My Hammond Organ Journey

At the end of our chat, Murph told me his business philosophy.  “You just try to treat everybody the same…We get to do this one time and the only thing you’re leaving behind is your name…’—in this case, a name I massively mispronounced.  It’s funny, I have known Murph for 14 years, but I’ve never called him anything but Murph so maybe it’s natural that I really didn’t know how to say his last name.  He’s one of those people with whom I found myself on a first-name-basis immediately.  He has always been interested, supportive and willing to go the extra mile to help me.  

When I first found my C3 at the church where I was serving as choir director and pipe organist back in 2004, he drove an hour out of town to have a look at it and nurse it back into shape.  This entailed spending an afternoon showing me the scanner as he took it apart, cleaned each small metal part, and put it back together.  We also examined and oiled the tone generator, filling the silver cups and watching the oil slowly drizzle down, helping to loosen the tone generator that hadn’t rotated in years on this 1958 instrument.  Furthermore he showed me the screw that upon adjusting, heightens the brightness of the overall sound.  Then he configured that organ for a Leslie speaker and helped me acquire a high-quality used one.  A few years later, when I needed new tubes and had a Leslie motor problem, he was ready to help me solve those problems.  After the club where I had been using my C 3 closed, Murph set me up with a box that made it possible to use a Leslie speaker with a digital Hammond keyboard.  I also purchased a Neo Ventilator from him.  It’s a 5-pound box that simulates a Leslie very nicely.  

At first I was overwhelmed by what it took to keep these organs working well but once I had heard the sound of a well-functioning rig, it was too late to turn back. Hammond organs are my favorite keyboard instrument and now years later, I have lurked on several online lists, read books, listened to recordings and returned my C3 to the stage at my regular gig where I treasure the time I get to play it three nights per week.

At one point, Murph used an advertisement on his website that included the names of his clients and there I was, alongside names like Dr. Lonnie Smith and Steve Winwood.  I can vouch that Murph does indeed treat Hammond lovers the same and loves what he does.  It shows in his workmanship which obviously, he cleaned up quite well after that initial meeting with Harvey Olsen.  

He plays well too, but I wonder if people even know that.  And now he is also working on Wurlitzer pianos and Rhodes keyboards.  Murph is such a treasure to the keyboard world. 

Thanks Murph, for all that you do to keep those tonewheels turning!