One heart, three cabinets
Electrically, B-3 and C-3 are the same instrument — tonewheel generator, touch-response percussion, two 61-key manuals, 25-note pedalboard. The C-3 differs in cabinetry: no legs, a full back panel, the console built for a church or a studio rather than the stage. British players in particular made the C-3 their own. Because they share one serial line, our decoder treats them together: the same number is the same year.
The A-100 (1959–1965) uses the same generator but adds a built-in amplifier, speakers and reverb — the home organ that needs no separate tone cabinet. The A-105 is essentially a C-3 with the same built-in sound system. If your room has no space for a cabinet tower, the A-100 family is the one to look for; its own amplifier also pairs naturally with the unbalanced 147/145 Leslie.
What that means for a Leslie
- B-3 / C-3 consoles have no speakers — they need a cabinet either way, Leslie or tone cabinet.
- With a 122-family cabinet, consoles hook up balanced (6H) via kit 6122 — the cleanest, most classic sound.
- With a 147-family cabinet, consoles need the 6W kit; the A-100, having its own amplifier, is the natural 147 partner.
- Our Leslie compatibility table lists the organ×cabinet pairs and kit numbers.
The money, October 2026
Dealer observations from the same week (asking prices, organ reconditioned before sale):
- B-3 (1974) + Leslie 122 — $8,500 (listed at $14,500, cut); a “very nice” B-3 + 122 — $13,500.
- C-3 + Leslie 122 — $6,995. The same machine in a plainer cabinet, roughly two thousand cheaper.
- Fully restored Hammond with Leslie — from $8,950 at a restoration dealer.
The condition ladder for a B-3, from tracked observations: project $2,000–5,000 · working $5,000–10,000 · restored $12,000–20,000 · both restored (organ + 122) $15,000–25,000. Non-working home organs from other brands are a different universe — usually worth nothing; a B-3 is never in that bucket, but a gutted one is close.
Honest gap: no dated A-100 price surfaced in our research. One widely repeated figure ($7–9k at auction) had no traceable source, so we do not print it.
Transport, before you fall in love
A B-3 console is about 425 lbs, a Leslie adds 65–90 lbs, and the pedalboard travels separately. Local moves run $500–1,200; long distances $1,500–3,000+. Budget a technician visit ($100–300) after the move, and remember that restoration is billed at about $150/hour plus parts.
Which one should you buy?
- B-3 — the icon, the resale king, the stage look. You pay the icon tax.
- C-3 — the identical sound for less, if nobody at the gig is photographing the legs.
- A-100 — the practical one for a home without cabinets; still the same tonewheels underneath.
- For all three, the same due diligence: date it, check the tonewheel generator, and price the Leslie separately.