This one in via MATRIXSYNTH reader J. Louise. Details and contact info follow.
"Hammond Novachord made in 1939. Considered by many to be the first synthesizer commercially available. Bob Moog was five years old when this came out. I believe there are less than ten of these working in the world. It has an unmistakable, and instantly recognizable sound which was featured in movies such as "Gone With The Wind", "The Twilight Zone", "The Ten Commandments", "The Outer Limits" and even "Hawaii Five-O".
The Novachord has full 72 note polyphony, envelope control, two presets which mechanically operate the front panel controls, and a six channel vibrato making for rich chords as each note in a triad has its own vibrato of a slightly different speed, emulating the sound of real string players. It has a built in amplifier and two 12" speakers. Completely vacuum tube operation, no solid state anything. The tubes are mostly originals as they run at conservative heater voltages for long life.It took me over three years and lots of searching and talking with people to find this instrument. This particular instrument originated in Detroit, Michigan where it was used for the background music of radio dramas in the 1940s. It was then stored in the transmitter room at the station where all the cool old stuff like this got tossed aside when the next great thing came out. I acquired it in 2005 from the station engineer.
This instrument has been fully, painstakingly restored to working condition using modern components that should last a long time. It took over 300 hours of skilled labor and a shop full of test equipment and tools to bring this back to life.
The speakers are original Jensen A12 field coils and have been re-coned. The amplifier power tubes are new Sovtek 2A3s, and some tubes in the power supply have been replaced with new old stock tubes of high quality.
The instrument has been stripped and refinished in the same color it was originally but it is a satin texture and not a professional high gloss lacquer finish. It looks great in person and I get a lot of compliments on the finish. The nameplate area above the keyboard has not been refinished to preserve the original Hammond logo above the keys.
Included are the original service manual, original playing guide, lots of original Sylvania green leaf spare tubes which were from another Novachord so they are period correct, and a magazine ad from 1940 for the Novachord.
I will gladly spend time with any serious buyers to go over the technical details of the restoration, show you how it works, and answer any questions you may have about it.
I can be contacted at jessie@newoldsounds.com."
