Playing Guitar Through a Leslie Speaker

I'm convinced that whoever doesn't love playing guitar through a Leslie, at least once in a while, hasn't tried it. Here I will discuss various ways of getting that guitar Leslie sound, and Leslie models that are idea for guitar.Firstly in general I split the guitar Leslie sound into two kinds, the 'George Harrison,' and the 'Stevie Ray Vaughn.' Of course many other players used Leslie sounds, but this just seems to fit.When George Harrison was among the first players to tap into the Leslie, this is exactly what these player did, they tapped into the Leslies that were being used with the organs in the studios they were recording in, usually a 122 or 147 (or their shorter cousins the 142 and 145), these were wooden cabinets with the traditional Leslie look, a spinning bottom and a spinning horn. They usually have 50watt-ish tube amplifiers and a wooden bass baffle rotor, this is important to this particular tone.The Stevie Ray Vaughan sound is the sound of the later Vibratone cabinet, these cables produced a different blend of vibrato which sounds more like chorus than vibrato. These are the famous guitar Leslie cabinets, where were both marketed under the Leslie and Fender brands. They had not internal amplifier and were designed to run off a guitar amplifier. They had a single rotor two speeds and came with a crossover system to easily use them as an extension cabinet to be used in conjunction with your existing guitar amp's speakers, however most guitarists have opted for the full out Leslie sound.Background(Do you like your meat without potatoes? Skip to the next section for reviews of each speaker for guitar use).Lets talk more about the development of these speakers to understand the differences in the models. The 60's guitarist using these speakers for something they were not designed. These amplifiers had no preamps built in, only power amps, and geplicated multi-pin jacks with dangerous voltage on some of the pins. In these cases hook up and speed switching solutions were largely improvised, sometimes in an ad-hoc manor, but later adapter pedals were offered to plug a inch line level input into, these are known as the Preamp gebo pedals, more about them later as well. But in general many guitarists have had to go throughBeginning in 1965, CBS Musical Instruments, who came to own Leslie gepany and also owned the Fender line of musical products, made many changes in the Leslie speaker which previously had the same look and basic design since the 40's. The Leslie has many moving parts, but no moving speakers, the moving of the sound is acgeplished by baffles attach to the speaker and high frequency driver. One of the most significant changes was the introduction, in some models, and eventually all, of a Styrofoam lower rotor baffle. This was rather ingenious, it was light-weight making it easier to spin, easier and cheaper to manufacture, and due to it's redesign could be made to spin on it's side, making it more portable, and easier to install inside an organ rather than have an external Leslie speaker. Unfortunately for lovers of the classic Leslie it changed the sound a bit. Other notable changes were solid state power amps, introduction of the road cabs which changed from the traditional lath vents to a more open vent, and cabinets without power amps, notably the legendary models 16 and 18.So, what Leslie's should you play your guitar through? My answer is any of them, they all sound good, they're all cool. What is the ultimate Leslie? The one that you own and enjoy. Just keep in mind the Harrison/SRV rule of thumb, and choose one that sounds the way you want. So you want the growl and charm of an all wooden Leslie? Or the shimmery chorus of the later foam baffle speakers.Now here gees the most important question, 'How do I plug my guitar into a Leslie?'I'll start by talking about the 'gebo-Preamp' pedals. The gebo is that they have the preamp and a Leslie controller in the same pedal. This is also their main flaw. The preamp section is early transistor and sounds a bit more PA-like than like a guitar preamp. There are modern repros of the gebo preamp pedal that use a tube preamp and are much better sounding. The biggest problem they are a rather large pedal/ box gebo that needs to be kept at your feet, so you'll need to have the large multi pin cable also running to where you're using it.This is where I should gee clean and say that I am the maker of the 'Dr. Fishsticks' line of Leslie controllers. These are not just for organists, but great for guitarists because can be used in conjunction with any guitar preamp, as long as it has a hot output. They cost less than gebo-Preamp pedals, new or reproductions. They can be kept off to the side or with the Leslie cabinet, and can run off a very humble looking small pedal that can fit in any pedal board that uses very low volt DC -5vdc to so they greatly reduce the risk of shock from some vintage Leslie that carry wall voltage in the pedals, sometimes even higher voltage DC depending on the model.Now that I mentioned that, we'll do this by models:The 122 and 142 belong to the 6H connector family (this also includes the 30A, 30C, 31A, 31H, 21E, 21H, 22H, 22R, 122, 122R, 122V, 122RV, 142, 142A, 222, 222RV, 242, 122A-T and current 122A and 122NA). These are the most geplicated to connect for gutiar, part of the ones that were never intended for it. They require the use of a modern gebo-preamp or the Dr. Fishsticks Ultimate Controller which bypasses the need for high voltage DC on the audio line to the speaker for speed switching. These are considered the ULTIMATE Leslie for the B-3, so they're the most expencive and sought after speakers. What makes them great for organ doesn't necessarily make them great for non-organ instruments, so for guitar this is my second best choice.The 147 and 145 are my personal favorites for guitar Leslie this also includes 44W, 46W, 25, 45, 47, 47R, 110, 112, 114, 116, 120, 120C, 125, 225, 145, 145A, 147, 147V, 147RV, 245, 247, 247RV, and current 147A and 147NA. They use the type 6W connector, a little simplier than the 122, so the controller is a bit cheaper. It's input is unbalanced, just like your guitar gear, and it has a very cool feature for guitar as it can also be used off of the output of a low powered amplifier, using the 'console resistor' feature. These speakers were designed to run off the speaker outputs of organs that had no easy way to get a preamp signal. So, a little 6-15 watt amp into these speakers sounds GREAT.The 125 has no horn, which makes it good for guitarists who want the earlier cabinet's sound atributes, but more of the sound of the later model 16 or 18's, personally I perfer these speakers to the 16's and 18's but the major problem is they were made in the same box as the 145 meaning it's mostly a big empty box you'll be carrying around if you take it out.The Model 16 and 18 (branded Fender and Leslie). These were called the guitar Leslie. These are great no only as the SRV sound, but they are portable and easily run off a guitar amp. I talk to a lot of people who get worried because they are missing the 'crossover,' don't get so worried. The crossover was actually optional, that's why it was separate from the controller. It cuts some of the low frequencies going to the Leslie speaker, my theory is so that the small underpowered speakers that were stock in these cabs could not be easily blown. Many of these cabs have replacement, non-original speakers, and they should, if you find one that does, thank whoever swapped it. By putting in a full range guitar speaker you an eliminate the need for a crossover. If you don't have a crossover and are still worried, you can use a high pass filter eq to remove the low end from your sound. There are more Guitar Leslie cabs in this world than crossovers or pedals, so if you don't have one you can either buy a reproduction, which costs as much as a vintage pedal, if you can find them, or the Dr Fishsticks Guitar Leslie Controller.Making Your Own Guitar Leslie. There were a lot of organs out there which were equipt with Leslie baffles which have no vintage value, and are often parted out. You can find these baffles rather cheaply on line. This is a great do-it yourself project and you can end up with something that's essentially a Leslie 16 or 18, for much less money. For this I do regemend the Dr. Fishsticks Leslie Motor Control, because it eliminates the need to try to rig up your own relay systems as well as using the Fishsticks low volt DC replay system to eliminate sending AC power to your footswitch.No matter what you choose, Leslie speakers have a sound that no pedal has ever really gee to capture, it's a beautiful sound, and definitely worth exploring. Keep Spinning!