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I acquired an Allen MDS-5 recently through an estate sale. A few stop tabs don't seem to work and the Swell-to-Great tab seems to be always activated even though it's not depressed. Any thoughts? Looking to save money and hopefully not call a repair technician... Also, I'm a total newbie to organs here, so any detail would be appreciated.
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That's a nice organ. But the question is "which" stop tabs don't work? And by not working, do you mean they won't move, or they don't seem to do anything or change the sound in any way? Some tabs do something that is quite subtle, so you may not notice what they are doing. And other tabs may be there for optional features that are not installed.
The Allen MDS models are truly great organs to own, and a very nice find for a home organ. They are fully MIDI equipped and ready to go as a base for a VPO setup, if you are interested in that. But this one is possibly about 30 years old, so it may need a LOT of maintenance and it may be overly optimistic to think you'll get it going without calling a tech. It is still worth quite a lot of money, so it should be worthy of having a service call if that is needed.
John
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Johnnycakes,Originally posted by johnnycakes View Post
Just in case you don't already know, the Swell is the top keyboard, and the Great is the bottom keyboard. I'm going on your last statement, so please forgive me if I'm insulting your intelligence.
To help us help you, you can:- Turn all the stops off.
- If there is a Crescendo pedal (like a gas pedal just above the pedals-volume control), make sure it is completely closed.
- Then, while holding a pedal down, engage one stop at a time going from left to right. Swell to Pedal & Great to Pedal shouldn't do anything.
- Repeat the same process with the Swell (upper keyboard).
- Repeat the same process with the Great (lower keyboard).
- Post the stops in each division that don't appear to do anything.
Welcome to the Forum! I hope you will continue to participate here for years to come.
MichaelWay too many organs to list, but I do have 5 Allens:- MOS-2 Model 505-B / ADC-4300-DK / ADC-5400 / ADC-6000 (Symphony) / ADC-8000DKC
- Lowrey Heritage (DSO-1)
- 11 Pump Organs, 1 Pipe Organ & 7 Pianos
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If you don't have the owner's manual, a copy of it can be found here: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/...g.pdf?lang=fraComment
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Thanks everyone for your input. I did exactly as you said, myorgan, and I think having the crescendo closed all the way helped me understand that (like jbird60 mentioned) there are subtle differences in the stops that I didn't notice before... I verified that all the stop tabs are working, so problem solved.
I did notice that the piston memory gets erased every time I power off and on the organ, and the manual says this indicates a dead backup battery. Do you know if it's an easy job to replace, or better that a repair guy do it?Comment
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Find the MN board in the back and look for the battery on it. Could be under the metal shield, so remove it with extreme caution. It could be a type BR2032 or type 123 lithium. Replace carefully and you should be ok.John
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*** Please post your questions about technical service or repair matters ON THE FORUM. Do not send your questions to me or another member by private message. Information shared is for the benefit of the entire organ community, but other folks will not be helped by information we exchange in private messages!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Birds...97551893588434Comment
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Thanks a lot John. I'll try it this week.Comment
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