Update History
10/6/20:
New Vox Continental II
info
Combo Organ repair
video and PDF
Yamaha YC-25D service
info
5/28/13: Additional and corrected "Who Played What" information
6/19/11: VOX Vox Single Manual Continentals. Updated info, actual pictures of a "Square Top", and a new model variant, version "2.5"
9/18/07: Gibson: New and updated information, more pictures, and sound demos of the Lowrey T2
3/23/07: Rheem: Recently, I made contact with none other than Doug Moore, who actually designed both the Mark VII and the Kee Bass, so I have GREATLY expanded this area of the website with new, and hitherto virtually unknown information!
5/14/06:
Farfisa: Yes, finally, at last, after over 2-1/2 years (man, has it been that long!), I finally have a decent Farfisa section. Enjoy!
Spares and Repairs: One fix for constant whiny or growling noises, New info on Yamaha touch-vibrato repairs, and...Schematics!
Kustom: Pictures of the Kombo in all colors, new speaker variations, other stuff.
Rheem: New version of the Rheem "Bass"
10/22/03:
Vox: Major overhaul (finally!) Too much to enumerate, just go read it (and plan to spend some serious time there)
Welson: New "Gipsy" model
GEM: New model, the Rodeo 37 and new pictures of the S61, new version of the Jumbo.
Others: New Brand: Bauer - check out the Starmaster!, New organs: Solton Drawbar, Eko Tiger Duo, Super Tiger 61, Minstrel
Spares and Repairs: Info on tuning and cleaning contacts, fixing vibrato, replacing electrolytic caps
Elka: New pics and info on the massive Concorde 602, the X-55 the X-605, and the Panther 2150!
Yamaha: New pictures of the A3.
Combo Not! Added links and pictures for the Roland RS-09 and SA-09, as well as the PAIA Oz and Organtua.
Cordovox: Some formatting changes and a few new things.
1/16/2003:
Melosonic: A bit more info and pictures of these models, plus, the "spinet" model, and the "Rockland Mark IV" - another cousin.
Ace Tone: New pics and info on the TOP-7, a little more historical info on the TOP line..
Spares and Repairs: Info on tuning and cleaning contacts, fixing vibrato, replacing electrolytic caps
Rheem: New
Rheem "Bass" (not Kee Bass)
5/22/2002:
Doric: New page for Doric and Ekosonic
Blue: New page featuring "Blue" organs
Magnus: New pictures of the Magnus 3D.
Fender: New pictures of the Starmaster
4/12/2002:
Misc: Great new picture of "wacky dad at the Lowrey"
Kustom: New pictures of the Kombo, and a great story about the preamp panel
Vox: Small amounts of addl. info on Continental/Super/300 origins, more on the Continental II/Super Continental with percussion, plus all new info on the Riviera.
Melosonic: Some info on the unusual oscillator setup used on these organs
Magnus: Pictures of the 3D Combo and the Estey 101.
Others: More information on the Eko Tiger, and two new ones - the Minstrel and the Micky.
Orange: A collection of "orange" organs.
Rheem and Teisco: Additional historical information and more pictures and info on a few models.
Yamaha: Sounds from the YC-20. No spectacular playing, but a good demo of the sound of the organ.
2/26/2002:
Others New models: Hohner Organetta, Hunter Combo, Halifax. A bit more info on the Wersi Comet.
Spares and Repairs: New instructions for fixing the Yamaha YC-series touch vibrato
Shop: New link to site where you can buy a Raiders Coach model kit with a Super Continental on the back.
AceTone: User reviews of the TOP-5 and TOP-8, new pics and information on the TOP-6.
Cordovox: The Mystery of Beck's "White Elephant" revealed!
Fender: More info from Barry Carson about the mysterious Starmaster
Gem: New page just for the Gem brand
Rheem: Nice scan of a 1967 magazine ad for the Mark VII and Kee Bass. A bit more info on the function of the Mark VII.
12/11/2001:
I'm updating the page with what I have so far. Most of it is listed below. There are probably some other updates scattered about, and there may be un-finished sections or pictures and links that don't work. I just don't think I'm going to be able to spend much time on this until after the holidays, so I wanted to get what I had so far up there so ya'll would have something new to look at. If you see obvious problems that need to be addressed, please let me know and I'll try to get them fixed.
Vintage Keys e-Zine - Assembled and co-ordinated by Simon Beck.
LennyTone - I won't try to explain it here - just click and check it out.
Want to buy stuff? Check out the Shop.
Ace Tone: New, slightly better pics of the TOP-8, new info on the TOP-7, new historical info on Ace Tone
Baldwin/Howard: Now on their own page. Some new pictures and info.
Elka: New pics of the Panther 2200, X-705.
Yamaha: Detailed control info on the YC-30
Whitehall: - new pics of the Grand Prix Duo.
Others: New, or additional info and/or pics
for the following organs:
WEM Teischord C, Wersi
Comet, Welson(unknown), Weltmeister TO-200, Porto Organs.
Gibson/Lowery: Additional info on the T-1, new pics of the G201 and G101.
Miscellaneous: Just that. Check it out.
Teisco: More info and pictures on several models, and two new models - the E1 and S.
Vox: More info and pics for several models, including a BLUE jaguar, a Jennings J71, a Vox Piano(?!?!) and the elusive "Junior".
Combo...NOT!: A brand new page covering some of those instruments that don't quite fit the definition (ok, MY definition) of a combo organ.
04/10/2001:
I finally figured out how to use "Bookmarks", so now there's a sort of "quick link" table at the top of many pages that make it easy to skip to a particular model.
Kustom: New pics and info on the Kombo II
Teisco: New info, new model GS, previously unidentified "Checkmate" identified as a Teischord B, additional info on their twins, the Nomads. Additional info on the A1 and C.
AceTone: New info, especially the TOP-9.
Cordovox: Lots more info and pics of all the models
Elka: More info on the Panther 100, better pics of the Panther 300, new pics of the 2100, 2300, and the elusive 2200
Gibson: Sound clips of the G101, plus the elusive Lowery T1 - found!
Unknown: The "Combo Deluxe" has been identified and moved to "Others". More pics and info on the Wards organs, including a great catalog pic featuring "The New Colony Six"
Whitehall: New pic of the Grand Prix - cool Wards catalog page featuring "The Cryin' Shames"
Others: Lots of changes, including a full line of Welsons.
There are probably other additions and changes - just poke around and see what you can find.
11/22/2000:
Major changes to the appearance of the site. Additional information and pictures on many of the organs. Too much to list here.
7/18/2000: New info and pics of the Kustom Kombo
7/12/2000:
New info on Del Shannon's "Runaway" in the FAQ.
New picture and link to RAM(audio) clip for Cordovox CDX/Moog
A little more info on the Whitehall 6640.
Better picture and more info on the Rheem Mark VII
Link to new web site (FirstStringers) in the Links section
6/16/2000: Added some alternate manufacturer's names to the main table. Added a Whippany organ to the Melosonic/Clark/Whippany section, and some updated info on those. More info and new picture of the Elka Panther 100.
6/7/2000: Identified "John Doe 1" as a Philips Philicorda Portable, and moved it to the "Others" section. Minor addition to the description of the Howard Combo. Added the site to the "Vintage Keyboards Web Ring"
6/1/2000: Updated the Yamaha section with new pictures and information (Thanks, Les). Added a few new organs to the Others section.
5/17/2000: Moved the whole site to Tripod. MUCH better than Xoom. Added "Unknown" section
5/16/2000: Moved MeloSonic, Rheem and Whitehall out of Others to their own page. Added a couple of new organs to Others, Added description for AceTone TOP-8