Rodgers 580 Organ

[wo2012]

I've recently been looking for a practice organ for my home, and I came across one on eBay not far from where I live. It's a Rodgers 580. The bidding starts at $1850 and there is buy it now for $3000. Are these prices reasonable for this instrument?

[jbird604]

The $1850 isn't too bad, IF the organ is in perfect condition. I've owned a 580 and have worked on several others. Here are some things that can be wrong with them that might cost you a LOT of money to fix:

(1) the huge "pink glue" issue -- this model, like many others in Rodgers low-cost lineup from the 90's, has keyboards made by Roland, originally intended for use in portable synth keyboards and such, but adapted by Rodgers for use in their less expensive organs. They are nice keyboards with a decent feel and seem to last well EXCEPT for the possibility of the "pink glue" leaking out from underneath the keys and ruining everything. Look carefully under the white and black keys to be sure that you don't see this stuff dripping out.

If you are in a warm humid climate, you are most at risk. If this glue is already dripping out, it may have already started making keys stick or notes not play, so check every one of them. Be warned that the key actions needed to restore these organs to like new condition are NO LONGER AVAILABLE from anywhere at any price! Rodgers was giving them away for free up until about 15 years ago, then started charging a few hundred dollars per set, then got up to charging several THOUSAND dollars per set before they completely ran out.

There is a "fix" that some techs have done that involves a total disassembly of the key action, soaking the keys in water with (NOT Lysol-DRANO, as commented below) to remove all the glue, then re-assembling. I am sure it would cost you a thousand dollars to have a tech do that, if not more! So just pass on it if it has any evidence of the pink glue problem. Many organs from that era have already been upgraded with the newer keyboards that Rodgers supplied that do not leak the glue. So you could find that it is ok. Or not...

(2) Another problem that has plagued nearly all Rodgers organs, including these, from the 90's is "exploding capacitors." Numerous power supply and power filtering circuits contain 1000 mfd electrolytic caps that were poorly sealed and will eventually leak out toxic corrosive juices, which can damage the circuit boards or in extreme cases catch fire and flame up with a noxious smell. Fortunately, the flame is short-lived and has never been known to spread beyond the small area of the board, but the board is usually destroyed.

A smart tech MAY have already removed and replaced all the bad caps from that organ. Two in particular are known to leak in that model, and they are right near the edge of the pre-amp board, which you can see by removing the back panel. The board is right in the middle of the back, on the shelf behind the keyboards. Look for a pair of stand-up 1000 mfd caps, and use a bright light to see if there is any leaking juice or damage around them. There may be others in that model, but those are the only two that I've replaced in several different organs like that. If they haven't been replaced, a tech would need to do that right away to prevent a future serious problem.

(3) Pedalboard upstop and downstop bumpers are made of a type of foam rubber that eventually turns to mush and/or dries up and falls out. We replace this stuff whenever we encounter it with real felt bumpers which I get from Schaff Piano Supply. The type of felt I use is actually sold for replacing certain felt strips in the action of a grand piano, but it happens to be just the right thickness and width for this purpose. It takes a tech or a diligent hobbyist two or three hours to clean off the old stuff and put in the new felt. You have to take all the pedal keys out of the frame, then put them back in and adjust the tension when you're done.

Other than that, and the usual troubles with burned-out lamps in the lighted stop controls, these organs a quite nice. I loved the one I had and only got rid of it when someone made me an offer I couldn't refuse! Beautiful sound and amazingly good reverb for an organ of that age. It can be converted to four-channel operation (giving the swell division its own pair of amps and speakers) by a tech who understands the design and configuration of the audio boards. But it actually sounds pretty decent with just the two-channel internal audio system it comes with.

If you live pretty close by, go and look at it and check it for these problems before you bid. The seller might be willing to let it go for a LOT less if these problems are found, and rightly so. It would be nearly worthless if the keys are afflicted with pink glue, and the other problems ought to knock a few hundred dollars off as well if they haven't been taken care of already.

[jbird604]

Correction -- to remove the pink glue, the keys must be soaked in a DRANO solution, not Lysol. I just now re-read this post and caught the error.

[Larrytow]

John, I saw your mix-up yesterday, but got distracted before saying something. I actually thought you might have meant Lye, which is probably an ingredient in Drano.

[toodles]

I donated a Rodgers 760 (analog organ) to a church near me that had a Rodgers of 580 vintage and size, but I don't know the exact model. The organist and congregation preferred the 760 analog organ, for what it is worth.

[Piperdane]

I too love the total ensemble sound of an analog organ. I play an analog (AOB)every week in my church and love its sound. Have yet to experience this same 'ensemble' sound in any digital.

[jbird604]

Organ tone is of course a very subject matter, and what sounds good to one person may not sound good to another. Personally, I rather liked the sound of the 580 I owned, even though the digital circuitry inside is very much down-scaled from the full-cage PDI organs of the same era. Instead of several PDI digital voice modules (DVM's) producing all the stops, as in the large cage organs of the era, a single DVM board in the 580 is pressed into service to create all the stops. So obviously there is some compromise in quality. But still, the individual stops are quite amazing, and the ensemble remains pretty transparent as long as stops are drawn with discretion. And I did get much better sound out of mine by converting it to four-channel audio while I had it at home.

The 580 is nearly the "top of the line" in the so-called "Cheetah" series from Rodgers, having, as I recall, 10 general pistons with double memory, as well as divided expression and some other nice extras. The Chime stop is outstanding, as is normally the case with Rodgers digitals of every kind.

If it hadn't been for those confounded pink glue keyboards, these organs would have turned out to be rather a good bargain. The other two problems I mentioned -- exploding caps and gooey foam in the pedalboard -- are also found in ALL Rodgers organs from the same time period, and they are not "fatal" problems, just need to be taken care of by a tech.

So, one of these that has already had ALL THREE of these issues checked out and upgrades or repairs made as needed can indeed make a fine home organ or starter organ for a church. But if these issues have not been addressed, they are essentially worthless and are almost certain to give trouble.

[natestew22]

Looking for replacement lamps for the stop tabs on my Rodgers 580. Are they replaceable?

[jbird604]

Definitely replaceable (they come right out with a counterclockwise twist), but not sure that you can find replacements. It is an odd lamp. But I have heard that it is actually just a very common 12 volt lamp mounted into that gray plastic holder. So you might be able to dismantle one and find out what kind of bulb to order, then glue or simply press them into place in the holders.

[natestew22]

Wonderful, thanks for getting back! I've got about 4 lights out and it would just be nice not to have to remember what stops I've pulled. 😁 Do I pull the stop tab off to access it, or try from behind within the console?

[jbird604]

Remove the top lid of the console and look behind the tab rail. You'll see the lamp-holders, small round gray things. Twist counterclockwise to remove.