Hello and thanks for looking at my listing!

Up for sale is a hard-to-find blond 122 Leslie speaker in near-mint condition! Very few of these blond Leslie speakers were ever produced, so finding one for sale in such beautiful condition is nearly impossible.

I am a collector and restorer of many different types of vintage keyboard instruments, speakers and amplifiers, with over thirty years of experience, and this Leslie comes from my personal collection. While I have other Leslie speakers that I use on a regular basis, this Leslie has been mostly a show-piece and hasn’t seen much use or attention. Perhaps waiting around for a matching blond Hammond B3 organ to show up just isn’t ever going to happen. So, it’s time to pass it along to a good home where it will cherished and played regularly. Hopefully there is someone out there who has a blond Hammond organ who would love to have a matching blond Leslie speaker.

This Leslie is just gorgeous! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cleaner 122! The serial number, J-23456, puts its approximate manufacture date somewhere around early 1978. Of course, this is a late-model Leslie as can be identified by the foam bass rotor. Leslie went to foam bass rotors as a cost-cutting measure, but in a blindfolded test, it’s impossible to tell any difference in tone between the foam and wooden bass rotors. The ramp-up and ramp-down time of the foam rotor is indistinguishable from a wooden one.

This speaker is bone-stock and no modifications to it have ever been performed. It has all of the original amp components, speakers, crossover, wiring, motors, plugs, belts, etc. Aside from some hardly-noticeable surface scratches on the top which can only be seen at an angle in certain light, the rest of the cabinet is near-perfect. Included are the original top and bottom rotor covers. The padded piece of insulation material stapled beneath the horn driver (which is commonly missing on most Leslie speakers) is present, indicating that the horn driver has never been removed from the cabinet. The “slow” and “fast” tags on the motor plugs are still present and intact—yet another small sign of a hardly-used Leslie.

This speaker didn’t really need any “work,” but I went ahead and serviced it anyway—I oiled all four motors, adjusted the slow motors, re-tensioned the belts, oiled the horn and bass rotor bushings, cleaned the volume potentiometer on the amplifier, and filed/cleaned the contacts on the mechanical motor relay. I also recently installed a brand new pair of Apex-matched JJ 6550 power tubes.

The only “flaw” I’ve ever noticed about this speaker is a slight rattle from the bass woofer speaker while playing the lowest five or six bass pedal notes on my Hammond at loud volumes. It’s not loud enough to be heard while simultaneously playing chords, but can be heard on its own. I closely inspected the woofer, and saw no rips or separation in the cone. The buyer may want to have this looked at if it becomes bothersome.

I have a short video of the speaker that I can share upon request.

As with most vintage gear I’ve sold, due to the age of the speaker and with no way to control what happens to it once it leaves my possession, it will be sold as-is with no returns. Please let me know if you need any additional photos or information and I’d be happy to help with that!