THE ANSWERS
The thing you’re obsessing over is the Leslie rotating speaker cabinet. Originally designed for Hammond organs, it became popular with guitarists in the 60s after Chicago blues icon Buddy Guy, Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys and The Beatles, recorded with them. It’s that swirly sound you hear on George Harrison’s parts on stuff like Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, and Eric Clapton’s Badge. Sharing a stage with the real deal is exhilarating. But the big fat fly trudging through the ointment is the sheer weight of the thing. If you don’t have roadies, forget it.
01 Much missed‘ Red neck Jazz’ genius Danny Gatton could emulate a Leslie, and a Hammond B3 organ, by rolling off his Tele’s tone knob and cranking up his Fender amp’ s vibrato circuit. If you’re only interested in bagging the swirl of a Leslie then consider the Dunlop JHM7J imi Hendrix Uni-Vibe (c£119), which is heavily associated with Jimi at his most psychedelic.
02 There area bunch of things within the working sofa rotating speaker cabinet that you need to consider. Your classic Leslie consist sofa tube amplifier, a rotating treble horn and a bass woofer. What gives the Leslie its unique sound is that the organist/ guitarist can control the speed of the moving parts. The slow setting is known as‘ chorale ’. Fast is best described as our old friend‘ tremolo ’. Throw in the Leslie’ s now iconic over driven grunt that emerges when the internal pre amp is pushed too hard and you can see why getting a convincing emulation of a rotating cabinet isn’ t as straightforward as it appears.
03 There are enough Leslie simulators out there to keep your head spinning. Narrow your search and spend some quality time with the Strymon Lex (c£299). This stompbox addresses the real thing’s idiosyncrasies with controls for the rotor speed, treble horn volume, and preamp drive. What makes it so effective is a mic distance control which gives the illusion of space around the virtual Leslie, and the slow/fast footswitch. Step off the switch and the effect gradually slows down; apply some sole and it speeds up. The L ex gives you everything but the bad back – we also rate the Neo Instruments Mini Vent II.