Lowrey closing?

[seamaster]

Böhm disappeared from the Musictraders website a while back: www.musictraders.co.uk/bohm-107-c.asp

[andyg]

Wow! That was short-lived.

As for Allens taking Bohm, is that something that Wersi would be happy about?

[abacus]

Wow! That was short-lived.

As for Allens taking Bohm, is that something that Wersi would be happy about?

As far as I am aware, there is no animosity between Keyswerk (Bohm) and Music Store (Wersi) so I cannot see why not. (Allen’s is a dealer selling multiple brands and not part of the Music Store Empire, which is dv247 in the UK)

Bill

[andyg]

Good to hear that there's no animosity - I wasn't expecting any. I was thinking that given the obvious similarities and no doubt friendly rivalry between them, would Wersi be happy that a relatively new dealer would take on that rival. Mind you, you could argue that 'dealer' is rapidly approaching the point of singularity in the UK. Shared dealership better than no dealership? Shipping and dealing with customers in another country is tricky enough if you have to do it direct with no physical presence there.

We can both remember the days when brand A could say to a dealer "You can't be a 'superstar dealer' for our products if you take on brand B as well." And it worked - for a while until one or two of them said 'Stuff that!" and stocked brands B and C anyway, and held 'superstar dealer' status with all three! And as the dealerships closed down or went under, the manufacturers weren't able to pick and choose as they were in the heyday. But there again, the dealers didn't have so many makes to choose from....

Let's wait and see. 1) how many UK dealers by the end of next year 2) what makes will they handle?

[afuller5]

Hi all,

I, too, am saddened to see the demise of Lowrey. I have never owned a Lowrey. However, my organ teacher owned several. When I started lessons in 1982, she had one in her home (along with a Thomas Celebrity). She also had one that she kept in her van for when she played out at private parties, Elks club, etc. She always talked about how reliable they were then. She then traded both for a new one in about 83. Then she traded that one for a push button one with the cartridge reader for rhythms and songs. I don't think she every got very comfortable with that one since she was getting older by then and many of the features needed several (non-intuitive) button pushes to access. I enjoyed playing all of her Lowreys.

I have only played one newer lower--a Majesty at one of our local funeral homes. I found it to be easy to play and register without having to resort to the manual. However, I know that I could have gotten much more out of the organ if I had a few day or so to learn some of its "secrets." I don't particularly like the over-sized cabinet. I prefer the look of my Roland. However, I did really like the tabs for the main organ voices readily available and easily changed on the fly. All in all, I would not mind owning a recent Lowrey.

Thanks for the opportunity to reminisce about my younger days of organ lessons.

Later,
Allen

[Hammond-Organist]

Returned from Allens Music Extravaganza. It was a fun weekend and nice to see some of the faces from last year once again. The new Aria Pro was present with its fill pedal board made for the Lowrey by Viscount and excellent at that. Nice to see Dennis Awe once again and chat about my favourite organists and enjoy his showmanship along with the other couple of pros. Allens stage a very professional event and really assure everything is spot on which is pretty amazing in this lack of new organs day and age. The boys took time to speak to everyone and you are made very welcome.

I was saddened to hear a small undercurrent going on as speculation started about Kawai ditching its Lowrey arm over the pond although fans of the instrument were not really fazed by it I have to say. As yet I haven't seen a official announcement having been away but it did seem something was happening behind the scenes as meetings were taking place during the concerts pretty much in public.

Anyway it was a nice event again and I'm sure that everyone will be hoping the speculation that started is not true as do I, it will be a great shame if we loose the big organ.

Playing the recent models they don't really seem a great deal different other than size, a few more buttons and a very nice whistle so perhaps this could be the issue for them I don't know. I find the Lowrey really a fun organ to play not to be taken seriously but it does make you smile, I really wish them well..

[RogerM]

A copy of Kawai’s letter to Lowrey dealerships has been posted earlier in this thread and there is no reason to doubt its authenticity. I checked the position directly with Kawai and they have confirmed by e-mail that Lowrey production will cease in January next year. No need for speculation; it’s a fact so far I can see.

[Max Green]

Perhaps there will be a renewed interest when the manufacturers stop production not unlike the classic car market. Perhaps some forward thought such as parts remanufacture once again not unlike classic cars. Values go down and down and then suddenly they come desirable again and rising values will sustain a restoration market.

[KC9UDX]

Typically what happens today is that consumers will make huge demands to restart production. They'll even promise to buy one or more. But when they're back on the market, everyone will lose interest, balk at the price, and cancel any orders.

[geoelectro]

I started working on Lowrey’s In about 1979. Those models were fantastic. I remember when the MX-1 came out in 1980. It was unbelievable! Huge sound that included a six voice analog synth used for the backing tracks. The first time I saw the inside with three fold down racks full of circuit boards I was both fascinated and a little frightened that I would be called upon to service one if needed. Boy, was it needed! They had a lot of problems with it. Lowery was pushing the technology hard at that time. I sure hate to see them cease building organs. The end of an era...

Geo

[jcardana]

The first time I saw the inside with three fold down racks full of circuit boards I was both fascinated and a little frightened that I would be called upon to service one if needed.

I have photos of when I disemboweled a Contempo-80. (Facebook Login Required)

[Hammond-Organist]

Hi Roger and greetings ;-)

Couldn't see the letter January apparently will tell the tale, but if they do go parts will I am sure be an issue at some point. If they do go perhaps China may come to the rescue?

Last year at el Allens Extravaganza we had Ms Hirschfield announced as now playing for Lowrey but I personally have not seen her on it since then.

[RogerM]

Hi Roger and greetings ;-)

Couldn't see the letter

Post #19 in this thread as an attachment.

[andyg]

Couldn't see the letter January apparently will tell the tale, but if they do go parts will I am sure be an issue at some point. If they do go perhaps China may come to the rescue?

Not 'if they do go' but when. They are definitely closing Lowrey down in January. Kawai have been trying to sell Lowrey off for years without success. I hope Kawai don't just sell the name and we then see it plonked on a pile of junk not worthy of the moniker.

As for parts, US law says that 'key' parts must be available for 10 years after a product is discontinued. In the EU I think it's 7 years, so in theory we should be OK. But there's a thread on Lowrey Forum where a Stardust (2011 model) owner was told that the main CPU board is no longer available. Last post said they were waiting for Kawai Japan to resolve the issue. I find that a tad worrying and I hope it gets sorted. If there are parts issues like that, any values will plummet dramatically - even more than they already have.

[FourEyes]

Hi Everyone
Looking to get back into learning and playing organ after a long gap from around 1985 - yikes! I attended the UK Lowrey Extravaganza at Peterborough last weekend. Despite being a little cautious of maybe attending a 'hard sell' for the organs I was pleasantly surprised at the friendliness of everyone. The performances and artists were really great and the hotel food and staff really first class. It was easy to see that everyone had a real passion for their current or recently purchased Lowrey. I could see that despite some people out of the customer base knocking them for the easy play facilities that these organs had really helped people learn to learn to play and appreciate music. The organs to my ears sounded really high quality and of course no vibrating plastic fitments. I was so impressed I put a deposit on a previously owned Grand Marquee after an excellent one to one 'no pressure' demonstration. Very much looking forward to receiving delivery I was quite taken aback when I found this thread telling of the demise of Lowery next January. Not being the most lucky of people when buying electrical goods (i normally find they go wrong a couple of months after purchase!) I made the difficult decision to cancel my order for the organ. If anything had gone wrong with it the thought of then trying to obtain spares or maybe finding that spares were not in existence in the future made me think that I could have purchased the most expensive sideboard in the house. Such a shame that Lowery will close. I wonder if the yearly UK Lowery event will continue - doubt if I will get an invitation after my order cancellation though!