Gulbransen Rialto II repair cost

[DJMAC]

I joined the forum a while back after acquiring a Gulbransen Rialto II. With the help of some generous members I tried some simple things to get it working. No luck. I've been reluctant to do any invasive tinkering because I can't convince myself that I would "do no harm" as an amateur/beginner.

There is a tech that works on Gulbransen a couple hours away from me and is still doing service calls. I think he said his travel time and an hour of sleuthing would be $450, then $85 an hour after that. I feel that it would be worth it to me to pay up to $1000 to get it working, and I've seen working ones for sale from $700 - 1500.

My question to you all is at what price do I bail out? Keeping in mind that it's not all rational, as I've been staring at it, and cleaning it, and obsessing over it for a couple months. Like a lot of people these days, I've got a lot more spare time now, and would like to be playing it. Any thoughts, or wisdom would be appreciated. Thanks

[andyg]

Well, the guy has to make a living and pay for his petrol/mileage. That said, I'd love to be making the equivalent of that from teaching or playing concerts!

Remember you could be paying $450 just to have him say that he can't fix it. To be honest that alone is probably rather more than the organ is worth. $1500 for an organ that old, however nice it may be, is bordering on crazy. We've seen them go for free.

The reason why people learn how to service these oldies themselves is simply because it's too expensive to call in professional help.

If you're happy to stump up the $450, get him to call and see what he can do. But what happens when he says he's got to order parts (quite likely as he can't carry everything) and needs to make a second visit. Another $450?

My advice is to think carefully, very carefully before paying out a cent.

[toodles]

Andyg's advise is the logical answer. People pay such high prices to repair such items either because they can't afford or find an acceptable replacement instrument or because of strong sentimental value.

[DJMAC]

Thank you for your advice. Everything you guys said makes sense. I'm well aware that I'm drifting into an area where the numbers don't add up and logic is retreating. That being said I have bonded with this particular organ, and I got it for free. What if I sent him the service manual and had him bring the likely replacement parts? I've read it makes sense to replace the electrolytic capacitors for the power supply no matter what in an organ this old, and if he was equipped with likely suspect parts, I'd be willing to roll the dice.

On the flip side, I picked this up because I've played keyboard/piano and bass my whole life ,and always wanted to get an organ with bass pedals, and combine the two. My grandma had one when I was growing up and we used to have fun with it as kids. So... If you had a $1500 budget, what would be the logical purchase?

[andyg]

You could explain the symptoms and send him the manual, but diagnosing at a distance is not easy! He might still turn up and be missing something. It's a risk!

As for buying something for $1500, with the market the way it is, there should in theory be a fair amount of choice, but you'd probably be looking at travelling to Portland or Seattle to find something. As to what organ, depends really on what and how you want to play. Let us know and we can probably give you a bit more specific advice.

[DJMAC]

Well I like a little bit of everything. I've been able to find a song I like in almost every genre. And this will be a for fun thing for me and my kids. My 12 year old is getting pretty good at piano and having an organ with many sounds and foot pedals might lead somewhere for her. For me trying to play with all four limbs might be a classic case of old dog and new tricks, but I'll still have fun. So I thought the Rialto II would be a good starting place because it has a version of piano, organ, synth and drums. Lots of sounds and combinations to keep us busy, assuming I ever get the thing working.

I've contacted the tech and asked to be put on his service list. I will hear back from him this weekend. I just want a pro to have a look before I start messing around with it. I'm trying to think of it as a check engine light on a car. You take the car in and they hook it up to the computer, and for $100 they tell you what it needs and then you decide if the car warrants repair, or if it's headed for the junk yard. I figure he will be able to tell me if it's worth the time, money and effort to repair. If it is he'll have time to do some things and maybe I'll get lucky, or he can start and point me in the right direction for the rest. One trip is all I will pay for and maybe that will be the jumpstart I need, or maybe it will be an expensive lesson.
Thanks again for your thoughts.