Experience with Rodgers very good!

[Dewey643]

Can't believe it's been almost two months since my Rodgers 640,...gifted to me by the Good Lord,and the Methodist church I belong to,...has been in my home. I play almost every day. I'm delighted with the sound for it being analog. I unplug it if I hear weather forecasts for storms,...I don't want it getting hit by lightning. Given that it was well cared for,...it should serve me well for a very long time to come yet. I have fallen in love with it's sound,...analog sound not all bad. Should it ever need service,my Rodgers dealer has assured me that his technicians can service the organ. That is VERY comforting to know when you hear rumors that some organ companies stop servicing their organs after a certain length of time.

[cham-ed]

Since you may not be at home when lighting hits, I suggest strongly you get a high quality surge protector. Allen used to ship their instruments with one. Don't waste money on a cheap one, they will fail when you need them most. Probably not a concern, but a former church had theirs damaged by lighting. The surge came when the speaker wiring for the antiphonal speakers picked up a pulse. It went down the wires and into the console. But you probably don't have that in a home installation. Oh, and this wiring ran near their steeple which, of course got hit a lot.

[Horseshoe_or]

TrippLight has a good reputation and it the surge protector I use. Enjoy your "new" instrument!

[jbird604]

Dewey, I'm delighted that you are having so much fun with your new organ. You sure did look long and hard for one, and went down some blind paths before you got just the one you needed! That is a reason for gratitude.

Even though I generally recommend used digital organs to churches in need of a bargain instrument, I think Rodgers analogs are wonderful for home organs when in good playing order. After all, a home organ isn't as "mission critical" as the organ at church, should a problem occur that takes a little time to resolve. But I am fairly confident that it will serve you for a great many years as long as you do protect it from lightning and power surges. Should a surge come down the line and take out the CPU board, that would indeed be a big problem. But that should never happen if you unplug it when not in use.

While Allen and a few European builders were heavily into digital organs by the time Rodgers built your organ, it is very true that most digital organs back then weren't very good as home organs because the sound was so "grainy" and harsh close-up. The harshness of the tone would be smoothed out in a large acoustic space, especially in a lively church, but at home a first generation digital often sounded much less pleasant than a good analog. I have played many of the 640 and 645 organs and always enjoy doing so. The sound is "just right" to please the ears even with the speakers right there in your lap. And surprisingly realistic too, for an analog. I actually prefer the sound of those analog reeds to the sounds of many digital reeds of the same time period.

So keep on having fun, practicing like crazy, and posting about your progress. Keep up the good work!

[Dewey643]

Dewey, I'm delighted that you are having so much fun with your new organ. You sure did look long and hard for one, and went down some blind paths before you got just the one you needed! That is a reason for gratitude.

Even though I generally recommend used digital organs to churches in need of a bargain instrument, I think Rodgers analogs are wonderful for home organs when in good playing order. After all, a home organ isn't as "mission critical" as the organ at church, should a problem occur that takes a little time to resolve. But I am fairly confident that it will serve you for a great many years as long as you do protect it from lightning and power surges. Should a surge come down the line and take out the CPU board, that would indeed be a big problem. But that should never happen if you unplug it when not in use.

While Allen and a few European builders were heavily into digital organs by the time Rodgers built your organ, it is very true that most digital organs back then weren't very good as home organs because the sound was so "grainy" and harsh close-up. The harshness of the tone would be smoothed out in a large acoustic space, especially in a lively church, but at home a first generation digital often sounded much less pleasant than a good analog. I have played many of the 640 and 645 organs and always enjoy doing so. The sound is "just right" to please the ears even with the speakers right there in your lap. And surprisingly realistic too, for an analog. I actually prefer the sound of those analog reeds to the sounds of many digital reeds of the same time period.

So keep on having fun, practicing like crazy, and posting about your progress. Keep up the good work!

I don't leave it plugged in if I'm not playing,....I unplug after every practice session!

[Admin]

You can avoid excessive quoting such as this by using the Comment option. It is especially useful when your comment is a line or two and what you're quoting is more than 10 times greater.

[Dewey643]

TrippLight has a good reputation and it the surge protector I use. Enjoy your "new" instrument!

Where would I find one?

[Horseshoe_or]

They are available on Amazon. You may find a better price by searching the internet.

[Silken Path]

Amazon? Here's the one I bought for my 1967 Allen.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1