He received his degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University in 1916 but had no musical ability whatsoever. Laurens Hammond was a brilliant inventor who held 110 electrical and mechanical patents by the time he retired. Keyboard players, especially, find it difficult to believe that the inventor of the Hammond organ was an engineer with no musical skills.

HAMMOND INVENTOR, LAURENS HAMMOND WAS NOT A MUSICIAN, COULDN'T PLAY THE ORGAN HE INVENTED, AND LIKELY WAS TONE-DEAF. Had Laurens Hammond offered Don Leslie an acceptable job in 1936, he would have owned the rights to everything Leslie invented and there never would have been a 'Leslie' Speaker.Ģ. Leslie never held an engineering or other position with Hammond and neither Laurens Hammond or his research department played any part in the development of the Leslie Speaker. He offered his invention to Hammond hoping they would hire him, but they rejected him from the start. At the time, I was quite taken with the possibilities of Hammond, and believed much of their propaganda.'ĭon Leslie built the first speaker in 1940 with the help of his brother Bob. 'The one interesting fact was that I actually received Hammond pay checks which led to many later rumors that I had worked for Hammond full-time. Leslie's salary was paid by the electric company directly to Hammond. When the tone generator changeover was complete, his job was finished. Leslie's 'Hammond job' was temporary at best. Various schemes such as gear boxes were devised but the best remedy was to install a whole new generator.' While the main concern was the necessity of new clocks and some other electrical appliances, people with Hammond Organs had real problems because their (50 cycle) organs would play at a higher pitch (when operated at 60 cycles). With Barker Brothers permission, Leslie got a second (part-time) job changing 50 cycle Hammond tone generators in customer's homes.ĭon Leslie explains, 'In 1936, various areas outside the City of Los Angeles served by Edison (electric) were going through a 50 to 60 cycle change-over. He had applied for a full-time job with Hammond (at their factory agency, Birkel-Richardson), but one of his friends was hired instead. In the mid-thirties, Don Leslie was servicing Capehart radios for the Barker Brothers Department Store in Los Angeles.

This persistent rumor lives on but it's not true. DON LESLIE STARTED OUT AS AN ENGINEER FOR THE HAMMOND ORGAN COMPANY BUT EITHER QUIT OR WAS FIRED WHEN HE CLASHED WITH LAURENS HAMMOND. DE GROOTSTE RODDELS OVER HAMMOND EN LESLIEġ.

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