Lowrey DS0-1 and leslie type 147

[ajp]

hello all,my lowrey DS0-1 has a hookup for a 147 type leslie,although I don't have a 147
I want to use the audio signal coming from the 147 out plug to run into an amp,can anyone tell me what ohm speaker or combination thereof does the 147 have? the lowrey is an all tube organ so I suspect it will need to see the correct speaker load to operate happily.

Will I be okay running the signal into the guitar amp I wonder?,anybody familiar with the DS0-1? any help is much appreciated,thanks-tony

[andyg]

That is a speaker level signal, so don't just plug it into your guitar amp. Pad it down - a lot! I'll let those with more technical knowledge of the DSO tell you the facts and figures for that.

However, I wouldn't recommend running it through a guitar amp at all, 1) guitar amps aren't designed to handle the range of frequencies produced by an organ and 2) a DSO without its leslie sound? That's sort of like castrating it!

Can you not simply mike it if you need to amplify it?

[ajp]

hi andy,well its more of a "I want reverb" kinda thing,I would like to just tap the preampified signal run it out thru a reverb pedal then back into the organ,but I don't have the service manual for the organ and unlike all other organs I've had it does not have an rca jack type connector where I can snag the signal at,so I was going to run the signal out of the 147 socket into an amp and then from the amp into a home made leslie cabinet thats actually an old baldwin organ thats had the keyboards chopped out of it,it looks like an old conn organ cab that a church I used to attend has,it has the same type of rotary as the lowrey,actually speaker wise it's very near to the lowrey,the thing I am most worried about is like you said about padding the signal,I don't want to hurt the lowrey by not having a load on the amp,do you happen to know if the load issue has already been addressed in the lowrey concerning the 147 output??thanks andy

[andyg]

No, the 147 would present the same load as the internal speaker(s). Leslies like the 147 were designed to be driven by a hot, unbalanced speaker signal.

You can take that signal as it is and run it into the home made leslie cab. Uncle Harvey's pin-outs will give the pins you need for this - http://www.captain-foldback.com/Leslie_sub/pinouts.htm

For reverb, how about tapping into the same output, padding down and running through the reverb pedal and then sending a fully wet signal into the guitar amp. Most people don't like spinning reverb anyway.

[ajp]

yep!! you got it andy thats exactly what I intend to do,do you know what ohm a leslie 147 is since thats what the socket in the lowrey says thats what ohm I will set/make my pad circuit at,I read somewhere a 147 is 16 ohm,can you verify that?thanks

[ajp]

andy,just to check and make sure I do this right,to pad the output I just take the proper resistor and run each of the 2 wires to the two sides or the resistor and then on to the amp right?,no volume pot is needed unless I wanted one right?,I've done this with all my hammond spinets but this is my first lowrey and even tho it's a simple thing to do this I'm always double checking with other people before I do anything.

[andyg]

Worry more about the impedance of the Lowrey's internal speaker, that's what you have to match. 8 or 16 ohms almost certainly. What you're doing sounds OK but let's see if Geo or one of our other real techs confirms it.

[ajp]

well tried the lowrey thru the amp and sounds okay,not as good as I had hoped for,I think your suggestion of micing the organ is the better of the two,I like the sound of the lowreys internal tremolo speaker best and usually have everything running thru that I will only need to concentrate on micing the leslie,thanks for the help andy!!!

[ajp]

well I've been dabbling with different microphones an amps today and finally was satisfied with taking a few very small speakers (2')and using them as mic's,I taped them face down on the leslie grill cover at the side of the organ and wow what a great sound plugged thru the guitar amp,I need to expiriment with some higher quality speakers to use as mic's but this is for sure the sound I'm looking for,for some reason a standard mic really picked up standing waves really bad everytime the rotary baffle would pass a certain point,I remember having the same issue with micing a spectratone but it was much worse with it,I'm pondering removing the rotary cab from the lowrey to it's own enclosure and placing some high quality "reverse" speaker mic's in there with it so I can really crank it up without the squeal it gets if out in the open,I think my next thing to do with this lowrey is replace the high power capacitors and do all the little things that everyone suggests to do with stuff this old,even tho it's fine right now I think it would be a good idea,what do you think andy?

[andyg]

It's been done before, there are loads of threads about taking internal units out and putting them into external cabs. Brendon Wright's done a great job of it.

However, I'd be loathe to do this to a DSO Heritage, it's a piece of history as well as a great organ. You should be able to find a free, possibly broken, organ that you can gut for the leslie unit. Or just look for a leslie 110 or 120. External condition doesn't matter if you're gigging, just as long as they work. They're cheap and will plug straight into the 147 outlet.

I'd definitely recommend going through the high voltage sections of the organ and replacing parts as required. After 45+ years, things inside are hardly ever 'fine right now'.