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A tonewheel or tone wheel is a simple electromechanical apparatus used for generating electric musical notes in electromechanical organ instruments such as the Hammond organ and in telephony to generate audible signals such as ringing tone. It was developed by Thaddeus Cahill for the telharmonium c. 1896 and patented in 1897.
NOTE: Tonewheel will be CLOSED Friday May 24 through Monday May 27 for the National Holiday Welcome to the Tonewheel General Hospital web site. Based in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, we specialize in Hammond organ and Leslie speaker service, refurbishment, parts and rentals.
Hammond was inspired to create the tonewheel or "phonic wheel" by listening to the moving gears of his electric clocks and the tones produced by them. He gathered pieces from a second-hand piano he had purchased for $15 and combined it with a tonewheel generator in a similar form to the telharmonium, albeit much shorter and more compact.
May 25, 2016 · With only two Drawbars to control the pedal waveform, the pedal tones in early Hammonds (A, B-1 & B-2, etc.) sounded a bit dull. In the most popular model Hammonds (B-3, C-3, etc.) the tonewheels of this octave are cut with a more complex pattern to improve the sound (See Complex Tone Wheels ).
Jul 12, 2005 · Tonewheel. The primary component of a unique method of sound generation, invented by Laurens Hammond, which produces musical tones by means of an electromagnetic tone generator. The tonewheel is approximately two inches in diameter and contains a series of notches (“teeth”) around its rim.
Tonewheel organs generate sound by shaped mechanical wheels, that rotate in front of electromagnetic pickups. Each tonewheel assembly creates tones with low harmonic content, close to a sine wave. Inside the coil is a permanent magnet.
