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Adding the 4th, 5th, and 6th Harmonic to the Hammond (B3, C3, RT3, or A100) Percussion allows for much more percussion variation by making 3 more harmonics available in addition to the 2nd and 3rd standard harmonics. With the first 3 drawbars out (the usual setup) there is much more contrast between the drawbar setting and the percussion tones. The sharp percussive bite is now available much lower on the keyboard. To get the full effect of this harmonic addition EliminatingThePercussionVolumeDrop is very desirable since this will restore full volume control to the drawbar settings. Two miniature, four pole switches (one for the percussion on/off and one for the 4th, 5th, 6th harmonic selection) and some stranded hook up wire is all that is needed. The switches are available from Mouser electronics (part No.’s below). Note with this design, the 4th, 5th, and 6th harmonics are not available at the drawbars when the percussion is on. The usual percussion setting is some combination of the first three drawbars so this shouldn't be a problem.
DESIGN SCHEMATIC--TWO SWITCHES FOR HARMONIC SELECTION
The schematic below shows the switches S1, S2 and the associated hookup to the
AO28 preamplifier and the drawbars.
S1 is shown in the ON state and S2 is shown DOWN with the 4th harmonic selected.
The contact states for S2 DOWN, CENTER and UP are shown above the schematic.
The contact states for S1 OFF and ON are shown below the schematic.
<pre>
. . . . . .
. \. . \. . \. ./ . ./ . ./ .
S2 DOWN S2 CENTER S2 UP
|-----------------. |-----------.
| \ | \
| S2-1\ | S2-2\
| . \. . \.---------|
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
.\ .---| .\ .---| .\ .---| .\ .---|
\S1-1 | \S1-2 | \S1-3 | \S1-4 |
\ | \ | \ | \ |
. | . | . | . |
| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | |
H HW DB8W DB8 DB7W DB7 DB6W DB6
’ /’ ’ /’ ’ /’ ’ /’ ‘\ ‘ ‘\ ‘ ‘\ ‘ ‘\ ‘
’ ’ ’ ’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
S1 OFF S1 ON
</pre>
S1 Percussion On/Off switch; Mouser Part No. 633-M204201-RO
S2 Percussion 4, 5, 6 harmonic selector; Mouser Part No. 633-M202401-RO
H AO28 percussion amplifier input terminal
HW Green wire that was on terminal H
DB6 Drawbar 6 terminal (4th Harmonic)
DB6W Blue wire that was on Drawbar 6
DB7 Drawbar 7 terminal (5th Harmonic)
DB7W Violet wire that was on Drawbar 7
DB8 Drawbar 8 terminal (6th Harmonic)
DB8W Gray wire that was on Drawbar 8
INSTALLATION--Minimal original wiring need be disturbed for this installation. Use the schematic above and the following information to complete the wiring.
Four wires need to be unsoldered:
<pre> Blue wire on drawbar 6 Violet wire on drawbar 7 Gray wire on drawbar 8 Green wire on terminal H on the AO28. </pre>
Eight stranded hookup wires need to be soldered to the following:
<pre> 3 Drawbars 3 Drawbar wires Green wire that was on Terminal H. Terminal H on the AO-28 </pre>
The other end of the Eight wires should be routed to switches S1 and S2 that are mounted below the front rail of the organ.
The wiring of S1 is straight forward since it is a standard two position four pole double throw (4PDT) switch. These wires should be soldered to switch S1 as follows:
<pre>
ARM CONTACT
S1-1 H HW
S1-2 DB8W DB8
S1-3 DB7W DB7
S1-4 DB6W DB6
</pre>
Use the six point terminal diagram below for wiring S2. S2 is a three position single pole 3 throw (SP3T) switch. Note the jumper wire from terminal 3 to terminal 5. There is also a data sheet available at www.mouser.com that has terminal numbering and switch contact configuration.
<pre>
To S1-4<==.6 2.==>To S1-1
.5--3.
To S1-3<==.4 1.==>To S1-2
</pre>
THEORY OF OPERATION
When switch S1 is OFF, the 4th, 5th and 6th harmonic signals are routed to the drawbars and only the 2nd and 3rd harmonics are available for percussion. This is identical to the original factory design.
When S1 is ON, the 4th, 5th and 6th harmonic signals are routed to switch S2 for selection. Also when is S1 ON, the percussion input signal to the AO28 is routed to the output of S2.
The position of S2 selects the 4th 5th and 6th percussion harmonic.
<pre> When S2 is DOWN the 4th harmonic is selected. When S2 is in the CENTER position the 5th harmonic is selected. When S2 is UP the 6th harmonic is selected. </pre>
ADDED BONUS---ParadiseButton FOR 4th, 5th and 6th HARMONIC PERCUSSION
The B3 percussion switch must be on for the 4th, 5th and 6th harmonics to work. When the B3 percussion switch is off, you automatically go into the ParadiseButton mode for the 4th, 5th and 6th Harmonics. In this mode the percussion will not decay and the 4th, 5th and 6th harmonics (depending on the selection of S2) will sound much louder. If the ParadiseButton mode is not desired, just turn off S1.
The 4th, 5th , 6th percussion harmonic selection described above uses two switches. Below is a description using three switches. The wiring concept is simpler and multiple harmonics can be selected for percussion.
DESIGN SCHEMATIC--THREE SWITCHES FOR HARMONIC SELECTION
The schematic below shows three switches S4, S5 and S6 for harmonic selection.
S5 is shown in the ON state with the 5th harmonic selected.
S4 and S6 are shown in the OFF state.
<pre>
|------|----------|-----------|
| | | |
| | | |
| . /.-| .\ .--| . /.-|
| S4-1/ | \S5-1 | S6-1/ |
| . | . | . |
| | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
| DB6W DB6 DB7W DB7 DB8W DB8
| 4th Harm 5th Harm 6th Harm
|
|
| . /.-| .\ .--| . /.-|
| S4-2/ \S5-2 | S6-2/ |
|--------. | . | . |
| | | | | |
| | | | |
| |------| |-----| |
| |
H HW
</pre>
S4 4th harmonic DPDT On/Off switch; Mouser Part No. 633-M202201-RO
S5 5th harmonic DPDT On/Off switch; Mouser Part No. 633-M202201-RO
S6 6th harmonic DPDT On/Off switch; Mouser Part No. 633-M202201-RO
Other descriptors (H, HW, DB6, DB6W, etc.) are as described above.
THEORY OF OPERATION
The “1” set of contacts on the S4, S5 and S6 selects the appropriate harmonic from the drawbar wire and routes it to the “H” (percussion input on AO-28) terminal. The “2” set of contacts are wired in series to isolate “HW” from terminal “H” anytime a harmonic is selected. “HW” comes from the percussion switchbox for 2nd or 3rd harmonic input to the AO-28 when none of the harmonics (4th, 5th or 6th) is selected.
An additional feature of the three switch configuration is that harmonics can be combined, i.e; 4&5, 4&6, 5&6 and 4&5&6.
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