The Magnus Duette Chord Organ: Cleaning, Disassembly, and Recording
A while ago, we had a Magnus Duette chord organ that was really dirty but otherwise in great condition. It looked like it had been stored indoors for many years, but then moved outside for just enough time to become blanketed in pine needles. Then, we got ahold of it.
What kind of Wurlitzer should I choose if I’m bad at playing piano?
Wurlitzer electronic pianos are for everyone—you don’t need to play at a certain skill level in order to enjoy a Wurlitzer. In fact, some models of Wurlitzer were even designed to be used in the classroom, including the Wurlitzer 207A, which had an illuminated display that allowed students to see which keys were being pressed and their corresponding positions in musical notation.
All Wurlitzer electronic pianos are a great instruments, and different models have different advantages. However, if you’re a beginner, a Wurlitzer 200 or 200A in excellent mechanical condition is probably your best choice.
What an Online Listing Can Tell You About a Wurlitzer’s Condition
If you're looking at a listing for a used Wurlitzer electronic piano online, you're probably not going to have a lot of information about the condition of the amplifier or mechanical action. However, the photos and the description can tell you much more about the Wurlitzer’s condition than you might expect.
In this article, we explain how to read the listing to learn the maximum amount of information about a keyboard you are thinking about buying.
What a Wurlitzer’s Appearance Can Tell You About Its Condition
Most problems in a Wurlitzer can be repaired. In fact, some issues are even desirable, because they reduce the cost of the keyboard without increasing the work required to improve playability. For instance, if you already planned to replace key bushings, finding a Wurlitzer with extremely deteriorated bushing felt gives you the ability to negotiate on asking price without adding to your workload.
However, when you choose a vintage keyboard, you should take care to avoid a few extremely rare issues that will add complexity to a restoration. The two most important issues are environmental damage and impact damage. Environmental damage most often occurs when the keyboard has been stored in an extremely humid area or one with extreme temperature swings. Impact damage is sometimes evident in keyboards that have a history of extensive use, or were perhaps stored improperly.
How to Buy an Unrestored Wurlitzer: Risks, Prices & Scams
How can you tell if an unrestored Wurlitzer that is listed online is worth buying?
There is a short answer and a long answer. First, the short answer:
Just about every Wurly on earth is worth buying if you like it and it is in your budget. There are almost no problems with a Wurlitzer that are impossible to fix, and all of the consumable parts can and should be replaced anyway. Once you replace the consumable parts and fix the miscellaneous issues, your Wurlitzer will play amazingly. It is the best instrument on earth and you will be so happy that you took the time and the trouble to get one.
Careful readers may have noticed a couple of phrases: just about, almost. Those phrases are key to the rest of this guide.
How to make a dolly for your organ or electronic piano
We often make dollies specifically to handle the organs and electronic pianos that we have in the shop. There are a lot of benefits to making a custom-sized dolly. First of all, the dolly allows you to move the instrument from one location to another, which makes your studio or shop a flexible space. Most importantly, there are no commercially available dollies that can comfortably accommodate an instrument of this size. The first time we set out to make a dolly we thought we were doing something frivolous, but the advantages immediately became apparent and we never looked back.
How to buy a Wurlitzer electronic piano from an independent seller—for less than you think
Since Wurlitzer electronic pianos have been out of production for around 40 years now, the most reliable place to find them is on a selling platform like Reverb, eBay, or Facebook Marketplace. Generally, the seller is not a professional restorationist or even a flipper, but an individual who happens to have a keyboard and would like to sell it for money. Because we live in a capitalist society, one would think that many people would be familiar with the basic strategy of exchanging money for goods. This is not necessarily the case.
What makes the Tropical Fish M3 Preamp special
You may know already that, when we started making this preamp, it was so we could have a great-sounding way to power a Wurlitzer pickup. By that, I specifically mean add voltage to the Wurlitzer electronic piano reedbar, because it needs voltage in a similar way that a condenser microphone needs phantom power. But, as with all the amps we build, we wanted to do every aspect right, and build it to last.
New colors for the Tropical Fish M3 preamplifier
We originally planned to put the M3 preamplifier in mahogany cabinets only, but, while we were picking mahogany pieces at the lumber yard, we noticed a few other woods that looked interesting. We made a few test cabinets and really like how they turned out!
About the Whippany Melosonic / Realistic Musideck combo organ
There are a few model variations, one contains a drum machine (the 350), and one doesn't (the 300). All models that we have seen do have a vibrato control, and also all have independent control over the bass volume. The voice selections for the main voice selections include Flute, Diapason, Horn, Woodwind, Reed, Full Organ. These selections essentially equalize the same tone to have more highs and cut through more.
How to replace a Wurlitzer electronic piano reed
Replacing a reed on your Wurlitzer electronic piano is not difficult. There are a few important things to keep in mind for the best results. One, the reed needs to be as close to perfectly centered in the ‘comb-shaped’ pickup as possible. Two, the reed has a bit of wiggle room on the reed screw, and where the reed sits (favoring forwards or backwards) impacts the intonation. Three, the tightness of the reed screw matters. Four, there are different sized reeds for the different models of Wurlitzer electronic pianos, as well as the different registers of your piano. Five, the solder ‘pyramid’ on the tip of the reed, which is the main area of tuning the reed, should be a symmetrical pyramid for the best sound (but this may not be of importance to you if you are buying a pre-tuned reed).
What do Jack Springs do? And, What are they?
The jack spring is a small, thin gauged spring about 1” tall that sits between the whip and the fly on your 140 or 200 series Wurlitzer. These are also in upright and grand pianos and come in a few sizes depending on the model of your piano/keyboard.
Wurlitzer 140 vs. 200 vs. 200A: What’s the Difference?
Wurlitzer in the 140 series are transitional models: more reliable than Wurlitzer’s earlier electronic pianos, but not as portable as later models. On the other hand, the 200-series is the iconic final iteration of Wurlitzer keyboards: smaller, lighter, more chrome. If there’s a Wurlitzer 140 (or any of its many variants, from the 140b to the 145) that has caught your eye, you may be wondering if buying it is a good idea. How does it stack up against the 200a? Does it require more work? What are the practical differences between them? This guide is here to help.
The 1980 Wurlitzer 200A Electronic Piano
I would like to start by saying that in our years of dealing with electronic pianos only a few 1980 Wurlitzer EPs have come into our studio. This has always seemed odd to me until we did a little research and found that Wurlitzer produced far less electronic pianos in those last years- we’re talking on a year-to-year basis only a fraction of what they produced in previous years.
What to Look for When Buying a Wurlitzer 200 or 200a
Vintage instruments are the ‘real thing’ and were built to a different—possibly better—standard than modern ones. But let’s face it: some of them have been around the block, multiple times. And why not? They are decades old: someone should have enjoyed them. Hopefully, that person didn’t enjoy them too much and in the wrong way. (The sheet music holder is not a party convenience tray, necessarily.) For this reason, the vintage instrument market can be a scary and confusing place. Buying a Wurlitzer 200 or 200A is a prime example. Prices range, and if you have never have looked inside one, you possibly don’t know what to look for.
What should come with my Wurlitzer 200 or 200a?
Wurlitzer 200 and 200a keyboards came with some essential accessories and parts, as well as some that were optional at the original time of purchase. If you are less familiar with a Wurlitzer 200 series keyboard, you might overlook something that is critical and you’ll want to have. For the sake of this article, we will be discussing exterior items and accessories, not internal mechanicals, and will be focusing on the 200 and 200a. However, a lot of this information can be applied to the rest of the 200 series (such as 203, 210, 214, 206 and so on).
Are the jack springs weak or bad in my Wurlitzer 200?
Let me answer your question with another question, have they ever been changed before? Then, yes, they’re weak, and probably bad. In all seriousness, once installed, a jack spring (which is a pretty thin gauge) is constantly in use because it’s always under tension. Fast forward 50 years and you have a spring that is likely close to being worn out. Add rust or oxidation and they’re definitely worn out.
What do Jack Springs do? And, What are they?
The jack spring is a small, thin gauged spring about 1” tall that sits between the whip and the fly on your 140 or 200 series Wurlitzer. These are also in upright and grand pianos and come in a few sizes depending on the model of your piano/keyboard.
DI Boxes: What Do they Do and Why Might I Need One
All DI boxes have an input (usually a 1/4”), a small transformer, and an XLR output. They also typically have a ground lift toggle switch, a PAD to attenuate your signal and a thru output to send unaffected signal elsewhere.
The primary purpose of a DI box is to convert an unbalanced signal to a balanced signal and eliminate ground hum. A DI box also gives its user the proper impedance to then plug their guitar, bass or keyboard into a mixer for a cleaner, low noise signal.
Single Track Recording and A Boy From Tupelo
Before multi-track recording and overdubbing were available to recording studios, there were tape recorders that recorded only one track. These early tape recorders could be coupled with a mixing consoles which could sum together multiple microphones. These recording limitations were the norm in the early 1950s. At this time musical groups rehearsed their songs and recorded as many takes as it took to get the best version of their song recorded.
Do I need a mixing board for my studio?
This maybe the question on the decade, and there are many answers. Our short answer is that it depends on the size and complexity of the studio.
In the center of almost every audio recording studio, a mixing board, mixer, console (whatever you prefer to call it) is typically the focal point. The console has been the center hub of any studio ever since multi-track recording took off in the mid-1950s.