Need advice on Technics SX-GA3

[healsing]

I've been looking for a used organ. Would anyone have an idea of the market value of a 1994 Technics SX GA3? Supposedly in excellent condition. Are the Technics organs problematic for repair? Will I be stuck down the line if something malfunctions? What is the risk factor? </P>


Any info or opinion will be greatly appreciated. </P>


thanks</P>


healsing</P>


PS to those of you organ wizards that have created theorgan forum and post helpful information... Thanks! It's been helpful just to read the posts.</P>
<P mce_keep="true"></P>

[abang]

Re: Need advice on Technics SX-GA3

Market value depends on the area you live in. It could go anywhere for
a couple of hundred dollars to a thousand dollars. I sold my GA3 for
$200 here in the Pacific NW. It was missing the music rest and the
bench (both of which disappeared in a move) but otherwise was in
excellent condition. Technics organs are virtually 'bulletproof". Very
reliable but parts are harder to come by now. If you find one at a good
price, go for it, little risk of it going bad.

[healsing]

Re: Need advice on Technics SX-GA3

Thanks the info is very helpful.

[lparsons21]

Re: Need advice on Technics SX-GA3



I hope you get that GA3, they are very nice. As to pricing, most of them that come up these days seem to sell around $500 or less. Of course, there will be ads for them at much greater prices, but they generally don't sell until those prices are reduced. </p>

There are a few of us here and on other forums that have Technics organs. I have the SX-EA5, which is the predecessor to the GA3, and I love it. Some parts are still available from Panasonic, but it is a crap shoot as to which ones. Virtually all of them, when ordered, will show 'backordered', which is code word for 'we don't know what we have'! :) If you decide to get a part, order it and wait. They don't charge until they ship the part. But be warned, they are VERY proud of their parts!</p>

If you get it, hopefully it will have the owners manual with it. If not, then go to safemanuals.com and search for it their under the Panasonic brand name. It is free at that site. Also Panasonic UK has owners manual for them.</p>

For registration disks that are newer than what is on the GA3 and such, Strawberry Music and KN7000.com both carry them. Both sites are owned and operated by the same guy. And of course, Ebay sometimes has those disks and such listed (check the Ebay stores too).</p>

Lastly, there are a couple of Yahoo forums devoted to the Technics organs. Organbuddies and others. None of them are very active, but the right question can sometimes wake them up! :) Also, the Lowrey Yahoo forum is a fun bunch of people and there is discussion there of more than just Lowrey organs.</p>

</p>

[healsing]

Re: Need advice on Technics SX-GA3



thanks Llyod,</P>


<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Wow! Very helpful! The difference between the asking price and the market value isconsiderable. I might have jumped at what I thought was a reasonable price in my less than savvy understanding of the market. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>


<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Your info about the parts and your enthusiasm for the organ makes me less hesitant to go forward for a Technics organ but with a more patient and careful approach.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>


healsing</P>

[lparsons21]

Re: Need advice on Technics SX-GA3



I think that the problem is that most of the organs that come up for sale are inherited these days. The new owner doesn't really know much about them and doesn't play them. But they see that original invoice showing tons of money paid and think there has to be some value there. So they price them at some percentage that seems fair given age and condition. And then there is dealers who try their darndest to make some money in used organs with some success. Heck, my local dealer has a second floor filled with used organs he won't even talk about. He keeps no more than 2 or 3 on his showroom floor at unbelievably inflated prices. Most of them never sell.</p>

What they don't realize is that there really is no home organ market anymore. You've only got two mfgs playing in that sandbox in the US, Lowrey and Roland. All the others are history, and the parts for them are becoming more history every day. Couple that with the faltering economy, and prices come down.</p>

I'm looking for an FA1 or F100 full console Technics. Unfortunately I'm not in a hotbed of organ availability and these don't come up for sale often. One of these days... :)</p>

</p>

[healsing]

Re: Need advice on Technics SX-GA3



<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Yes Lloyd that has been my experience in the past few months of looking. The organs are inherited. The asking prices loom in the realm of fantasy. I feel like a heel making offers that are light years below the asking prices but under the circumstances I have no other choice. Throwing money down the drain isn’t an option. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"></SPAN>I see now based on all of the replies to my posts that if I am patient I might be able to get a very good organ for a very reasonable and appropriate price. So it is all good! I look forward to playing either my Roland or my Technics organs or maybe even both! I'm inspired by those of you with collections. :-) I think I've got the bug.I play for many many hours. I get lost in all of it. Musicis such a gift. </SPAN></P>


<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">healsing</SPAN></P>

[lparsons21]

Re: Need advice on Technics SX-GA3



Yep, unbelievable asking prices out there for almost all the Technics organs. I think the inheritors get those wild figures from talking to a dealer that inflates the pricing to outrageous numbers. Our local dealer is that way. I remember paying $100 for a Hammond H-1xx a bit back, the local dealer had one also, he thought it was worth $2500. </p>

I've been looking at a F100 up in Chicago's craigslist for a few days. He only wants a paltry $7K for it! I'm debating offering him about 10% of that to see what he might say. And then there is the SX-F3 on Ebay that they are asking $3875 for. Strangely no bids or offers.</p>

Hang in there, the bargains are to be had with patience. If you spot one or a few that you like, but not the pricing, email them an offer in a nice way. I've done that a few times, and got some interesting email replies as you might imagine. But one of these days, one of them will respond after their inflated price results in no sale.</p>

</p>

[abang]

Re: Need advice on Technics SX-GA3

[quote user="lparsons21"]


</p>

I've been looking at a F100 up in Chicago's craigslist for a few days. He only wants a paltry $7K for it! I'm debating offering him about 10% of that to see what he might say. And then there is the SX-F3 on Ebay that they are asking $3875 for. Strangely no bids or offers.</p>


</p>

</p>

[/quote]</p>

Lloyd, are you looking at this ad?</p>

http://chicago.craigslist.org/sox/msg/1154411429.html</p>

If so, if that's the photo of the organ for sale, it's definitely not an F100. Looks like a GA series to me. Reason being the keyboards, the lower keyboard is indented to the left whereas the FA and F100 have full set of keyboards in line with each other.
</p>

[organhobbyist98]

I one day hope to get a GA3 to supplement my EA1 and my local music store has two. One has a manual with it with a note penciled in dated "1995". The organ has a few issues, such as a touchy tempo wheel and the screen contrast gradually decreasing while the organ is on. The asking price is just short of $12,000, which they might consider a fair deal since a new GA3 sold for $30,000 in 1998. But given the organ's age and that it's starting to show its age, $12,000 is still hugely inflated. I doubt the organ will sell unless they brought the price down. If I made them a much lower offer, they'd probably laugh me out of the place. Interestingly, the price tag has "GA5" on it, but it is a GA3 and there isn't even a GA5 in that room!

[andyg]

What country are you in and what type of $?

If you're talking US $, that price is the best laugh we'll have had all day. Don't even think of buying the one with the dodgy screen, if that goes wrong, that may well be terminal. Value of that one is perhaps a few hundred US $ at most. The tempo wheel problem is common and there's a thread or two on this forum with the solution. A good, fully working GA3 with no issues us worth at most $1000, and probably rather less. There's one on Ebay in the UK right now at just £500 and looking at ones that actually sold shows another at £500 - prices in the USA are usually a bit lower. You'll find one at that price if you wait, but your location has a bearing on how long you'll wait.

A 'new' GA3 in 1998? I can remember them being new in 1994, but I think they'd been discontinued by 1998. 'New old stock' would seem to apply. There was, of course, never a GA5.

[organhobbyist98]

Yes, I am in the US. Am I correct in assessing that there aren't a lot of Technics organs for sale in the US? I won't even consider buying the GA3 at my.local store when I know I can get a better price and an organ in better condition online if I'm patient enough.

Wow...the GA3 was discontinued by 1998...the $30,000 the GA3 at the music store sold for in 1998 is an even bigger laugh!

[abang]

Yes, I am in the US. Am I correct in assessing that there aren't a lot of Technics organs for sale in the US? I won't even consider buying the GA3 at my.local store when I know I can get a better price and an organ in better condition online if I'm patient enough.

Wow...the GA3 was discontinued by 1998...the $30,000 the GA3 at the music store sold for in 1998 is an even bigger laugh!

There are plenty of Technics organs showing up for sale in the USA but then that's my perspective living on the west coast. I've bought and sold GA3, F100 and FA1 from craigslist for a few hundred dollars over the years.

[andyg]

Wow...the GA3 was discontinued by 1998...the $30,000 the GA3 at the music store sold for in 1998 is an even bigger laugh!

Come to think of it, the organ was only ever £11,000 in the UK, say $16-17,000 US. But US prices were often a little lower than the UK, so I'd say that their claim of '$30,000 in 1998' is perhaps, in politician-speak, being 'economical with the truth'!

Someone on here will know, in fact, I think we may have discussed Technics launch prices before.

Anyway, now you know, you'll save a fortune. :)

[organhobbyist98]

I'm in the mid-Atlantic region, abang. I'll keep looking online at Craigslist and eBay, (I'm not having any luck with Google) and hopefully something will come up that's fairly close to my location.