Yeah, the "top" is the most important part.
That's what's left of a B, alright, instantly identified by the quadrafoil design on the top side of the furniture. There are some great pictures in there -- the B&W for one thing, plus the visceral scent of sweaty women, spilt beer and a sticky floor.
Back before Hammond stopped making the B & C and other tone wheel models in 1974, many, many examples of the B3 had their legs sawed off, road handles attached, and the top of the lid knocked off so someone could put an auxiliary keyboard on top. (there's a lip on the hinged lid that covers the leading edge of the lower manual that's nearly always missing)
The original wood finish was typically spray-painted flat black to hide the cigarette burns and beer rings, and thus you had a "roadworthy" Hammond, set to go. All 900 lbs of it.
Of course, people today are aghast, but it's very much like the folks who ripped out the modulator deck on "old" tube transmitters so they'd have a lighter CW rig or whatever. I mean, who uses AM anymore ? A modern plastic radio is the same, just like an electronic "keyboard," ah-hehnh !
And to Bear's comment --
Checked out Ms. Dennerlin's playing... if anyone cares for a review?
No doubt she can play the Hammond technically very well.
I mean the notes are all there, but there's no soul. The solos don't seem to have any focus, they're kinda flat all the way through. There's no tension so no release. Doesn't grab me at all.
_-_-bear
I got the same impression. At least she's not reading sheet music to play, but yes, she seemed very mechanical. Precise, but sterile.
In the same thinking, a good drummer isn't really noticed, but the obnoxious ones with too many trills stand out, and
not in a good way. Once heard in a club, by the joint's owner or manager, "Okay you musicians and the drummer, set up over here ..."
Yet, good or bad, a drummer really can't be "replaced" by a drum machine. The small variance of a human's playing, responding to the rest of the band, is magic. Just like Doppler out of the Leslie. You know it when it's fake. Same with tone wheel musical notes.
