Members koolkat Posted December 11, 2011 Members Share Posted December 11, 2011 Kind of vague here, but there's a Lowrey organ going for $200 dollars at a local "re-store" (sort of a non-profit second hand/drop off store). I think this is the one; it's very, very similar: I didn't get a chance to play it, but the guy in the store said it works fine. From the youtube demos, they seem not bad, any thoughts; grab it or just kind of steer clear? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ChipCurtis Posted December 11, 2011 Members Share Posted December 11, 2011 Don't know for sure about how it sounds, but hey, for $200 I'd take this as a beautiful piece of furniture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Synthaholic Posted December 11, 2011 Members Share Posted December 11, 2011 Is it a Lowrey Genie? They didn't have great reputations in the 1970s, although it was better than the dreaded Kimball. I personally never liked their slightly slanted keyboards. Does it have a detachable pedalboard, or just the cheaper attached one? I would spend an hour or so playing it. For $200, it would at least look nice in your living room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members turretg Posted December 11, 2011 Members Share Posted December 11, 2011 In an unrelated vein...I want an Eminent 310 Unique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mate_stubb Posted December 11, 2011 Members Share Posted December 11, 2011 If you are one of those people that enjoys messing around with old off brand organs, and has the space and muscle to move them, you can fill a warehouse with the cast off home organs of the your parents' generation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wildpaws Posted December 12, 2011 Members Share Posted December 12, 2011 Some of those old home organs sounded decent and had some fun features when they were new. My parents had a Wurlitzer theater style with a full pedalboard and built in Leslie, it also had a small "Orbit synthesizer" keyboard as a small third manual as well as an auto rhythm section. Unfortunately as many of these old home organs start to malfunction (as most of them will), it is impossible to get parts for them any longer and you have to become a good electronics technician/repairman and repair them yourself with generic parts. I would not invest any money in one as I don't have the time, desire, or skills to constantly undertake repairs, it's enough keeping what I do have up and running.Clyde Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Timelord Posted December 12, 2011 Members Share Posted December 12, 2011 I had a Lowry Lincolnwood back in the mid 60's. Bought it used, it was very unreliable, but I was lucky to have a very good organ tech close by.It had a built in Leslie and auto rhythm (failed almost every time that I turned it on) I finished up donating it to a local church as their Baldwin had gone 'belly up" Moved away from the area so do not know what happened to the animal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Synthaholic Posted December 12, 2011 Members Share Posted December 12, 2011 Some of those old home organs sounded decent and had some fun features when they were new. My parents had a Wurlitzer theater style with a full pedalboard and built in Leslie, it also had a small "Orbit synthesizer" keyboard as a small third manual as well as an auto rhythm section. Unfortunately as many of these old home organs start to malfunction (as most of them will), it is impossible to get parts for them any longer and you have to become a good electronics technician/repairman and repair them yourself with generic parts. I would not invest any money in one as I don't have the time, desire, or skills to constantly undertake repairs, it's enough keeping what I do have up and running. Clyde That was the Wurlitzer 4573, which I played throughout my teen years: When I was 12 years old, my folks brought me to the Wurlitzer store in the mall, where they bought that organ for me to replace my Hammond M100. When I was trying it out at the store, the manager heard me playing and offered me a job on the spot. Since you had to be 13 to work in New Jersey, I started work the day after my birthday, and continued working for them for almost 3 years, until my family moved to Florida. They would have me demonstrate organs, and moved me around the different North/Central Jersey malls and stores. I would draw a crowd to hear me play, and the salesmen would sidle up to a potential customer and say "Hey - if this kid can do it, so can you!" Sold a lot of organs for them! I was told that I was the youngest employee ever for Wurlitzer. Funny, I recently found an old paycheck stub from those days. I believe I made $1.75/hr. It bought a lot of comic books! It was finally donated to Goodwill or somebody when my mom moved from her Florida beachside house about 5 years ago. But I put a TON of hours on that organ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wildpaws Posted December 12, 2011 Members Share Posted December 12, 2011 That Wurlitzer 4573 was a similar model to the one I was talking about, but not the exact same model. It was already getting hard to find parts and/or techs that could service it in the last half of the '80s. Oddly enough, the twin manual Lowery portable I used in bands in the late '60s was totally reliable. I bought it new in '64 and it was the same as one made by Lowery for Gibson, never had any issues with it up muntil I sold it in the early '70s.Clyde Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members tim gueguen Posted December 12, 2011 Members Share Posted December 12, 2011 If I were crazy enough to go hunting for '70s organs, this is the one I'd be looking for. [video=youtube;V-jOMhHEts0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-jOMhHEts0 Yamaha E70. Best known for its central role on the Who's "Eminence Front." [video=youtube;-u0GJdNu1Ds]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u0GJdNu1Ds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JeffLearman Posted December 12, 2011 Members Share Posted December 12, 2011 If it has tonewheels, snag it and ask questions later. Garth Hudson made great music with one, and you probably can too, if you can find a Leslie or figure out how to plug it into a Ventilator (Leslie sim, $500). If it's all electronic, meh. You can easily tell the tonewheel ones because they have a motor running and you can hear stuff spinning inside when it's on but not being played. Electronic ones just sit there and might have a bit of 60-cycle hum. Older transistor models might have a fan, so make sure you're not confusing a fan with tonewheels. They don't really sound like a fan; other than that I can't quite explain it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mate_stubb Posted December 12, 2011 Members Share Posted December 12, 2011 Lowreys have tonewheels? I don't think so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Conbrio Posted December 13, 2011 Members Share Posted December 13, 2011 Lowreys have tonewheels? I don't think so. +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Timelord Posted December 13, 2011 Members Share Posted December 13, 2011 Mine did not ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wildpaws Posted December 13, 2011 Members Share Posted December 13, 2011 Never saw a Lowery with tonewheels, never saw any organ but Hammond that had tonewheels.Clyde Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Timelord Posted December 13, 2011 Members Share Posted December 13, 2011 Sorry ,Double post, Edit Post refuses to work!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mate_stubb Posted December 13, 2011 Members Share Posted December 13, 2011 Never saw a Lowery with tonewheels, never saw any organ but Hammond that had tonewheels. Clyde There IS one other company who manufactured a tonewheel organ. And, they still make it today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Conbrio Posted December 13, 2011 Members Share Posted December 13, 2011 There IS one other company who manufactured a tonewheel organ. And, they still make it today. This? [video=youtube;6ybYzTsQ360] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mate_stubb Posted December 13, 2011 Members Share Posted December 13, 2011 The company is Pari.E. Italian of course, the same crowd that makes Hamichord and Crumar organs. http://www.parieorgan.it/organ_en.htm The original Pari was making tonewheel organs back in the 70s. History: http://www.dairiki.org/HammondWiki/PariOrgans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Conbrio Posted December 13, 2011 Members Share Posted December 13, 2011 Cool. What did I win? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wildpaws Posted December 13, 2011 Members Share Posted December 13, 2011 The company is Pari.E. Italian of course, the same crowd that makes Hamichord and Crumar organs.http://www.parieorgan.it/organ_en.htmThe original Pari was making tonewheel organs back in the 70s.History: http://www.dairiki.org/HammondWiki/PariOrgans Very interesting, I've never heard of them and have been around Hammonds for many years.Clyde Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members oceancruze1 Posted December 14, 2011 Members Share Posted December 14, 2011 I took my first organ lessons on a Lowrey in the 80's they were nice organs sounded great, and had a real Leslie in them, that is probably like a $10K+ organ in its day but their list prices were unrealistically figured based upon giving you alot for your trade so you didn't feel so bad if it is what I think it is, near the top of Lowrey's line and they sounded great. It will have a nice warm sound and like a real organ with the tremolo and leslie sound, well worth the $200 bucks but not very saleable if you want to sell it after the novelty wears off unless you find someone that wants an organ and not a keyboard. Its mostly old folks that play the old organs now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members koolkat Posted December 14, 2011 Author Members Share Posted December 14, 2011 Thanks for all the replies. After doing some research and considering some of the replies in this thread, I opted out. I was mainly looking at investment and re-sale value, which I now realize, won't be worth the hassle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members oceancruze1 Posted December 14, 2011 Members Share Posted December 14, 2011 Its still one hell of an organ for $200 you can pretend your in Lawrence Welks Orchestra! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Synthaholic Posted December 14, 2011 Members Share Posted December 14, 2011 Its still one hell of an organ for $200 you can pretend your in Lawrence Welks Orchestra! Good drugs will do that, also, but that costs more than $200. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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