07/10/2026
Disclosure Day has arrived! Please read this important message.
. . A L L G O O D T H I N G S . . .
Way back in circa 1962 I had my first encounter with a Hammond organ, an M-3 used in my Grandfather’s church. After the service my Aunt had me sit beside her while she demonstrated how the keys and drawbars worked. I was hooked.
From age five the Hammond organ has been in the foreground and background of my life. No matter what shiny path I came across I always returned to the Hammond organ in some form.
One of those returnings happened in 1994 when I purchased a 1963 Hammond C-3 organ and had a technician connect it to a Leslie 147.
As I watched him I remember thinking “I could do this stuff”. I had a year of electronics school in 1972 and tinkered with this or that piece of electronics gear over the years since.
So began my career as a Hammond organ technician, coincidentally, and, serendipitously at the same time as the rise of the World Wide Web. I joined the newly formed “HamTech” internet mailing list and consumed every bit of knowledge and lore I could find.
In 2004 I got the idea for Tonewheel General Hospital. I had to have parts on hand for my local tech work so why not see if I couldn’t make them available to a larger market.
And here we are, 22 years later with Tonewheel being a worldwide provider of parts and information to thousands of bands, musicians and technicans. Tonewheel has shipped approximately 50,000 packages across the globe.
I’m 69 years old now with a touch of arthritis in my hands and a body that complains about all those organ rentals I performed. It is time to pass the tape gun to a younger man whose enthusiasm, stamina and spirit remind me of myself long ago. That man is Matt Coker of Knoxville, TN, a jazz musician, musical instrument technician and small business owner.
Therefore, I, along with Matt, hereby announce and proclaim that Tonewheel General Hospital has been sold and new management will take effect on Monday, July 27, 2026. Matt expects the new web site to be operational on July 29 and to start shipping orders on August 3, 2026. I hope you all will join me in wishing Matt great success going forward.
My last day shipping orders will be Thursday, July 23, 2026. The web site and 800 phone number will transfer to Matt shortly thereafter. All email addresses used by Tonewheel under my leadership will be deactivated.
What’s to become of Doctor Drawbar? Well, I’m not going away. I think I have enough energy and time for one last adventure.
You can find me at DoctorDrawbar.com where I will continue my work with the Hammond organ. My new email address will be [email protected].
And if you are very, very lucky, I’ll see you, out there
