Allen- Unsure of Model.

[wo2012]

I'm still searching for a practice organ and one popped up that grabbed my interest. I'll upload the pictures, I'm not sure about the model/age because it's not listed on the classifieds ad. There are two pictures of the console and one of the included speakers. The asking price is $1000. Should I pursue this? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

[jbird604]

Looks like an ADC3000 from early to mid 80's. A rather decent organ with a lot going for it. The ADC organs were quite an improvement over MOS in many ways -- nice chimes, authentic celestes, better card reader voices, couplers that worked more like real couplers, realistic mixtures. And the 3000 has a full-featured double-memory capture action with moving tabs, as well as divided expression and a crescendo pedal, some toe studs, all in the lovely "B" style console.

$1000 might be a tad high for a private sale, given the age and that fact that a private seller can't give you a warranty nor provide any voicing or servicing. But if it's in perfect condition, it won't hurt to pay something for it. If the price is not negotiable, you'll have to use your judgment. It is certainly a much better practice organ than a lot of stuff floating around out there.

As to the speakers, it should have originally had two HC-12 or HC-15 speakers, so the one in your pic is obviously not original to it. If there are two of those and they sound ok to you, they might be adequate. Or you could try to find some HC cabinets somewhere for $100 to $200 each.

Once you get it home, you can search for some advice on the forum about doing routine maintenance and a voicing job on an ADC organ, which will make it sound better and more reliable in the long run.

[Larrytow]

I agree with all John said. Those B ( and D ) consoles are some of the nicest ones Allen ever made, in my experience. I love my ADC organ, and I think they are still great instruments these days.

But those speakers look like home stereo speakers; they are not organ speakers. And they look sorta abused as well. While you can play that organ though them, home stereo speakers are not really built for the demands an organ like that one will make on them, if you want to play it loudly.

With that in mind ( best to replace the speakers with organ specific ones sooner rather than later ), I would use those as a bargaining point to see what price you could get the seller to come down to.

What about moving it ? Can you do it, or will you need to pay someone to do it ?

[wo2012]

I really like the look of the console too. Thanks you two for the info! This is strange to me, but the organ is actually selling at a guitar center store in Maryland. They said they can ship it, but that may be a killer because I'm in Arizona. And also I don't know if they will be willing to work on the price but we'll see. Those do not look like proper speakers at all. I called and they said it had an electrical malfunction that they were going to fix too. It sparked when they tried to turn it on... And the music rack looks detached? Not sure what's going on there. Anyways thanks again and I'll keep you updated!

[wo2012]

I suppose that I just desperately want to find an adequate home organ! I've been watching craigslist too, and I missed out on a Rodgers 790 for $1200 recently which I regret not acting on. What's the best way to find an organ? Should I keep diligently watching craigslist hoping that something comes up? I don't have any other ideas!

[Larrytow]

A Guitar Center store has a church organ ? Must have been taken as some sort of trade-in with a church that went all Happy Clappy.

That certainly changes things regarding pursuing this one. My advice is to forget about this one. I would not trust a store like that to fix an Allen properly to start with - they don't really know about organs. The next thing is the shipping will cost more than the organ, by a good amount.

Craigslist really is a wonderful place to find organs, but ya gotta work at it some. I have heard that Faceboo... marketplace is good too, but I cant stand how the site works, so I hardly ever look at it. I found most of my organs on CL, and I have found way too many that I have hauled home. Gotta stop doing that actually, but it is a disease I am afflicted with.

The Classified section of this site is very good place to look - I just brought home a pipe organ from an ad there. Church Organ Trader has electronic organs listed at times. Theater Organ Classifieds has church organs listed quite often.

Having success with CL depends on several factors. Are you able to move an organ yourself, or will you need to hire someone ? That influences how you go about searching for one - distance, etc. Are you able to go look at one as soon as it comes up on CL - perhaps not that very day, but soon after ? Lots of times organs of the type you are looking for become available due to a church remodeling, and it Needs To Go. Estate sales often need to deal with large organs, and the same time factor applies.

Are you taking advantage of all the CL features that alert you to new organ ads ? You might need to make a CL account to access those features. I'm not sure, as I have had an account for a long time. If not - do that. Figure a radius that you are willing to go for a good organ, and hit all the CL areas that cover your radius. A bit further even, just to be safe.

The organs are out there, and the market right now is a buyers market in most places. You will find one soon enough. As you now know from your recent Rodgers experience : Ya Snooze, Ya Looze !

[wo2012]

You're right that one is not worth pursuing. Haha I don't blame you for being afflicted with that! Is it even possible to ignore a good deal on an organ? I doubt it! Anyways I've set some alerts as you advised. I live in Tucson, so I'm thinking that it's more likely for one to show up in Phoenix about 2 hours away. I could haul it myself with my family and my trailer so that's good news. Now it's time to wait and be patient... Hopefully something will appear. Thanks again!

[myorgan]

It's really too bad you're so late checking. There were several nice digital organs available in Phoenix in the past year or two, and you could have scored a nice one.

Also, check with the local AGO chapter, and they may know of something available. There is also quite a theatre organ group in the Phoenix area, so you might find something with them as well. Be patient-it will come.

Michael

[wo2012]

Good news! I looked through the theatre organ classifieds, and found an ad 2 hours away from my home that was posted in 2016. This was so long ago that I wasn't hopeful, but I tried anyway! Anyways, I am being offered a Rodgers "735i" for free and I can easily pick up and I will when the seller gives me a time to come. Any thoughts on this organ? What does the "i" mean?? I found that Rodgers made a Cambridge 735... Is that the organ that's on this ad? I just want to make sure I'm not buying a theatre organ and I'm yet to get pics from the seller. Thanks!

[Larrytow]

Well OK then, I told ya they are around. Congratulations ( I hope ) on finding a home practice organ ! Be sure to check it out good when you are there. Every stop, every key and pedal, Etc.

In my opinion, Rodgers is second best to Allen in most eras, but still very nice organs, excepting a very few models. I can't really help with any advice about that particular model, as I am not as familiar with Rodgers as I am with other brands. There are guys on here who know them inside and out though, so it would be best to pose your question in the Electronic Organs > Church and Classical sub forum here.

Ya got me wondering about that Rodgers model #, so I did a quickie Google on it and came up with this :

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/92...35.html#manual

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzx7R5duaEc

Looks like it might be a PDI digital Rodgers.

[wo2012]

I know I hope it will work out. I do like Allen's too, our church just got a new one and they're wonderful. And thanks for the info on the Rodgers. It may not be bad for a free practice organ. I like the divided expression and crescendo, and the toe studs. I read that Rodgers from the 90s have exploding capacitor problems, so if I get it I'll look into that. And nice it's a digital! I'm pleasantly surprised I think.

[jbird604]

735 was one of the very first PDI models, and quite nice. Rodgers waited until about 1990 to make a digital organ and benefited from the mistakes others had made. So they had stop by stop, note by note voicing from the beginning. And their "stereo sampling" was a good idea that made their sound distinctive.

PDI models are now 30 years old and may have serious problems. This exploding caps are well known, and that must be taken care of immediately. Rotted foam is also rampant in all the speakers and will need immediate attention. Breaking key contacts are a possibility but can be addressed as needed. Light bulbs in the knobs will burn out now and then, but at least don't constitute an emergency.

Amp modules can be bad, resulting in dead channels, but they can be fixed or replaced.

Nice find. Have fun!