How to identify a Wurlitzer by look..

[idigwilliedixon]

Ok. My local thrift has an ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL Wurlitzer. I was wondering if the Wurlitzers had the model number stamped anywhere (or a model badge/plate).

From a Google Picture search it appears to be a 4602 (this has the 32 foot pedal setup). This picture looks like it except the 32 foot pedal and it appears that the legs are less "table leg" looking (more angular rather than like a turned leg

https://www.nshos.com/wurliContents.htm (first pic upper left).

I pulled the back off with a coin (half-turns on the 5 keeper bolts) and it has the insulated reed housing and a 7011 amplifier.

However, the guts of some of the ones that came up when I put 4602 in Google have this "capacitors wrapped around 2 coffee cans" looking thing above the blower motor. This one did not have that.

https://www.nshos.com/Wurliforsale.htm

This link above shows the capacitor network (apparently it is a percussion circuit?). Was this an optional unit on these things...

It is beautiful, wood is near perfect, as is paint on the metal around the keys (even has a key for the folding top). All the notes sound and the stops all seem to function.

I passed it up for $200 on sale day but found I can probably take it for $100 and tax.

I was going to rob it for the amp and 12" speaker and volume pedal at that price, but it sounds good.

Here's the issue. There is a slight ringing of a C note faintly in the background all the time. I think upon reading, that these have reeds that operate by blown air (blower driven by motor).

I suspect it is a bent or "stuck" reed.

I think it is worth saving...Question is: how difficult is it to find and fix a ghost note issue?
I am handy with a soldering iron, can read a schematic and trace a circuit, and don't have much fear of the massive amount of wiring that is in this thing. However, I have never been inside the reed box of an organ. I have replaced keys on Fatar TP10 actions and "think" I could fix it...

Thoughts?
Clearly worth taking a chance for a C-note

[indianajo]

My later Wurlitzers have no model number badge anywhere, just warning label and a "multimatic' badge which was the name of the primitive rhythm unit.
The note stuck slightly on could be a bit of organic material bridging the key contact. Accessing the key contact may take an hour or two, cleaning it about a minute. These were too early to have 128 electrolytic capacitors used for sustain. If you do find the 128 little capacitors near the first board after the key connector (possible I suppose on a very high end model in 1960?) then one of them could be leaky, and the rest ready to go when they get a little warm.
Hope you buy it to learn to play it. The Wurlitzer amplified reed organs have some of the better sound for 1950's organs, and 32 pedals is the right number to have if you are going to take lessons from an AGO instructor wihout paying him/her to drive to your house. Measure doors before buying, many 32 pedal models won't fit through many doors.

[tucsondave]

Don't know about this model but the Wurlitzer spinet reed organs had an adjustment to reduce residual tone pick up.
If you do get it remember that there is 300+ volts on the keyboard switches.

td

[idigwilliedixon]

Uggg...Price just dropped to $75.00. I dont think I can justify it based on the size of my house....

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Does not seem to have any switches at all other than the stops and vibrato control. Where would it be located? Inside the back?

Don't know about this model but the Wurlitzer spinet reed organs had an adjustment to reduce residual tone pick up.
If you do get it remember that there is 300+ volts on the keyboard switches.

td

[tucsondave]

It would be on the power supply chassis.
td

[idigwilliedixon]

Cripes...now $50.00... Missing front legs I suppose....



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[Lucien Nunes]

Please don't break it up just for the amp. These things are increasingly rare and some reeds are now unavailable, so even if the organ were not to stay together I imagine someone would want the rest. I would love one of these but I haven't been able to find one in the whole of the UK, with or without legs, so I am relying on at least one spare good one being available in the US that I can get shipped over!

If you have a cipher sounding all the time, the problem is probably not the reed itself. All the reeds play all the time but the signals they produce are keyed electrically. The keying system is not complex and you will be able to trace it on the schematic. Do not touch the reeds or adjust their pickups without specific reason, as you can disturb the evenness of tone across the compass.

ID plates are often at the corner of the rear of the case or under the keydesk. You may have to get down on your knees to see it.

Good luck, if you like analogue sounds you'll enjoy this a lot.

[james]

This is a church model, and no front legs are on these at all. Then bench is pulled up to the organ backwards. I hope someone gives this a good home. I have had bad luck each time I tried to find one, and on my own I missed a few too. Apparently it is not meant for me to have one. They do have a very nice pipe organ sound with the flute stops and no vibrato. They were great church organs.

James

[mashaffer]

At 50 bux I would be down there picking it up if I had to strap to my back to get it home. Beautiful and rare instrument. I ain't skeered of no 700V transformer. Love them fire bottles.

mike