Rodgers 548

[SDR]

My church has an opportunity to purchase a new Rodgers 548 for $15,000 plus installation. Since we do not have any professional musicians available to help the committee make a decision, we need some "expert" help. This is a small, and not ornate, building and small congregation. The acoustics are very "live" and we want to have 4 speakers mounted in the center front of the building. The committee is concerned about Rodgers' products--their reliability and likely lifetime--and the company's servicing of the organ. PLEASE help us make a wise decision with your expert experience and knowledge.

[jbird604]

That sounds like a good price for a brand new major-brand AGO classical organ, current production, even though it's at the lower end of Rodgers product line. A perfectly decent stoplist, suitable for most any small to medium size church. Not on the same level as larger organs with more audio channels, but at that price you probably can't beat it. And Rodgers build quality far surpasses the cheaper brands, even on their entry-level products.

I service all kinds of organs and major on Allen and Rodgers. I don't have any qualms about recommending a new Rodgers, and I'm confident that you'll get many years of great service from it. In spite of the current unsettled state of affairs in the organ industry, I feel like Rodgers and Roland will fully support the organs they've sold in the past decade or two for many years to come, surely for the 10 year warranty period, and probably longer, even if Rodgers changes ownership. There are just too many of their organs out there for them to fail to support them. And if Roland did drop the ball for some reason, a third party would immediately step in and offer support, as there would be a lot of customers and a lot of money to be made doing that.

One variable to check out is the dealer's reputation for doing proper installations. You should visit some of his other customers and see how well he did with the finishing out of the job, how well the organ blends musically with the room, the overall effect of the organ sound. Even if you don't have an expert organist to try an organ out, you can get a good feel for the effect that the organ produces in the room. It ought to inspire and "move" you (literally, on the low pedal notes!) and should be pleasant and not harsh or annoying.

[arie v]

Hi,

The Rodgers 548, is not a current model. In fact it came on to the marketplace in 2007 along with it's near twin the 538 (which was designated as a Euro-compact organ). These models were discontinued in 2009 or 2010 being replaced by the Roland C-330 / 380. So it is not of recent manufacture. It may be new in the sense that it was never sold.

I can't comment on the price, as I don't know what the dealer would have paid for it.

Also, as some here know, Roland is in the process of divesting itself of Rodgers. It is hard to know at this point what the future holds for the brand in terms of product and parts and tech support.

AV

[Victor Jules]

As a matter of conscience, am noting in all i548 threads that I've left an extended commentary on my greatly improved opinion of the instrument in the thread I started on it:

http://www.organforum.com/forums/sho...urch-s-dilemma

All (!) feedback welcome on it.

[Guest]

I had a Rodgers 805C added to the existing Austin 10 rank unit organ in 1999. At that time the Rodgers was about 4 years old. The end result was a magnificent sounding instrument in a fairly large church. It not only filled the room but had enough capability to have both Ken Cowan and Cameron Carpenter perform recitals on it for it's dedication. Granted it cost more than the instrument you are looking at, but it is still performing without any issues 18 years later. I highly recommend the Rodgers instruments and the company does stand behind its products. The key is getting a reliable installer to place the speakers in the optimum location in the sanctuary to maximize the sound. I would not recommend placing all the speakers on a front wall. In order to get a more pipe-like feel, I would place two facing out toward the congregation and then one on each side wall speaking toward the center of the sanctuary. That's what Marshall & Ogletree recommended when they installed the Rodgers and the sound was fantastic. I wish you luck with your installation. If you have any additional questions, please reply to this post.