200-series Wurlitzers
Pros:
Iconic Wurlitzer sound
Space-age chrome and plastic styling
Highly playable mechanical action
Well-constructed solid state amplifiers
Extremely serviceable, with lots of replacement parts available
Cons:
Lid is more prone to mechanical rattle than earlier models
200 amplifier is somewhat difficult to service and a little noisy (although the 200A is excellent)
Some earlier 200 series models need modification to reduce the noise floor
The Wurlitzer electronic piano is one of those rare commercial products that consistently got better as time went on. Although it is clear that Wurlitzer prioritized economical designs, it never let cost-cutting get in the way of producing an incredible instrument. The 200 series deserve all of the hype and more.
Mechanical noise in 200-series Wurlitzers
The 200 series was the product of a major redesign. By shrinking the footprint of the piano and designing a lid from ABS plastic, Wurlitzer was able to cut at least 25 lbs from the weight of the piano. Finally, here is a Wurlitzer electronic piano can safely be picked up by one person, if a little awkwardly. (This was an aspiration of Wurlitzer from the beginning. 1950s advertisements show the 112 being picked up by the handle, which is not something we recommend attempting.)
The downside of the lid is that it contributes to a lot of mechanical noise, especially in the 200A, which has lid-mounted speakers. This can be mitigated by adding foam strips, or refreshing the foam that Wurlitzer initially installed.
The Wurlitzer 200 amplifier
The Wurlitzer 200 amplifier is fully solid state. It has all the bells and whistles one would expect from a solid state keyboard amplifier: voltage regulation, a transistor driver circuit, and silicon transistors throughout.
The tremolo is bias-shifting, so there's no optocoupler to troubleshoot. This means that, if Wurlitzer 200 tremolo fails, you can get it back up and running with basic components that can be found anywhere.
The Wurlitzer 200A amplifier
The optocoupler tremolo in this model requires an LDR that is no longer available. We have been working through our stock of new-old-stock LDRs. We would be interested in exploring the production of replacement LDRs if there is demand for them. Learn more about requesting reproduction products.
Student and teacher models — 206 & 207, etc.
Wurlitzer had been selling electronic pianos to schools ever since the 112 was released. The 140 series also had a student model—the 146, which shipped with disconnected tremolo and an extremely complicated wiring harness. The wiring harness allowed a series of 146 keyboards to connect to one another, and then to a gadget known as the 830 Monitor.[2] This allowed the instructor to listen through headphones to individual or groups of students play.
The 206 and its associated teacher models refined the student piano concept, because they were built specifically for the classroom. Although the keyboard part was more or less the same as the regular 200 models, each student piano was mounted on a tolexed console base that housed the wiring connection.
The teacher piano is much different than the regular 200/200A. Instead of a conventional faceplate, the front of the keyboard contains all of the controls that were formerly housed in external devices like the 830 monitor. The electronics for these assemblies occupy most of the amp rail, and the PCB is tucked vertically behind the teacher controls. Without the accompanying classroom pianos, the teacher piano's communications controls are useless. However, it works just like a conventional 200/200A, and can be modified for tremolo and an aux output.
If you have a Wurlitzer 206 or 206A, you will need to enable vibrato and the aux output in order to enjoy full functionality of the keyboard. In the 206, this is very easy, because the tremolo components are pre-populated in the PCB, and the aux is passive and only requires two resistors. The 206A is a little more complicated. The aux and tremolo circuits are present on the PCB, but they have not been populated with components, and their mounting holes are not labeled. Still, if you populate the board, you can very easily upgrade your 206A to 200A specifications.