New guy introduction and thanks for all the information.

[theolog]

I've lurked here for years and decided to finally join up. The information provided here out of knowledge and experience is absolutely invaluable!

10 years ago I owned a Rodgers 535, and currently have a Wurlitzer-branded 1993-vintage Viscount C-250 that was given to me and delivered free of charge when a local Methodist church decided to go the guitar and drums route. I actually love the sound (I know some here hate those organs) and for its time with a little reverb is really delightful to play a wide variety of literature rather convincingly. Not the best balance or construction, and a worthless swell pedal, but a great home practice instrument that has served me well!

Unfortunately...the computer boards decided to fry themselves and are currently with Norm in Wisconsin. Hopefully it can be saved, otherwise I will be heavily scouring the glut of unwanted organs on the market and figuring out what plan B is!

While a new Johannus Opus 270 would be a dream, I don't think I can convince my wife of that; additionally, there are so many used quality medium and large digital instruments out there at affordable price points that it may not be wise to buy new.

I guess I'll cross that bridge when I hear back from Norm.

Thanks again for all the information you've unwittingly provided me over the years!

[indianajo]

Welcome to the site.
I would be happy to own a working Wurlitzer/viscount, but the adjective "working" is the problem, I understand. I'm willing to personaly replace components that are easily sourced and identified as the problem but debugging digital organ boards past the small scale integration IC era is something best left to organizations that own $500000 test machines; Or large warehouses full of junk organs.
The 500 Rodgers were another model cursed by short life, I read here. That saved me from contemplating a $5000 "bargain" in town on craigslist. Something about the keyboards that wears out. So you have had your share of live fast/die young organs. I hope you find something more long lived in the future. It sounds as if you practice considerble time if you wore out a set of rodgers 500 keyboard. I too enjoy playing a device or instrument that I have acquired, rather than just buying and selling on the auction market.
I hope you find something with a llitle better reputation for longevity that won't break your budget. You will find a lot of opinions here, and some valuable experience. Perhaps some controversy. To start some of that I'll throw out the red flag- for reliability and inexpenive repairability, try analog.
To open another can of worms, is a Viscount suitable for reusing the key pedal and tab contacts to run a midi encoder, and then a PC running standard software like Jorgan or Hauptwerk? Opinions might be found on organforum midi section, and also the hauptwerk forum.
What sort of pieces do you play? A genre of literature? improvisations?
Enjoy yourself.

[jbird604]

The Johannus Opus 270 would indeed be a fine choice for a new home organ. Several years ago I helped a dealer set up an Opus 27 (I think that was the model number... the immediate predecessor of the current 270). The console was very nice, much more solid and sturdy than the cheaper fake-wood consoles you get from a lot of brands at that price level. Stop tabs and other hardware seemed to be quite well made.

And the sound was amazing. It went into a smallish church with a stone floor and high wooden ceiling. With nothing but the built-in speaker system it sounds like a pipe organ playing when you walk into the church. There are five complete sets of samples onboard, and you can use the computer software (I suppose they haven't changed it) call "Intonat" to voice it as you please, selecting a default sample for each stop. Not all the samples are great, but there are certainly lovely stops available for every tab. And of course you can switch among all the samples using the menus and pistons. Altogether a fine home organ, and quite reasonably priced.

Let's hope Norm can save your Viscount. But if you have to go looking for a used organ, there are a lot of Rodgers and Allen models suitable for home use. If I were looking for one right now, I'd try to find one with full features -- AGO pedals, a flexible capture action, MIDI, and other features that are relatively easy to implement with modern digital technology. I'd get the best one I could afford and had room for. From poking around ebay, I think one could get a pretty good and fairly modern organ for under $5K, if you know what to look for.

Glad you joined up. Please post and add your opinions to the rest!

- - - Updated - - -

The Johannus Opus 270 would indeed be a fine choice for a new home organ. Several years ago I helped a dealer set up an Opus 27 (I think that was the model number... the immediate predecessor of the current 270). The console was very nice, much more solid and sturdy than the cheaper fake-wood consoles you get from a lot of brands at that price level. Stop tabs and other hardware seemed to be quite well made.

And the sound was amazing. It went into a smallish church with a stone floor and high wooden ceiling. With nothing but the built-in speaker system it sounds like a pipe organ playing when you walk into the church. There are five complete sets of samples onboard, and you can use the computer software (I suppose they haven't changed it) call "Intonat" to voice it as you please, selecting a default sample for each stop. Not all the samples are great, but there are certainly lovely stops available for every tab. And of course you can switch among all the samples using the menus and pistons. Altogether a fine home organ, and quite reasonably priced.

Let's hope Norm can save your Viscount. But if you have to go looking for a used organ, there are a lot of Rodgers and Allen models suitable for home use. If I were looking for one right now, I'd try to find one with full features -- AGO pedals, a flexible capture action, MIDI, and other features that are relatively easy to implement with modern digital technology. I'd get the best one I could afford and had room for. From poking around ebay, I think one could get a pretty good and fairly modern organ for under $5K, if you know what to look for.

Glad you joined up. Please post and add your opinions to the rest!

[theolog]

Thanks for the warm welcome, guys!

I paid $5,000 for my 535 when I bought it from R.A. Daffer years ago. I was really happy with it. I lived in an apartment, and it was very adequate, especially with headphones. I ended up selling it to a Roman Catholic Church in the midwest somewhere before I went to graduate school.

While I'm hoping the C250 can be saved because I really like it, I'm super excited about looking into a new-to-me used Allen, Rodgers, or Johannus; and something under $5,000 would certainly be sweet! From what I've seen here and on eBay that seems totally reasonable. If Norm can repair the boards, I may begin a serious organ search and then donate the C250 to a local church or aspiring organist. I had a Hammond given to me as a lad, so it would be neat to "pay it forward like that, especially since the organ was given to me.

Though I haven't been active in the organ world for quite some time other than occasional substituting, my main interest is competent service playing in the Anglican/Episcopal tradition. Most of my repetoire is Baroque and French Classic; I'm especially fond of Buxtehude and DeGrigny. My next projects (if I still have an organ) are to work on Alec Rowley's Benedictus and Healey Willan's Fanfare. My weak areas are definitely Romantic music and fugues!