rotary cabinet

Dig those head-spinning tones? Here’s a step-by-step guide for making your own Leslie-inspired cabinet.

The Leslie speaker was originally designed and voiced for the Hammond organ, and almost no Hammond organist worth his salt will be seen traveling or playing without one. We associate the sound of the Leslie with the Hammond so much that when plugging a guitar into a Leslie, a listening layman would most likely say, “Wow! Your guitar kinda sounds like an organ!” The frequencies of the speakers and the design of the cabinet were geared for the Hammond organ, so while plugging a guitar into it sounds really beautiful, it makes the guitar take on organ-like characteristics. This has been used to great effect by many guitarists throughout the years.

The Leslie appears on classic tracks by Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmour, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck, George Harrison, and countless others who used the seductive sounds of spinning speakers to add a unique touch to their tracks. Check out “Cold Shot” by Stevie Ray Vaughan, “Max’s Tune” by the Jeff Beck Group, and “Any Colour You Like” (Wembley 1974) by Pink Floyd for some excellent examples of rotary-speaker guitar tones.

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