When to replace.

[Rody]

What is the life expectancy of a 1990's digital Baldwin C400 organ?

[rjsilva]

Do you have one?

I have a Wurlitzer-branded C400 from the early 90s which might be the same thing (made by Viscount). I’ve had to do some repairs but overall it’s working fine. I’ve had it for two years now.

[arie v]

Hi,

Figure on an organ with not the greatest build quality having an expected lifespan of 20 to 25 years. That does not mean it can't last longer or quite a bit longer. The C-400 model had several variants. First varient was the C-400 V. V. (Voice Variation), second was C-440 ans then the C-470 was the third. This model line was replaced by the Prestige line around 1998.

This organ would definitely not be on my desirability list. I guess I have seen and worked on too many of them.

AV

[Rody]

Yes, I do have one that I purchased in the 90's. I believe you're right about it being a Viscount. I have seen "Viscount " on the pedal board when I have pulled it off to clean the contacts. Things are starting to malfunction though. Some of the cables are getting a little "crispy".

- - - Updated - - -

The one I purchased in the 90's is the basic C-400. No voice variation. With external amplification, it doesn't sound bad. The internal speakers have been roached for years and the internal amplification system has also died a long time ago. Some of the memories keep losing their settings and have to be reset. One of the stops no longer can be activated without using the crescendo pedal and then manually shutting the others off. This organ wasn't my preferred choice either but it was all I could afford. What were the major malfunctions you encountered in working on them?

[arie v]

Hi,

To be honest, the C series of that era did not have many electronic failures. More often than not it was aging and use that caused problems.
Here is a brief list of issues encountered,

1) pedalboards - intermittant contacts, up and down stoppers becoming hard causing clatter, tension problems on pedals, pedal sharps wearing right through.
2) benches - several of them pretty much collapsed.
3) stop illumination - see more and more of them as instrument gets older (really depends on how much organ is played
4) function switches and pots - poor quality hardware, leading to inconsistant performance.
5) bad batteries
6) keyboard contact issues
It is to be expected that these organs, many of them over 25 years old are going to show problems. This is normal, especially if organ is played on every day.

AV

[rjsilva]

I have the same model. The issues with mine:

- A really clunky pedalboard. I removed the pads and put in decent felt. I also tightened the tensioner thingies as much as possible.

- I wasn’t able to activate two stops on the Choir. Those drawknobs would duplicate different stops. It took a while to solve and I had help on the forums.

- It kept blowing a fuse on the amp power board which made it stop working. The fuse was getting really hot and I think would just get toasted. I had help on the forums with this too.

- One unsolved issue is that for most (if not all) of the stops the volume is slightly lower below middle C. I considered replacing resistors with variable resistors so I could precisely alter the balance, but it seems really strange that only the resistors affecting below middle C would go out of spec. I feel like the problem must be elsewhere.

Overall I like the organ. I’m running it with 8 audio channels and I think it sounds pretty good. The only other organ I play regularly is the Walker at my church which makes me feel bad about mine, but my C400 has been a blessing to have and is a good practise instrument.

[Rody]

Thanks for all the info. I have the same volume problem below middle C. It has been like that since day one. Must be the nature of the beast. Bench collapsing doesn't sound good! Pedal intermittent contact problem also. If I pull the pedalboard off and clean the contacts every 6 months or so; seems to remedy. Dust and spiders seem to find their way in there.

[rjsilva]

I have the same volume problem below middle C. It has been like that since day one. Must be the nature of the beast.

Really?! Sometimes it’s really noticeable and occasionally problematic. Thanks for saying this, it helps to know.

My bench happens to be in great condition. I thought it was surprisingly decent. Although I did buy a more fancy dogleg bench on Craigslist which I’m using now.