Getting a free Allen 122C...need to fit it through my doorway

[musikfan]

Just had to share some news with my organ colleagues. I just found out today that I will be able to pick up an Allen 122C (AC6277) for free! I've done some research on this particular model and it appears to be a decent organ for use in my home. I hope to eventually get external speakers to go with it. I've placed the craigslist post below so that you can see the picture. The ad says that there may be some minor repairs, so I am in the process of confirming what those might be. At any rate, I think it is still a good deal. If you have any suggestions/comments, I'm wide open, folks.


http://morgantown.craigslist.org/msg/5389781653.html


Now.....I am also going to need some math expertise. We went through this before when I was going to get a Rodgers, but it was too big to fit through my door, even on it's side. I have a 29 inch wide doorway (odd size!) into my basement from outside. I'm know that I'm still going to have to put the Allen up on it's side, but I believe this organ is definitely not as deep (32 '' as opposed to 35" previously). I'll make a template once I have the measurements, but if any of you Allen experts already know the measurements for this particular model, maybe you could tell me ahead of time if it will fit through on it's side without any issues.

Thanks, everyone.

[myorgan]

Musikfan,

Congratulations. If I'm not mistaken, the top half of the contemporary console would pivot up when a couple of screws were removed under each key cheek. Please search the Forum for definite information on that, as it's something I've only heard about--never done.

Best of luck moving your organ in.

Michael

[Nutball]

Take the door off, and maybe the frame too depending on how bad you want it and how easily your frame moves after the nails are out. I was ready to take my front door off to get my organ in, but it just barely squeezed in.

I never thought about putting it on end. Maybe I could have gotten mine into my bedroom after all, but there would be no room left.

[indianajo]

Contemporary case is 30.5" wide: you're going to have to remove some door frame. Tipping the top back makes it fatter IMHO, not thinner. I've done that to work on the 301 here in town. It took a couple of days of peering at it to find the two screws under the front, opposite the hinges on the back.

[jbird604]

Looks to be in great shape. Will probably work just fine. The folks are being honest that it "might" need some minor repairs, but probably nothing more than routine maintenance. You may not need to do anything at all to it. In PA it's in good hands, as Allen organs in their home state tend to be very well cared for.

If your door frame is just an inch too narrow, you MIGHT be able to work it in by angling it a bit to get one of the front arms through, the straightening it out for the main part, then angling again just a tad to get the trailing front arm through. But surely you can take the door off the frame and possibly remove some trim to make the opening wide enough. This "contemporary" console is quite compact, and normally goes through any door I've ever needed to take one through.

This will be a great little home organ for you. Nice find!

[musikfan]

Take the door off, and maybe the frame too depending on how bad you want it and how easily your frame moves after the nails are out. I was ready to take my front door off to get my organ in, but it just barely squeezed in.

I never thought about putting it on end. Maybe I could have gotten mine into my bedroom after all, but there would be no room left.

....an organ beside your bed...you could just reach over and play any time you wake up and can't sleep! I had my piano in my bedroom during college so that I would have some quiet space to practice.

- - - Updated - - -

Looks to be in great shape. Will probably work just fine. The folks are being honest that it "might" need some minor repairs, but probably nothing more than routine maintenance. You may not need to do anything at all to it. In PA it's in good hands, as Allen organs in their home state tend to be very well cared for.

If your door frame is just an inch too narrow, you MIGHT be able to work it in by angling it a bit to get one of the front arms through, the straightening it out for the main part, then angling again just a tad to get the trailing front arm through. But surely you can take the door off the frame and possibly remove some trim to make the opening wide enough. This "contemporary" console is quite compact, and normally goes through any door I've ever needed to take one through.

This will be a great little home organ for you. Nice find!

I may be able to get away with it...the width is actually a little more than 29", maybe a half inch more? I'll figure something out. At any rate, I appreciate the feedback. I too am counting on it being in good shape. I'm impressed with how many stops this little organ has. If I can just get some external speakers, I'll have a nice practice instrument. I found some posts on the forum too, about installing reverb (since this organ will be in a small spot in a totally dead room). Do you know which model speakers I should look for?

[Horseshoe_or]

Harrison Labs has some enhancements for this organ that you might want to look into.

[musikfan]

What kind of enhancements?

Also, I've seen this little box that Allen puts on a lot of their "older" organs? My home church has a model from the early 70's. Years back, they had their speaker system updated and the little box was put on top of the console. What does this do for the organ??

[Horseshoe_or]

What kind of enhancements?

http://harrisonorganworks.com/index.htm

They also repair Allen boards which may be less expensive than replacement boards from Allen. I have only heard about them and haven't ever done business with them.

[myorgan]

Do you know which model speakers I should look for?

I believe the MOS-1 organs used Allen's HC-10 or HC-12 speakers. That organ for sale in Columbus has 16 HC-12 speakers. He may be willing to part with 4 for a good price. Just a thought. John or Dave can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Monitor II speakers could be used on the MOS-1 organs (just not on any 32' channels).

I hope that helps connect you with speakers.

Michael

[musikfan]

I believe the MOS-1 organs used Allen's HC-10 or HC-12 speakers. That organ for sale in Columbus has 16 HC-12 speakers. He may be willing to part with 4 for a good price. Just a thought. John or Dave can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Monitor II speakers could be used on the MOS-1 organs (just not on any 32' channels).

I hope that helps connect you with speakers.

Michael

Thanks for the info, Michael. I appreciate it. Would you buy any chance be able to answer my other question...about the little box that I see on many of the older Allen organs? Just curious as to what it does and if it's something I might be able to use once I get my Allen in place.

Thanks.

[myorgan]

Would you buy any chance be able to answer my other question...about the little box that I see on many of the older Allen organs? Just curious as to what it does and if it's something I might be able to use once I get my Allen in place.

I'm sorry, but I don't know the answer to that. The only "older" Allens I have played were analog organs (TC-4S, & 3-Manual Custom), and were classical instruments. Perhaps they were rhythm boxes, or if they had a keyboard, perhaps they were for Chimes?

I'll defer to others on the Forum like John (JBird604) & Dave (tucsondave), or Toodles to answer that question.

Michael

[jbird604]

You may have seen a MIDI box on older Allen organs before they started having them mounted in a drawer. In order to add one to your 122 you would need a MIDI kit and some other hardware.

[tucsondave]

Could also have been an Allen Smart Recorder if it had a floppy drive. Still a MIDI connected device however. Nice to have if your only organist was sick.

td

[Nutball]

I think it will be an easy fit through the door other than the weight and possibly needing the music holder taken off. I made a side area frame of my organ out of balsa sticks and if the organ is stood on end it easily will angle in, around, through a roughly 31" doorway with a few inches left over. Going straight in would be a problem.

I have 2 empty HC-15 cabinets, a bit expensive to ship that far though (maybe $80-100ea) but I'd have to see if combining them might be cheaper. And I have 2 peerless tweeters that don't look good but seem to sound OK that fit in those cabinets. You could fill the cabinets with midranges and woofers for about $100, and sky high car audio cable is cheap on ebay.