Leslie Speaker

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Leslie Speaker

Postby LONGPLAYER09 » 01 Dec 2013, 00:19

A friend of mine said to me last week, had I heard of the Leslie speaker. Naively I said no. However I have since looked it up in Wikipedia & found it was an interesting amp/speaker designed in the late 1930's by a Donald Leslie. In 1965 Leslie sold his company to CBS which had acquired Fender. There's loads more info, but I just wondered if anyone has used or seen/heard one.
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Re: Leslie Speaker

Postby JimN » 01 Dec 2013, 02:50

LONGPLAYER09 wrote:A friend of mine said to me last week, had I heard of the Leslie speaker. Naively I said no. However I have since looked it up in Wikipedia & found it was an interesting amp/speaker designed in the late 1930's by a Donald Leslie. In 1965 Leslie sold his company to CBS which had acquired Fender. There's loads more info, but I just wondered if anyone has used or seen/heard one.
Mick


Hank Marvin has.

He used one on the middle section of Slaughter On 10th Avenue and also on Throw Down A Line.
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Re: Leslie Speaker

Postby noelford » 01 Dec 2013, 07:54

If anyone ever asks me that question they will have to listen to me going on about how many flight of stairs at how many gigs I had to help carry one of those damn things up, as if our keyboard player's Hammond organ that it went with wasn't enough! If you think an AC30 is heavy!!!.....

I would have thought most people on this forum (many of us being of an age!) would be familiar with Leslies.
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Re: Leslie Speaker

Postby Didier » 01 Dec 2013, 09:47

Jimi Hendrix sometime used Leslie speakers, so did David Gilmour (Pink Floyd).

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Re: Leslie Speaker

Postby neil2726 » 01 Dec 2013, 20:36

They were quite common I recall in the 60s and 70s in working mens clubs when they featured organists as part of the weekend entertainment. Solo artists would be backed by the club organist before backing tracks were the norm. I seem to remember they took up quite alot of the stage and bands had to set up around the extremely large cabinets!
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Re: Leslie Speaker

Postby ash » 01 Dec 2013, 22:38

Brian Wilson had the guitarists use them on the Pet Sounds title track and possibly earlier tracks. Lennon has his voice sent thru one on Tomorrow Never Knows following the "loop solo". Plenty of other Fab examples.
Yes they are extremely heavy. I can barely lift up my macbook since i downloaded the lesley speaker simulator.
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Re: Leslie Speaker

Postby Detailed Infinity » 02 Dec 2013, 00:09

Went out with Leslie Speaker's mate Claudia Inda-North
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Re: Leslie Speaker

Postby ecca » 02 Dec 2013, 07:25

Good old Doppler.
Most guitar effect pedals will have a rotary setting.
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Re: Leslie Speaker

Postby RayL » 02 Dec 2013, 09:27

ecca wrote:Good old Doppler. Most guitar effect pedals will have a rotary setting.


The tricky bit for a true simulator is the mechanical speed change from Chorale up to Tremolo and back again. Both these 'effects' have become a legitimate part of the 'expression' that a player can get from their instrument. If you get the chance to see The Animals (the UK version with John Steel on drums) watch Micky Gallagher's foot as it stabs the pedal to spin the Leslie up and down!
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Re: Leslie Speaker

Postby Iain Purdon » 02 Dec 2013, 11:11

noelford wrote:I would have thought most people on this forum (many of us being of an age!) would be familiar with Leslies.


Ah yes but that's the point of this forum. Some of us know some stuff, others know other stuff and together we become right know-alls :)

I'd also add that there are new members joining every day, which is most encouraging, and that not everyone here is of Shads vintage.

By the way, I think the Leslie was also used for Hank's solo in Cliff's The Joy of Living
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