Allen Spinet

[Horseshoe_or]

There is an Allen Protege spinet posted on ebay. I didn't know Allen built spinet organs anymore. I am not looking to buy it but am wondering what others might know about Allen spinet organs.

[tucsondave]

There was a "Theatre Compact" model in the Protege series but I am not aware of any church spinet.

td

[Moller Artiste]

There is an Allen Protege spinet posted on ebay. I didn't know Allen built spinet organs anymore. I am not looking to buy it but am wondering what others might know about Allen spinet organs.

I sold Allen Organs during the Protege era, but have never seen this. Perhaps it was a custom order?

[myorgan]

Horseshoe,

I wasn't aware Allen made any spinets in the digital era--until now. Oh, well. Who uses those missing keys anyway?

Michael

[arie v]

Hi,

This organ listed on E-bay is the Theatre Compact. Came out about 10 years ago, and quietly disappeared from the model lin-up about 2 years later. My guess is it did not sell well at all. May have been the first organ Allen produced using Fatar keyboards.

AV

[andyg]

I wasn't aware Allen made any spinets in the digital era--until now. Oh, well. Who uses those missing keys anyway?

They started making them a long time ago, Michael. I can remember sharing a stage with Dwight Beacham at the London Music Trades Fair in 1977, where he was playing the MDC-10 Digital Compact Theatre. That model ran until 1983 - even gaining rhythm and auto-accompaniment over its lifetime!

[myorgan]

They started making them a long time ago, Michael. I can remember sharing a stage with Dwight Beacham at the London Music Trades Fair in 1977, where he was playing the MDC-10 Digital Compact Theatre. That model ran until 1983 - even gaining rhythm and auto-accompaniment over its lifetime!

Andy,

Of course, you are right! I had totally forgotten about the early digital theatre compacts. That's ironic since I just did a search of CraigsList and those were about 1/2 of what I could find for sale in the US. Just don't get old!:embarrassed: How soon we forget.

Michael

[radagast]

I actually emailed the seller, who is an Allen dealer. I couldn't remember which generation technology it used. The Protege line, as I remember, spanned both MDS and Renaissance. It turns out this theatre compact uses Renaissance tone generation, but unlike other organs of that era, new sounds cannot be loaded in. I asked if the theatre voices could be replaced with classical, and the seller said no.

[Moller Artiste]

Andy,

Of course, you are right! I had totally forgotten about the early digital theatre compacts. That's ironic since I just did a search of CraigsList and those were about 1/2 of what I could find for sale in the US. Just don't get old!:embarrassed: How soon we forget.

Michael

It's been a number of years since I sold Allen Organs; will someone get me up to speed. Does theatre compact refer only to the spinet models like the photo I posted above? What are/were the theatre models with the princess pedalboard called, or did they not have another reference name?