Help identifying / valuing Allen church organ

[Kelmorien]

Hello All,

I am part of a non-profit community center that has purchased an old church and have been asked to remove an Allen electric organ, there. I am visuallyu impaired and am uncertain how to identify the model or value the instrument. Assuming I establish these things, I am unsure what to do with the piece in the meantime. Specifically, I'm hoping to answer these questions:

1. Where would the serial / model number be found on the instrument?

2. Assuming the organ or its components are valuable, would it be easier to sell as a whole or in parts?

3. We are located in Earlville, NY, between Binghamton to the south and Utica to the north on NYS route 12. Might anyone know of a distributor near us to whom I might also reach out for help?

Thank you very much for any advice you may have!

[toodles]

The plate with the model number is usually on the inside of the organ on the back rail just below the lid of the console, on the left hand side. The model number is stamped (embossed) in a metal plate, so it may be hard to read depending upon your visual impairment.

The Allen dealer for your area is Allen Organ Studios in Delmar NY. Here is their contact page: https://www.allenorganny.com/form__map

Since many dealers know about installations of their organs in the area, they might know what the model is. This dealer says they have been in business for 37 years.

[myorgan]

Kelmorien,

Welcome to the Forum. If you can find the plate Toodles describes, you can post it here along with a clear photo of the organ (including pedals), and some here can identify the organ at sight.

Best with finding a placement for the church's organ.

Michael

[John Vanderlee]

HI, Being in NY State, and within 3 - 4 hours from you, I'd be very interested in knowing what the model # is as well.
Thanks!

[m&m's]

I live about thirty miles from you, and can identify the organ. Which church was it in? I can meet you there in the next several days.

[Kelmorien]

OK, below are some pictures. Thanks, Toodles, for the contact link. I also reached out to Allen headquarters in PA and they had this organ on record as a 1953 B3. The serial number is 2892.

My eyesight beingt it is, I am using pics taken by my friend, who took them without knowing what to look for, either...we can certainly take better ones of any part if needed.

I'd be happy to meet anyone who might be interested with 24 hours' advance notice or so.

Mike, the church was First Methodist Church in Earlville, NY 13332, at #20 North Main St.

Here are the pictures:

[John Vanderlee]

I hate to say this , but the only thing of value is probably the vacuum tubes and the amplifier.

[Organkeys Jones]

You beat me to it! That's what I was going to say.

[m&m's]

I second that motion. I'm surprised it has lasted that long.

[SchnarrHorn]

This instrument would have one tube for each oscillator/pitch besides the tubes on the amp? The way to get rid of it and make a little money is to put up an ad on Craigslist with a picture of the rows and rows of vacuum tubes. Make it clear the buyer has to take the entire instrument. You might get multiple people wanting it - those who recycle and sell vacuum tubes. Don't know what a fair price would be ($100, $50 ??) - you can always come down if there aren't any bites. If would probably cost you a pretty penny to pay a refuse company to haul it away - if they even would. If there are regulations in your area/state regarding electronics in landfills, it might be more difficult/expensive. Anyway, that's how I got rid of a Conn tube-based organ. I had 4 people interested in it for that purpose.

George

[John Vanderlee]

I get rid of organs at E-cycle events.

[John Vanderlee]

I just sold 89 of those tubes (that tested good) on *bay for $99.

[John Vanderlee]

Oh, and that was 10 minutes after I posted it!!

[toodles]

If you can get someone to take it away, give it away free.

[Kelmorien]

Thanks to all for the advice,

Understood. I'll set the tubes aside and break down te rest, myself...as a musician, this is painful, but we've already done so with several piano's, already.

Thanks, again, for your help!

I'll

[John Vanderlee]

I agree with Larrytow that it's a bit painful to realize it's the end of the road. However if the parts can go to some good use, it's kind of like an "organ" ;-) transplant!
Be sure to leave the amplifier(s) whole, as there are buyers out there looking for those.
The racks of tubes probably have the the type # obliterated on them, an Allen practice, but I have been told it's a 12AU7type.
If the pedal board has wired contacts, that is of interest to H*uptwerk and the like users.

[Larrytow]

As John just said, if you are going to part it out, that pedalboard with the contact rail, AND as long of a wire pigtail as you can get, is worth something to someone. Exactly how much kinda depends on where the potential buyer is located, as shipping can be an issue, but it is do-able. Earlier this year I bought one just like that to retrofit to a 1919 pipe organ. Allen builds the best ( in my opinion ) AGO pedalboards, and this type is easy to retrofit to many consoles.

[Larrytow]

Yes, parting out organs ( or any musical instrument, I'd suppose ) is kinda painful at times. But you are actually recycling stuff that way, not just discarding it. The people who want some of the parts will thank you for saving things they want / need.

The tubes themselves are worth something, as the others have already said. But the power amp, With the tubes, may be of interest to people who are really jazzed about obscure home stereo system amp setups. If it has two of them, even more so. Check out Allen Tube Amps on the Bay.

Depending on the speaker systems that organ plays though, you might find certain drivers in them that people also desire. I forgot the make and model of the tweeters that a lot of the Gyro cabinets had, but the desirable ones bring pretty good prices.

That console itself was built in the era that Allen built them with excellent ( better than today, in my opinion ) craftsmanship. Solid wood throughout, and likely no veneer anywhere. Someone might want that, minus the sound producing electronics, to make a virtual pipe organ console. Hard to say though, as it is only a two manual, but ya never know.

It is more work than you might think to properly part out an organ like that, if you are not familiar with organs. Sorry to see it go in that way, but sometimes that is the best end to an organ that was pretty nice in it's day.

[Nutball]

It is interesting, can someone write about the B3 so we know more about it? I know nothing about early Allen organs.

[michaelhoddy]

I too would love to know more about what an Allen B3 is, if anyone knows- how many oscillator sets, stop list, etc

[MarkS]

They were like an old Conn, with 16' voices on the pedal and 8' voices on the manuals. All other pitches were through extensive couplers. The manuals were under separate expression. There would be three generators for the three divisions, housed in two remote racks. The tubes could be some single-section predecessor to the dual-section 6SN7GTBs used in the later C3..

The one I played had a superb Clarinet on the Great. According to the salesperson it used a center-tapped coil on every note for the tone-shaping circuitry. This one does have a Clarinet so maybe it has the special coils. The rest of the voices sounded like those of an old vacuum tube Conn. Yuk.

[Kelmorien]

Alright. I'll set aside tube amp, pedal board & speaker drivers and try to keep everything else organized, at least, in case anyone expresses interest.