Leslie 825? Any good and any thoughts for studio craziness?

[T-rex]

So I have stumbled across a leslie 825 with the combo II preamp, super cheap. I really don't need one, but I can't resist how cool it would be to have a leslie around just to screw with. From my research it seems to be a solid state, one rotor leslie. Anyone have any experience with these?

One, I could use it to pump out my b3 plug in through it which seems like a no brainer. Two, pretty much anything else that I want to wobble-ify. Any thoughts?

[A.David.MacKinnon]

I recently picked up a Leslie 110. It's a single rotor, 2 speed cab with no amp. I had to build my own power and speed control and wire up a 1/4 speaker jack. Now I can use it with any amp in the studio and run anything through it. Ton of fun.
I've done a bunch of organ tracks with my Farfisa VIP400 and Hammond S6 and a bunch of guitar tracks too. It's also saved the day when I'm mixing other peoples tracks and want some leslie mojo on their organ/keyboard tracks.
It would be nice to have a double rotor model but you really can't go wrong with any leslie. I'd been wanting one for years and am quite happy with what I got (only paid $100 too).
It seems like something every studio should have (along with a piano and a collection of good amps).

[Nate Dort]

I've had an 825 for about 3 years that I got for $200. But it didn't have the combo preamp. It needed some maintenance as it had been in storage for 20 years in the back of music shop. I had to oil the motor and adjust the tension on the drive belt to get it to switch speeds properly.

I ended up adding some jacks on the back panel to control the speed with a two-button footswitch I built, as well as a line-in and amp-in jack so I could use an external tube amp. I almost never use the internal solid-state amp as it's kinda boring. My modded valve jr. is way more fun to drive it with.

I run my M3 or Farfisa through it sometimes, but I use it more often as a guitar effect. The speaker in mine is a Jensen, which sounds pretty good. Make sure you tighten down as many screws as you can, as these things tend to buzz and rattle quite a bit if you close-mic it.

[T-rex]

Thanks, that was exactly what I was looking for. I can get the whole thing for next to nothing, they just want it gone - so its kind of a no brainer, but do I really need another thing to take up space in the studio?

[A.David.MacKinnon]

do I really need another thing to take up space in the studio?

Yes.

[T-rex]

do I really need another thing to take up space in the studio?

Yes.

As always, the voice of reason!

[accordion squeezist]

plus, the more shit you stack on top of your idly sitting leslie, the more badass you are.