-Kon Zissis ( born in 1971 ) is a Hammond organ and Leslie rotary speaker cabinet
enthusiast from Melbourne Australia . He is an amateur, self taught audio electronics tinkerer who is interested in the intricasies of what makes Hammonds and Leslies sound great.
-He has compiled a [large spreadsheet|http://www.hammond-leslie.info/KonsTGandTaperingData] containing measurements
of the TG output levels from
many different Hammonds.
-He has beefed up the sound
of his 1962 C3 by replacing the deteriorated aged wax capacitors from the Tone wheel Generator
and he has recalibrated the Tone wheel Generator
and he has designed
and built a [12AX7 valve based EQ / Overdrive unit|Kons12AX7basedEQ&OverdriveCircuit] into his C3
.
+Kon Zissis ( born in 1971 ) is a Hammond tone wheel organ
organ and Leslie enthusiast from Melbourne Australia . He is an amateur, self taught audio electronics tinkerer who is very
interested in the intricasies of what makes Hammonds and Leslies sound great and because
of his
many years
of working on
his own small collection of console
and spinet organs
he has learned how to repair, modify
and customize Hammond organs
and Leslies
.
-Kon also loves
the sound of
the Gibson electric guitars such as
the Les Pauls
, the 335's
, the Flying V
's and the SG's
and the classic valve guitar amplifiers such as the old Marshalls
, Fenders , Vox
and Hiwattt amplifiers.
+Kon's restoration and modification work on his Hammond organs includes replacing
the aged wax paper capacitors with new capacitors and recalibrating the tone wheel generators to produce a smooth and fat
sound, replacing
the most important capacitors and resistors in
the AO28 preamps
, adding switchable tonal modifications to
the AO28 preamps and the L-100 series organ preamp
, extensively modifying
the solid state preamplifier in his XTP organ and a friend
's T-100 organ, removing
and dissassembling
the manuals
and removing all traces of
the black foam in his 1963 L-102 and his 1965 C3 and a studio owned 1965 L-122 organ and repairing hundreds of foam damaged resistance wires in his 1965 C3
, and cleaning the busbars,
-Some
of Kon's favourite Hammond organ players whose
Hammond organ tone
and musical style that he loves are
: [Jon Lord|JonLord] ( Deep Purple ) , Ken Hensley ( Uriah Heep ) , Tony Kaye ( early Yes ), Gregg Rollie ( early Santana ), Gary Wright ( Spooky Tooth ) , Rod Argent ( Argent ), Steve Walsh ( Kansas ), John Paul Jones ( Led Zeppelin ), [Keith Emerson|KeithEmerson] , Ian Mclagan ( The Small Faces , The Faces ) Brian Auger , [Booker T Jones] , [Jimmy Smith|JimmySmith] , [Jack McDuff|JackMcDuff] etc.
+Kon is knowlegeable about and experienced with tone wheel generator recalibration and he has compiled a [large spreadsheet|http://www.hammond-leslie.info/KonsTGandTaperingData] containing the measured TG output levels
of over ninety Hammond organs including organs from the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's.
+
+Kon is the designer of the ProfKon ZD-1 overdrive unit for the Hammond console organs with the balanced GG outputs including the models A, AB, AV, A-100 series, B, BC, BCV, BV, B2, B3, C, CV, C2, C3, C3G, D, DV, D-150 series, E, EV, G, K, RT, RT2 and RT3 which is currrently being manufactured by the Melbourne, Australia based manufacturer called "Audio K".
+
+Kon has also designed and built a 12AX7 based EQ/Overdrive unit for the Hammond organ models A-100 series, B2, B3, C2, C3, C3G, RT2 and RT3 and this tube based overdrive unit will also be built by the manufacturer "Audio K".
+
+
Kon's favourite Hammond organ style is the grand gothic sounding
Hammond/ Leslie sound from the late 1960's / early 1970's Heavy Rock / Heavy Metal/ Progressive Rock/ Krautrock / Psychedelic Rock / Blues Rock music styles
and some of Kon's favourite organists include
:
+
[Jon Lord|JonLord] ( Deep Purple ) , Ken Hensley ( Uriah Heep ), Peter Hecht ( Asterix, Lucifer's Friend
), Tony Kaye ( early Yes ), Gregg Rollie ( early Santana ), Gary Wright ( Spooky Tooth ) , Rod Argent ( Argent ), Czeslaw Niemen
, Steve Walsh ( Kansas ), John Paul Jones ( Led Zeppelin ), [Keith Emerson|KeithEmerson], Ray Vanderby (Cosmic Nomads)
, Ian Mclagan ( The Small Faces , The Faces ), Mathew Fisher and Chris Copping ( Procol Harum).
+
+Kon also enjoys listening to the Blues /Funk / Jazz organists such as Dr Lonnie Smith,
Brian Auger, [Booker T Jones], [Jimmy Smith|JimmySmith] , [Jack McDuff|JackMcDuff] etc.
+
+Apart fgrom the Hammonds and Leslies, Kon is also into electric guitars and vintage tube amplifiers of the 1950's, 60's and 70's and he is into the sound and the look of the Gibson electric guitars such as the Les Pauls,the ES-345, the ES-335, the Flying V and the SG and the classic valve guitar amplifiers such as the old Marshalls , Fenders , Vox and Hiwattt amplifiers
.
