Quote:
Originally Posted by belmont bob
From January 1968 until September 1980 I worked for the Electro Music Company in Pasadena. This was the company that Don Leslie began after WW2, and was purchased by CBS Inc. in 1966 along with Fender Guitar in Fullerton as the start of a musical instrument division. I knew Don Leslie personally and was the cabinet engineer and designer of many Leslie models.
His business during those first years after the war was so fragile that he would never let customers see his very small facility in west Pasadena. Laurens Hammond would have gladly put him out of business but I think he underestimated him and probably never saw the CBS buyout coming. After Hammond’s death, the two companies got together in 1968 and produced the first Leslie to be sold with a new Hammond Organ. In 1980, Hammond bought the company from CBS and moved the manufacturing to the Chicago area. Don Leslie had retired by that time.
During much of the late 60’s and into the early 70’s Leslie manufactured about 100 speaker systems a day. But the market began to dry up with advancements in electronics, and today a small number of the products are still manufactured for the “purists” who will never settle for digital sound.
I have a soft spot for Leslie because that’s where I met my wife. It was nice little company to work for but they didn’t pay worth a crap!
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Hey, where was the Electro Music Company located? As a musician, local architecture/history enthusiast, and Pasadena resident, this interests me on so many different levels!