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  • WurliTzer D-170 - My Newest Addition to the Fleet



    Though we're already practically tripping over organs around my house, I packed up a couple of spinets I'd already fixed and didn't play much in order to make room for a 1981 WurliTzer D-170 console. The Tibias are impressive and velvety sounding, with a variety from 16' to 1'. Most everything works, except for the String Ensemble and Piano buttons. I think I'm going to really like this organ and best of all, it didn't cost me anything. Do any of you who were in the business at the time remember about what these organs retailed for?</P>
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  • #2
    Re: WurliTzer D-170 - My Newest Toy

    I wasn't in the business, but followed organs during those years and in the post 70's inflation consoles like this were selling for about $6000. High end for non church organs was the Hammond X at a mind blowing $10,000! This was essentially a remake of the Centura Professional a few years earlier and bears alot of resemblence to the 4573 I'm playing now. More advanced electronics on yours of course. You must be in the right place at the right time. That's alot of organ to get for no cost. I'd pack up a few spinets too. (In fact I gave away a great old Conn 720 to make room for my Wurly). Congradulations and wishes for many hours of great music!

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: WurliTzer D-170 - My Newest Addition to the Fleet

      [quote user="bluetantra"]


      1981 WurliTzer D-170 console -and best of all, it didn't cost me anything. Do any of you who were in the business at the time remember about what these organs retailed for? [/quote]</P>


      G'day,</P>


      Wurly D170 was released in 1980 and retailed here in Oz for AUD$9995 (USD$8400 @ today's exchange rate). Not bad value when compared to Yammy E70 (AUD$10,995), Baldwin Cinema III (AUD$11,995), Conn Martinique (AUD$10,650), Gully Rialto II (AUD$12,495), Hammond Colonnade (AUD$11,795), Thomas 7181 Celebrity (AUD$12,450) etc. etc.</P>


      I'dgive some serious thought to a D72 (the spinet version with identical spec), if one came along.</P>


      Cheers,</P>


      Ian</P>
      sigpic
      Hammond X77GT & Leslie 77P
      Lowrey C500 & Leslie 720/540
      Hammond T524 & Leslie 710
      Gulbransen Theatrum & Leslie 700
      Yamaha EL90T

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: WurliTzer D-170 - My Newest Addition to the Fleet



        Thanks for the information, guys. I ended up changing this thread's subject from "my newest toy" because this organ is certainly more than a toy. The more I play it, the more beautiful sounds I discover. I'd just started working my way through William McMains' series of books on playing theatre style and this organ is IDEAL. I guess I'm going to have to look for a couple of Georgio Moroder pieces I've got somewhere to experiment with the synth sounds.</P>


        I think there's a faulty connection or solder joint somewhere that's making the String Ensemble and Piano buttons act wierd, but I have to get a manual before I can even figure out which boards are involved. I can get sound from from them, but the Piano buttons make a constant crashing sound, like all keys at once, as long as the button is activated. The upper String Ensemble buttons will only produce sound if held in, and then only sound the first note played, hanging on that note until the button is deactivated. The lower String Ensemble buttons seem to play fine, but the indicator light inside the button seems to get a bit brighter within a few seconds of being activated, leading me to think the problems are related to a connection or ground fault.</P>


        Ian, there's been a D-72 on ebaY that's located in central Florida, I think. However, at $500, it's had no takers.The D-170 was actually a gift from my organ teacher, who's down-sizing.</P>

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: WurliTzer D-170 - My Newest Addition to the Fleet



          John,</P>


          You did extremely well here. I don't blame you for trading off two spinets for this one. I would do the same, and I did recently trade a Thomas spinetfor a Baldwin 58R spinet.My doing that with a Thomas was something very unexpected. It was literally on the spur of the moment. At least it kept me from having to buy the Baldwin as well as pay for the delivery to me. I care for Baldwin for church music only, and this one was very hard to pass up.</P>


          We have to use the "iron while it is hot," and go from there with a possibility of something we might miss completely. People changed their mind over night, and in my case the guy I traded with changed his mind in a few seconds.</P>


          James</P>
          Baldwin Church Organ Model 48C
          Baldwin Spinet 58R
          Lowrey Spinet SCL
          Wurlitzer 4100A
          Crown Pump Organ by Geo. P. Bent, Chicago, Illinois


          Organs I hope to obtain in the future:

          Conn Tube Minuet or Caprice even a transistor Caprice with the color coded tabs
          Gulbransen H3 or G3, or V.
          Wurlitzer 44, 4410, 4420, ES Reed Models, 4300, 4500, Transistor Models

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: WurliTzer D-170 - My Newest Addition to the Fleet

            [quote user="bluetantra"]


            Ian, there's been a D-72 on ebaY that's located in central Florida, I think. However, at $500, it's had no takers.[/quote]</P>


            G'day John,</P>


            Thanks for the tip, got any clues on freight cost from Florida to Australia????</P>


            Cheers,</P>


            Ian</P>
            sigpic
            Hammond X77GT & Leslie 77P
            Lowrey C500 & Leslie 720/540
            Hammond T524 & Leslie 710
            Gulbransen Theatrum & Leslie 700
            Yamaha EL90T

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: WurliTzer D-170 - My Newest Addition to the Fleet



              More than I care to imagine, I'm sure. When I got out of the travel business in 1999, round-trip coach air fare from LAX was in the neighborhood of two grand.</P>


              Best,</P>


              John</P>

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: WurliTzer D-170 - My Newest Addition to the Fleet



                Guys, I received a request from Oz for some Conn replacement keys. Sent a full octave and duplicates for the broken keys requested about 13 plastic keys in all. Picked a box from the postal service for flat rate shipment (what I thought was wise at the time) packed keys carefully in bubble wrap and off to post I went. I got the shock of my life when the clerk rang up nearly $50 and said sorry, you should have used the smaller box!</P>


                And incidentally a girl I know married an Aussie last year and will be flying over soon. It is still about $2000.</P>
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                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: WurliTzer D-170 - My Newest Addition to the Fleet



                  Here's a photo of the D-72 from ebaY. It looks to have several more rocker tabs in the upper left cheekblock than the D-170 as well as what look like preset pistons between the upper manual and the Orbit. Maybe those features constituted the "2" in its model number?</P>


                  </P>

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by bluetantra View Post
                    Here's a photo of the D-72 from ebaY. It looks to have several more rocker tabs in the upper left cheekblock than the D-170 as well as what look like preset pistons between the upper manual and the Orbit. Maybe those features constituted the "2" in its model number?</P>


                    </P>
                    So how is your D-170? This D-72 appears to have a lot more features than my 625t of a few years before. I played my 81' Hammond Elegante the other day and tried for the life of me to get a Wurlitzer tone out of it and it was nothing doing. Of course I am very pleased with the Elegante, but every once in a while I try to imaging my dream organ. I tend to imagine a Wurlitzer with Hammond 'touch percussion'. My Wurlitzer 4500 has percussion and it's got really good capabilities, but I've often thought about trying to duplicate Hammond touch percussion, either on it or my 625t.

                    Wow, I just looked up the Wurlitzer D series and discovered they are digital. I'm very curious what was digital. I know the keying on my fully analog Hammond Elegante of 1981 uses digital keying for reliability, and probably a savings in construction because digital keying circuits have to be duplicated for each key on the keyboard- that a lot of transistors,resistors, and capacitors X 122 or 86..., but the Organ List http://www.lowreyforum.com/notes/Eorgan_list_v4.pdf has your D-170 as being digital. If Wurlitzer made it then it probably sounds great. Although, my 64' 4500 sounds better than my 77' 625t so the age isn't that important. Are there any posts on youtube of your organ or any of the Wurlitzer Digital series like yours?
                    I've made lots of play lists on my Youtube channel- paulj0557 also my Youtube screen name.
                    Wurlitzer '46' Model 31 Orgatron & 310 rotary cab, 56' 4410 , 65' 4300
                    Hammond '55' S6 Chord Organ,HR-40,ER-20, 1971 X66/& 12-77 tone cabinet w/ 122 kit & TREK Transposer- of which I've retrofitted a Wurlitzer/Lowrey 'PedAL gLIdE' awesome!
                    Gulbransen 61' 1132 '76' Rialto II & Leslie 705 + two 540
                    Conn '57' 406 Caprice '59' 815 Classic (the 29th 815)
                    PLEASE SAVE THE WURLITZER ELECTROSTATIC CONTINUOUS-FREE-REED ORGANS 1953'-1961' Hammond TW's ONLY TRUE COMPETITOR! (Ggl> NSHOS WURLI 4600)

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by bluetantra View Post
                      Here's a photo of the D-72 from ebaY. It looks to have several more rocker tabs in the upper left cheekblock than the D-170 as well as what look like preset pistons between the upper manual and the Orbit. Maybe those features constituted the "2" in its model number?</P>


                      </P>
                      So how is your D-170? This D-72 appears to have a lot more features than my 625t of a few years before. I played my 81' Hammond Elegante the other day and tried for the life of me to get a Wurlitzer tone out of it and it was nothing doing. Of course I am very pleased with the Elegante, but every once in a while I try to envision a dream organ and tend to imagine a Wurlitzer with Hammond 'touch percussion'. My Wurlitzer 4500 has percussion and it's got really good capabilities, but I've often thought about trying to duplicate Hammond touch percussion, either on it or my 625t.

                      Wow, I just looked up the Wurlitzer D series and discovered they are digital. I'm very curious what was digital. I know the keying on my fully analog Hammond Elegante of 1981 uses digital keying for reliability, and probably a savings in construction because analog keying circuits have to be duplicated for each key on the keyboard- that a lot of transistors,resistors, and capacitors X 122 or 86..., but the Organ List http://www.lowreyforum.com/notes/Eorgan_list_v4.pdf has your D-170 as being digital. If Wurlitzer made it then it probably sounds great. Although, my 64' 4500 sounds better than my 77' 625t so the age isn't that important. Are there any posts on youtube of your organ or any of the Wurlitzer Digital series like yours?
                      I've made lots of play lists on my Youtube channel- paulj0557 also my Youtube screen name.
                      Wurlitzer '46' Model 31 Orgatron & 310 rotary cab, 56' 4410 , 65' 4300
                      Hammond '55' S6 Chord Organ,HR-40,ER-20, 1971 X66/& 12-77 tone cabinet w/ 122 kit & TREK Transposer- of which I've retrofitted a Wurlitzer/Lowrey 'PedAL gLIdE' awesome!
                      Gulbransen 61' 1132 '76' Rialto II & Leslie 705 + two 540
                      Conn '57' 406 Caprice '59' 815 Classic (the 29th 815)
                      PLEASE SAVE THE WURLITZER ELECTROSTATIC CONTINUOUS-FREE-REED ORGANS 1953'-1961' Hammond TW's ONLY TRUE COMPETITOR! (Ggl> NSHOS WURLI 4600)

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        I just received a D-72!

                        Hi folks - I just was given a Wurlitzer D-72 (I think) it looks to be in very good condition. Almost every key or switch works. I'll pos pictures soon as I am able. Any interest? It also has the original bench and pad. I am in colorado.
                        Attached Files

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Tell us what you've learned to play on it, or post an audio or video link. I don't think there are any D-72 tracks on the internet. I've got a Wurlitzer 4500 I need to restore, that is enough challenge for me at the moment. Those are in fact recorded on the internet, see the paul0557 channel.
                          city Hammond H-182 organ (2 ea),A100,10-82 TC, Wurlitzer 4500, Schober Recital Organ, Steinway 40" console , Sohmer 39" pianos, Ensoniq EPS, ; country Hammond H112

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            I recently inherited a Wurly. How does one tell what the model type is. It looks similar to these post above but I can not find on the organ where it tells me the model type. please advise on this. Thank you for your help

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              The model number is usually on a plate underneath the keyboards, near the headphone socket

                              Comment

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