Allen Theatre Deluxe

[tom-total]

Hi all,

I'm just restoring my Allen Theatre Deluxe and the 4 speaker cabinets.

There's one thing I'm extremely concerned about: it seems as if some of the amplifiers are mounted on thin white-grey sheets of a very strange material (approx. 0.08" thick)... Does anybody know if this is asbestos ???

All comments are highly appreciated. MANY THANKS in advance !

Tom.

[Guest]

Re: Allen Theatre Deluxe

That would not be asbestos as it is a heat insulator. Electronics has not used asbestos anywhere since I have been in the business. Most likely is is either a heat conducting ceramic or some sort of plastic.

[tom-total]

Re: Allen Theatre Deluxe



A friend of mine put a photo onto his homepage which shows one of the typical "points".... it is this cardboard-like white-grey material underneath the amp ....

Please click here:

http://www.roverp6.info/picture.htm

[Tinker]

Re: Allen Theatre Deluxe



Hi Tom, Did you ever find out what that material is? I just picked up an Allen Theatre Deluxe with the four speaker cabinets, sounds like we might have the same configuration of instrument. The organ was already taken apart when I went to pick it up so I've never even heard or played one. I noticed the "heat sheild" material and I too first thought it was some type of asbestos material but it looks a lot like maybe some type of fibreglass or resin impregnated material. When I get a chance to dig into the instrument a bit more I'll take a closer look.

I'm anticipating that I'll either have to fix something or make some adjustments so I've been looking for any documentation that I can find on the Theatre Deluxe. I contacted Allen and they're willing to sell me the technical documentation for $50 USD since it's such an old instrument. Is that the documentation that you're using or do you have other reference material?

[tom-total]

Re: Allen Theatre Deluxe



Hi Gary,

great to hear, that you too have an Allen Theatre Deluxe - that's not the only case where we have the same taste :-)

This organ is simply terrific !!! It has the best reeds and strings I've ever heard on an analogue organ - absolutely breath-taking. And the tibias, the "soul of the organ" are fantastic, too. They do not have that Gulbransen specific "mother-of-pearl gleam" but they are very clear, brilliant and transparent as glass but are by no means sharp or cutting. I am so happy to have this organ !!!

And, furthermore, if you look inside the organ, everything is sheer Rolls-Royce- and Bentley quality - absolutely perfect.....

As far as these heat-shields are concerned, Allen could not say by sure if it is asbestos or not. I decided to replace them during the next few months. I'll take the organ outside and wear some mouth protection when carrying out this job.....

I'll send you via email the pdf-files I have.....

Best regards,

Tom.

[Tinker]

Re: Allen Theatre Deluxe



Hi Tom,

Yes it is a small world sometimes when it comes to these vintage organs isn't it. I'm so glad to hear that you like the sound of the Allen since as you mentioned we seem to have the same taste or luck in acquiring a very similar set of instruments. I did not know anything about this model of Allen before I decided to save it from the dump and I had heard some good and some not so good about the sound but if you say it's good I can't wait to get it set up to hear it. I was very, very impressed with the construction of the instrument. As you said the workmanship and attention to detail such as the hand lettered terminal strips, lots of labels and the parts well identified, the wiring harnesses, pull out/tilt up tone generator assemblies, keyboard and the cabinet work are outstanding. Although my neighbor is not interested in organs he is an electronics enthusiast and we both spent hours opening up cabinets and marveling at the various components and the overall construction. The amount of assembly time that must have gone into these instruments and their specialized speaker cabinets is amazing I'm sure.

I had heard that this model had a string celeste set of tone generators but was surprised to see that it also had separate ranks of tone generators for flute/reed and strings. Mine has four speaker cabinets, the two gyros, the bass and the traps. Thanks for forwarding the documentation, now some of the things I observed while cleaning her up makes sense. The previous owners had it in their home for many years and although dusty inside all the cabinet finishes are very good. I put a nice coat of paste wax on the console and that woodwork is beautiful.

Next steps are to sort out all the cables and get her hooked up for a test. I'd have probably done it already but it's going to take all my charm to get my wife to let this one into the house. I may have to scoot the Theatrum out to the garage "studio". By the way, I noticed an Allen recording on ebay that the seller said was made on a Theatre Deluxe. As soon as it arrives (yes, I had to buy it...) I'll let you know how it is.

My neighbor and I couldn't figure out what that heat sheild material was either. It looked a lot like asbestos but I'm not sure how to do a positive identification. Take a piece and see if I can burn it with a propane torch or ?? I'll probably just leave it in place since it appears to be in good condition with nothing flaking off or anything.

Again, thanks for sending the pdf files!

Best Regards,