I am forced to presume that the Heppner speakers in Model 5063 Swing Away Guitarist "1 of 2" are replacements until someone finds an identical installation. The solder joints have all been disturbed; someone skillfully rewired the cabinets with something similar to "Monster Cable" and added a new input jack. Furthermore, (a) the finish on the left-hand speaker (viewed from the back) has been marred slightly in the vicinity of the speaker mounting screws, perhaps by vice-grip pliers; and (b) there are star washers on all of the left-hand speaker mounting screws but none on the right-hand speaker. This does not render it impossible that the speakers were original; but it does render it impossible to prove definitively that they were.
It was fascinating to see that the Heppners definitely had dissimilar speaker cones. The right-hand speaker (viewed from the back) had a relatively flat, ribbed cone, while the left-hand speaker had a smooth cone that was shaped somewhat like the bell of a trumpet. The ribbed cone carries model number AO-24346-0, while the other displays model number AO-24347-0. Research indicates that this combination of speakers were used in Model L-100 and other Hammond console-style organs. The ribbed cone handles low frequencies while the horn-shaped cone emphasizes higher frequencies, thus creating an apparent cross-over where there is no cross-over in fact.
The speakers both had a light coating of dirt -- not just dust. I infer that they were not installed recently. It remains odd that someone would have replaced original speakers with relatively unknown Heppner speakers rather than more popular brands of speaker. If there was a modification, the person may have been aware that Hilgen amplifiers commonly used Heppner speakers -- or the originals may have been Heppners as well, which made the choice of replacement speaker more obvious.
Once again, I do not understand comments I have seen in Internet forums suggesting that the Heppner organ speakers sound "bad," especially for guitar amps, or can handle no more than about 10-15 watts. These speakers are matched with an amp having a power rating of about 50 watts RMS, sound wonderful, and show no signs of being stressed beyond their power-handling capacity. I suspect that speakers that do not sound the way some people expect them to sound tend to be deemed "bad." However, my hypothesis is that the fault lies with their expectations, and not with the speakers themselves. One could argue that Paul McCartney's tone on his Hoffner violin bass is "bad" because it does not sound like a Musicman Stingray. However, that argument is unlikely to be well-received.
If Heppners are as bad as they are reputed to be, it is difficult to explain why Hammond switched to Heppners from the much-ballyhooed Jensen speakers. It is unlikely that Hammond's marketing gurus aimed to decrease sales of their products by causing them to sound inferior to their earlier models and those of their competitors.
It was fascinating to see that the Heppners definitely had dissimilar speaker cones. The right-hand speaker (viewed from the back) had a relatively flat, ribbed cone, while the left-hand speaker had a smooth cone that was shaped somewhat like the bell of a trumpet. The ribbed cone carries model number AO-24346-0, while the other displays model number AO-24347-0. Research indicates that this combination of speakers were used in Model L-100 and other Hammond console-style organs. The ribbed cone handles low frequencies while the horn-shaped cone emphasizes higher frequencies, thus creating an apparent cross-over where there is no cross-over in fact.
The speakers both had a light coating of dirt -- not just dust. I infer that they were not installed recently. It remains odd that someone would have replaced original speakers with relatively unknown Heppner speakers rather than more popular brands of speaker. If there was a modification, the person may have been aware that Hilgen amplifiers commonly used Heppner speakers -- or the originals may have been Heppners as well, which made the choice of replacement speaker more obvious.
Once again, I do not understand comments I have seen in Internet forums suggesting that the Heppner organ speakers sound "bad," especially for guitar amps, or can handle no more than about 10-15 watts. These speakers are matched with an amp having a power rating of about 50 watts RMS, sound wonderful, and show no signs of being stressed beyond their power-handling capacity. I suspect that speakers that do not sound the way some people expect them to sound tend to be deemed "bad." However, my hypothesis is that the fault lies with their expectations, and not with the speakers themselves. One could argue that Paul McCartney's tone on his Hoffner violin bass is "bad" because it does not sound like a Musicman Stingray. However, that argument is unlikely to be well-received.
If Heppners are as bad as they are reputed to be, it is difficult to explain why Hammond switched to Heppners from the much-ballyhooed Jensen speakers. It is unlikely that Hammond's marketing gurus aimed to decrease sales of their products by causing them to sound inferior to their earlier models and those of their competitors.
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