The science serves the art. These are my guiding principles. There are many “techs” out there who think they know better or are chasing dollars who will rip out parts willy-nilly, modify things well beyond the original design parameters, make drastic changes to the fundamental architecture of the instrument, build chops, really get into the weeds.

I wish them well, to put it diplomatically. That’s not what I do. The Hammond and Leslie sound we all know and love comes from a well-defined set of engineering specifications put into instruments of which there are a finite amount left in the world, and my goal is to keep as many of them within those specifications as long as possible.

As a technician, I sweat the details like most don’t and hold myself to a “no excuses” standard. But when the work is done and the tech hat comes off, the player hat goes on, and the trees become a full forest. Does the rig not only pass the nitty-gritty numbers tests, but the vibe test? How does it sound, feel, look, react? Will it become an extension of one’s creativity, or a hindrance? These are the things you can’t measure with a multimeter, the things that even the most talented tech can’t get from a service manual. Because, or so I’ve heard, it don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.