Oddball Allen Organ ADC-6800

[myorgan]

In searching the Internet today, I came across an oddball ADC model of Allen Organ. I had never heard of an ADC-6800 before, but the Mother List puts its manufacture date at 1986, just before the ADC-X300 series came out in 1987. When I enlarged the one photo I saw it only showed the left inside of the console, and it looks like the capture memory is only a dual memory rather than a quad capture action. However, I wonder if the date would give it a TG-10 card for articulation or not. From what I saw, it would make someone a nice instrument with a 32' Pedal Reed (my measurement stick);-).

Does anyone know any more about this particular model? Of course, it's not in my ADC Service Manual.

Michael

[michaelhoddy]

Pretty darn sure that's a "late ADC" and has a TG-10 board. The Great 8' Rohrflote in place of the Hohlflote of the early ADC is the typical dead giveaway in the stoplist between early and late ADC.

[myorgan]

Michael,

Thank you for the indication of how to tell when the organ has the TG-10 board!

Michael

[AllenAnalog]

My cage chart for the 6800 does not show a TG-10. There are individual "Chiff" stops for the choir, great and swell divisions, like the 6000 model. The stoplist shows some of the changes that were standard on the x300 models so this was certainly a transitional model. It does have the 8' Rohrflote in the great, even without the TG-10 card.

The spec sheet says it has 63 stops, 78 ranks and 7 audio channels out of the cage with an optional additional channel for the Brass Choir. It uses an interesting mix of TG-2, TG-3, TG-4 and TG-6 tone generator cards for the native voices. With the optional card reader and BC cards installed, the single cage is full. The stoptab version uses the "D" console and the drawknob version uses the "C" console.

Interestingly, the standard audio configuration has an 8th amp/speaker channel driving a B-40 speaker for the 32' Contre-Bombarde, using a sub-bass crossover to derive that channel.

The copyright date on the spec sheet is 1986. All of the amps are ADC style and housed in the console.

So I guess we could call this instrument the "ADC Michael Special" since it was clearly designed for those seeking a beefy 32' pedal reed stop!


(P.S. That same Atlanta dealer has a stoptab ADC-4900 listed for sale and I do not have any information on that model in my manual. The "mother list" indicates this is a 1989 instrument, which marked the end of the ADC era since the MADC-3 instruments were already being built by 1987 and the first MDS instruments started appearing in 1989.)

[myorgan]

Larry,

Thank you so much for the information! The price isn't bad either, which makes me wonder what is wrong with it. In any event, Allen seems to have FINALLY gotten the message people wanted the 32' Pedal Reed on smaller instruments that could support it in their stoplists.:-/

For the ADC-4900, search the Forum for posts by Dell Anderson. Several years ago, he purchased an ADC-4900, and posted extensively about the restoration of boards which had been corrupted by battery acid. I believe he still has posts about it on his personal website.

How did YOU get an ADC manual with the ADC-X300 information? Mine only has up to the ADC-8000! No information about the transition or later ADC models.:-( I'm officially jellyous.

Michael

P.S. I took photos of my garage today, and hope to get that thread going after I deal with a medical issue. Thanks for your encouragement.

[AllenAnalog]

We are all looking forward to seeing your garage project. And good wishes for the resolution of your medical issue.

My ADC manual came from Canada and it cost me a bloody fortune. I spent that much because it has information on everything up to the 9300 (but only the cage charts for that one) including the theater models. The only model missing, based on a check with Jan's master list, is the 4900.

When I have time, I'm slowly finishing a master spreadsheet comparing the stop lists of the stock ADC models. I'll post a pdf of that when I get it done.

I do find it interesting that my two-manual 5300 has stops that did not appear again until you got up to the larger 3-manual instruments. So despite longing for a 3rd manual I do enjoy the variety of stops and the multiple celeste ranks, helping to offset some of the Phelps voicing. I can always play my theater organ when I'm feeling too romantic for the ADC. Haha.