP

    908SSP Member

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    The Cardovox has a single driver so there isn't a frequency dividing crossover. It has the ability to use it alone, not at all or mixed, but that only works with the Cardovox accordion amp. I just plug it into an attenuator then the speaker out on my amp. the foot switches still allow me to turn it on or off while my amp still plays and run at two speeds. I think this works fine as I think it is a little over powering by itself. The attenuator is because it is naturally louder then my cab.
     
    908SSP, Jul 4, 2005
    908SSP, Jul 4, 2005
    #10
  11. Jul 4, 2005 #11
    wsaraceni

    wsaraceni Supporting Member

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    what is the price like on most leslie units. i want to look for a unit for my guitar and want to get a good one but don't know where to start. is there a place that has soundclips of the different versions. how are the new leslie guitar cabinets?
     
    wsaraceni, Jul 4, 2005
    wsaraceni, Jul 4, 2005
    #11
  12. Jul 4, 2005 #12
    Chi

    Chi Member

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    Don't know what they go for officially now adays, but I traded a Gibson GA15RV for one (@$550) and I got the other Leslie for $350 (from a musician who lived in a small apartment.-He was threatened by his wife to get rid of it, and I had to pry it form his hands. He actually backed out of the deal, only to call me later saying his wife is makimg him get rid of it)

    When I searched on ebay I was seeing empty wooden leslie cabinets at @$650:eek: (without the speakers or motors) and the original Leslie pedal (when they came up) up at @$350. THe wooden cab Leslies are pretty hard to find it seems. I do see a lot more tolex ones or Fender Vibrotones...
     
    Chi, Jul 4, 2005
    Chi, Jul 4, 2005
    #12
  13. Jul 4, 2005 #13
    Tom CT

    Tom CT Old Supporting Member Gold Supporting Member

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    First, if you got a 147 (plus another cabinet) for $350, you got an incredible bargain.

    The reason that you have that BIG footswitch is that, besides containing circuits to match your guitar's signal to the Leslie's power amp (Leslies do not contain preamps, as a rule), it contains switching relays to control the Leslie's fast/slow speeds and also sends AC to power the Leslie via the 6-pin connector.

    You might be able to use a different preamp, but I don't know why you'd want to as it would eliminate all the functionality of the current footswitch. I'm assuming that your footswitch looks something like this (you may have an older model) -

    http://www.trekii.com/UC1A.html
     
    Tom CT, Jul 4, 2005
    Tom CT, Jul 4, 2005
    #13
  14. Jul 4, 2005 #14
    Chi

    Chi Member

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    It's actually tow spearate Leslies, not a leslie and an extra cabinet. For $350 and a GIbson GA15RV, I got two different model Leslies. Still a fantastic deal I think.

    The 147 came with a very large chrome pedal, It says "Leslie Combo Preamp" on it. It has two buttons on it that turn it on and vary the speed, there's a breaker on it as well as two 1/4" inputs and two volume controls. It also has a plug for power comind out of it as well as that HUGE 6 pin connector that goes to the Leslie motor/chassis. When the pedal is plugged in it supplies the power to the motor and amp in the cabinet.

    The pedal doesn't look anything like the one in the link...I have a pic but no host for it...
     
    Chi, Jul 4, 2005
    Chi, Jul 4, 2005
    #14
  15. Jul 5, 2005 #15
    procos

    procos Silver Supporting Member Supporting Member

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    And all this time I thought this thread was about the Real Vintage Leslie. That would be Mr. Schefman. Sorry Les just had to do it.:D

    Chuck
     
    procos, Jul 5, 2005
    procos, Jul 5, 2005
    #15
  16. Mar 23, 2009 #16
    67camaro

    67camaro Member

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    hi guys, quick question. i have what i believe is a cardovox amp and maybe pre amp for an accordian.1 case is full of tubes, the other has 2 speakers and maybe 4-6 tubes. they seem to plug in together with the accordian. says model cg. any ideas what they might be wearth?

    thanks for your time john
    you can e-mail me at pavemaster@earthlink.net thanks again
     
    67camaro, Mar 23, 2009
    67camaro, Mar 23, 2009
    #16

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