Please help and help me quickly!what is a schober recital organ?

[Conn Artist^.^]

I came across a craigslist ad about a free schober recital organ.I have been wandering through every ad on every website possible;but then i found this. i started jumping for joy but then i realized; what the heck is this? i have never seen this company or this organ before. I know nothing about it.I cant find info on it either.Is it worth driving across the state for it?The organ it would replace is my conn 645.Im replacing my conn because i need a classical organ.I only have 300$, and that has proven to be almost worthless to buy any organ.But this is FREE!Please tell me your opinion on this organ.

[gtc]

Google is your friend:

http://www.users.cloud9.net/~pastark/sorecita.htm

If it's in working condition, I'd say get in your truck and go!

For some tips about moving a large organ, see this thread on an RT-3:

http://www.organforum.com/forums/sho...ke-a-look-soon.

[davidecasteel]

I have a Recital organ. The Schober Recital Model organ is an AGO 2-manual, 32-pedal instrument built in the 1960s or 70s by its owner from kits. It is an analog divider organ using discrete transistors and other electronic parts (no ICs unless it has the newer single-board Tone Generator). If well-built (owners varied in their ability), they are good instruments with adequate resources, and sounded quite good when compared with comparable commercial units costing somewhat more. Because of their design (using discrete components) they are relatively easy to diagnose and repair when problems inevitably occur, but there are no established support facilities for them. Help can be obtained from the Schober Organ Orphans (first link above) and from the SchoberOrphans Yahoo! Group (http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group...guid=190012833 ).

Moving the organ is not difficult. It weighs only a couple of hundred pounds (the pedals are removable) and will fit through a 30" door. It is recommended that the 32 little circuit boards that are the stop filters that plug into the stop board be removed before moving, however.

If the organ is working properly, it will give good service and could be a nice practice organ or even do duty in a small church. The Recital Model does not have internal speakers or amplifiers--it was designed to play through a home high fidelity system or separate amplifier-speaker system--so it would be important to find out if the necessary sound equipment is included with the instrument.

Sonically, the Recital Model is similar to Baldwin instruments of the same era (and even uses under license some Baldwin circuits). It has 32 stops ranging from 16' to 2', and the manuals can have a 2 2/3' stop.

Assuming it is in working condition (or if you like working on electronics), I'd say go for it. It would be good for the original construction instructions to be included with it; however, most of those documents are available as files on the SchoberOrphans Group (my link above).

David

[don60]

I believe anyone with an interest in electronics and music during the 60s and 70s lusted for a Schober organ--unless he already had access to a larger instrument. The designer of the Recital, Richard Dorf, was a prolific experimenter, designer, and author, and he introduced some clever circuitry into the Schober models. Later editions of his book Electronic Musical Instruments give quite a detailed description of the organs and accessories for anyone interested in the state of the art forty or so years ago. He does engage in some puffery, though, when he claims that the Schobers (and the similar Baldwins) are actually better-sounding than many pipe organs. Having played a mid-60s era Baldwin extensively, I can say that no one would mistake it for a pipe organ unless the switch were off.

Don

[OrgansR4Me]

I was called to my local music store to see a Schober recital a few years ago and they wouldn't consider less than 400. If you are handy with repairs and maintenance it is an instrument you'll grow to love. Regarding the previous comment, qualities that were very acceptable in the 60's can't be properly viewed against today's market. I've commented on this often. You can find discussions under analog organ in the archives.

[Guest]

My neighbor had a recital organ, I was so impressed with the sound that I built a Schober theatre organ from kits and enjoyed it very much until I bought and installed my present pipe organ. The Schober organs were the most pipe like of the organs available in the 1970's except for top of the line Rogers and Allen organs. The recital model made an excellent practice organ for my next door neighbor who played in church every Sunday.