I really enjoy old corporate technological films and thankfully so do a lot of other people on YouTube. I’m not ashamed to admit I spent a day watching old Fairchild Seminconductor films recently. And I enjoyed every minute of them.

I found this video a few years ago and it’s incredible. A tour of the Hammond factory probably circa the late 1950’s. It describes the concept of tonewheels and their manufacture, as well as the voicing of each instrument.

The most surprising piece of information to me was the statement about “five Hammond organ plants”. I had no idea the company was that large at one time.

I also love the part about the trained technician checking each tonewheel by ear to make sure it sounds correct. This is why the tonewheel organ is, in many ways, like an acoustic instrument. The organ is ‘voiced’ by a technician, just like an acoustic piano. Technicians would hand-pick each filter capacitor in the generator in order to mold the overall tone to their liking. They even signed the tone generator with their initials.

My late father referred to the Hammond organ as a prime example of what he called “post-WWII over-engineering”. They really are amazing products from the golden age of American manufacturing and engineering.

I hope you enjoy the video.