input on Rodgers 537 Insignia

[gebohmusic]

Hey good folks,

What do you know about a Rodgers 537 Insignia organ?

Will the keyboards and pedalboard feel solid — or loose and clackity?

I had a Galanti in the past — but it was noisy and just did not feel solid.

Are parts still available for a Rodgers Insignia 537?

Thanks in advance for your input!

[Horseshoe_or]

I know nothing about Rodgers Insignia organs. I did want to chime in on your clankity pedal board comment. On the AG3200 I have, it had the same problem. The service tech told me to turn the pedal board over and gently tighten the screws. Worked like a charm. I don't think anyone's pedal boards can compare with the quality of Allen and Rodgers but then you pay way more for their organs. For that, you get high quality cabinetry. Other organs can give you good digital samples and with the right audio setup compete favorably with Allen and Rodgers. I am planning to sell my AG3200 because I found I do not like lighter drawnobs.

[gebohmusic]

Wow— the AG3200 must be nice!

[arie v]

Hi,

The Rodgers 537 is more an Roland Italian instrument than a Rodgers organ. Typically these organs had low grade Fatar keyboards in them, and the pedalboards had frequent service issues. The keyboards had poor switching, especially the switches themselves. They also had rubber bumper rails, that would compress, making pedalling sound thumpy. Also these rails were install using poor adhesive, and would come away. So if you are asking about solid build quality, no mot as good as American made Rodgers organs. As a tech I have refurbished a number of these Roland/Rodgers, and when done right the pedalboards come out well.

In comparison to Galanti, certainly the early ones were not good, but I found if I spent half a day on the pedalboards, they were much better, and had very few service issues with them.

I don't think there is much in the way of voicing that can be done with this model. There are a number of setups that can be done though.

As to parts availability, hard to say. My guess is it depends. Since Roland Italy used the same parts across a number of models, and they are not that old (around 15 years), likely at this point most parts will be available. Whether this is so in 5 or 10 years, who knows.

AV

[gebohmusic]

Thank you all so much for your input!