Music Projects

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I am now deaf, but I enjoyed playing and working on musical instruments for many years


Recordings:

Keyboards:

    This is my Hammond XK-1 Organ, Yamaha NP30 Digital Grand Piano,Yamaha MOX6,

    Boss DR-3 Drum Box, Alesis NanoBass, Alesis NanoPiano, and Vintage Leslie 147 Speaker.

Corrina Corrina.mp3

Corrina Corrina

Mardi Gras Mambo.mp3

Mardi Gras Mambo

Midi Encoder PCB:

I designed and built a Midi encoder using a Microchip Processor.  So far I used it for two projects:

Midi Bass Pedals:

I bought a set of bass pedals from a Hammond L-100 off of eBay, built a case and wired in the Midi encoder.


Midi Mini Keyboard:

In the 1940s Hammond produced a monophonic organ, called a Solovox, designed to bolt on front of a piano.  It did not sound anything like a Hammond but the keyboard was kind of neat.  The keys were full width but shorter depth.  Mini keyboards today are smaller width and are harder to get use to.  I got hold of a couple of these (yes, on eBay) and added a Midi encoder board.  Right now one of them is mounted under my vintage Korg Poly 61, and controls a Roland Bass Module.

Leslie speaker 147:

I recently refurbished my vintage Leslie 147.  I designed and built a solid state Leslie motor controller.  This takes motor control completely out of the chassis and audio cable, eliminating any pops and mechanical noise. 

I designed and built my own Leslie Preamp that plugs directly into the tube socket in the back allowing two standard guitar type 1/4" plugs.

I also rebuilt the motors, replaced the tubes, capacitors, and all bearings.

This eliminated all the Hums, Pops and static I was experiencing.

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Drum Set Restoration

I recently restored a drum set that I bought in the early 70's.

Bought an expansion Kit (Bass drum, 18" floor tom), Deal of the Day. 

Recovered them to match the drum set and I now have a double Bass kit.

Also added the "Chordones" logo.  Scroll down to see the Chordones from the 60's

This is what it looked like before

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      Guitar Restoration Project:

 

1964 Hagstrom Kent Guitar PB-24-G  SN603127

Restoration Completed 8/21/2011

By Charles Murphy, Sarasota FL

 

                All parts are original except as noted below:

1.      Vinyl covering on the back was missing, it was sprayed with SEM39853 and coated with Satin Black Enamel, to create a Vinyl appearance

2.      The Plastic front was cracked in several places. The plastic was repaired and the outside was painted with 3 coats of black lacquer gloss, and 8 coats of lacquer clear coat, sanded and polished to a mirror finish (see the reflection of the pegboard and tools in the picture)

3.       The panel for the switches and volume control was polished to bare aluminum, relabeled and coated with 4 coats of lacquer clear coat.

4.      All electronics were fully functional and left untouched

5.      The neck was left untouched

6.      The Guitar appeared in a Washington Post article, being played by my old friend and band mate Kent Ashcraft (now a celebrated guitarist in the Washington DC area and author of "an open letter to Dr. Laura"):  See picture below

Midi Pitch Pedal 

See electronic projects for description

The Chordones, I was just out of High School - Good Times!