Hammond L-100 S Tonewheel Organ

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The L-100 series entered production at the same time as the M-100. It was an economy version, with various cost-cutting changes so the organ could retail for under $1,000. It was Hammond's cheapest organ and sold very successfully. The L-100 S is a version with pedal sustain.

The sound production of the Hammond organ begins in the cogwheel oscillator. Metal tone wheels with a wavy edge rotate in front of electromagnetic pickups (iron cores in coils). The waveform causes the edge of the wheel to periodically move away from and towards the iron core. This changes the magnetic field, which induces an alternating voltage in the coil, resulting in an alternating current. The shape of the wheel results in a sinusoidal oscillation. The gearwheel oscillator contains 91 tone wheels with different numbers of teeth. (source: music web.ch)

The L-100 has two manuals with only 44 keys, spanning 3 1/2 octaves. The organ is equipped with upper presets Clarinet, Trumpe, Full Organ and Drawbars, 9 upper drawbars 16', 5' 1/3, 8', 4', 2' 2/3, 2' ,1' 3/5 ,1' 2/3, 1', upper percussion X and Y, percussion soft/loud and fast/slow decay tabs, upper manual Vibrato and Chorus, Small and Normal, 7 lower drawbars 8', 4', 2' 2/3, 2', 1' 3/5, 1' 1/3, 1', bass pedal drawbar 16', brightness tab, soft volume tab, all-valve amplification circuits, built-in reverb tank and tube preamp and built-in controller for 700-series Leslie.