How do I tell if an organ is worth fixing?

[Guest]

I hope someone here can help me.</P>


I have a Lowery organ. I've looked online and found photos of it that say it's a <SPAN class=yshortcuts id=lw_1218540034_0>Berkshire/Model S from the mid-1950's</SPAN>. It has 2 keyboards, 32 stops, and 13 pedals. It looks like it has the original grills. I think it's a tube organ. The physical condition is very good.</P>
<DIV>My problem is that it was damaged when my family room flooded a couple weeks ago. It sat in water for 4 or 5 days while a cleaning company cleaned the mess, ripped out the carpet,and dried out the room with fans and dehumidifiers.It used to play perfectly well but now it makes a loud humming noise (like someone is holding down several keys), even though everything is off. You can play notes, but the humming noise overwhelms the music. My insurance company is asking me to find out (a) what it's worth, (b) how much it would cost to repair, and (c) would it be worth repairing. I live in southern NYS (outside the City) and haven't found anyone yet who even deals with organs this old, so I tend to think it can't be worth much. I'm sure it's going to cost me more to have the behemoth removed thanI'll get from the insurance company, but right now I have no idea what to tell them.Can you help me answer any of their questions or direct me to someone who can?</DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>Thank you for any assistance you can give me.</DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>-- Jennie</DIV>

[andyg]

Re: How do I tell if an organ is worth fixing?



Hi Jennie</P>


The original S or Berkshire goes back a loooong way! It is indeed a tube based organ.</P>


The humming noise is most likely caused by the power supply, but it depends just how much of the organ was under water, I suppose.</P>


Now to honestlyanswer your questions in order:</P>


a) zero - just about all home organs from the mid 80's and earlier are worth little or nothing - even if they're fully working. They are regularly given away</P>


b) a lot of money - that's if you could get all the parts,then you'd have to add on an engineer's time at, what, $60+ an hour for an awful lot of hours</P>


c) no, sorry, it's just too old and too far gone to be an economical repair, especially given the flood damage.</P>


Check to see if you have 'new for old' cover - one guy I know over here had his 1960'sLowrey Holiday (value almost nil) replaced with a new 1990 model Holiday (value £11K)!</P>


Try to crank some money out of the insurers (you've paid the premiums, after all!) for the removal as well as a nominal value for the organ, say $50-100. Then come back here and we'll gladly help you find something newto play! [:P]</P>


Andy G</P>
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[andyg]

Re: How do I tell if an organ is worth fixing?



[duplicate post]</P>

[skippy]

Re: How do I tell if an organ is worth fixing?



<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Hi Jennie,<?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">Sadly, working or not, the market value of your organ is zero. You can always give the insurance company a spiel about sentimental value and that it was once owned by a dear departed member of your family. I don’t know how far this would get you. Not knowing how much of the organ was submerged makes it hard to guess the source of the problem. I am surprised that it works at all. It could just be residual moisturesomewhere in the power supply or amplifier and may fix itself in time. I would open the back of the organ and for a couple of hours direct the hot air of a portable heater into it. Then I would give the electronics that were submerged a good spray of WD40 or equivalent. Just an afterthought - before you do this it may help if you place the organ on its back for a couple of hours to ensure that moisture drains from all areas. You need someone to help you with this. Don’t soil your carpet. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>


<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">It all depends if you are interested in keeping the organ and getting it fixed or if you are happy to get rid of it and get a buck out of your insurance on the way.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>


<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">If it was me I would answer the questions as follows:<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>


<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">(a) I don’t know, but it belonged to my beloved .................................................. ........<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>


<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">(b) unable to find anyrepairers for a quote<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>


<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">(c) most certainly, since I enjoy playing this organ so much</SPAN></P>


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


Good luck with this,</P>


Skippy</P>