The Organ Forum

Our church recently received a Lowrey Citation Theatre Organ. We can either use it (probably not) or sell it to help fund our missions work. The model of this organ is GAKH-KHZ. It is walnut and in excellent condition—in fact, we were told, it was recently serviced. My Google search yielded a similar organ for sale in the San Diego area, but it was a GAKH-1. Not sure what the difference is and would like to know more about the KHZ model. Also I would like to know if there is a market for it. Would $700 be a resonable listing for it?

John, you've received a very kind hearted gift, but unfortunately the organ market is very weak right now and most likely a sale of the instrument would only bring $200 - 300 in the very best of condition.

If your congregation can make good use of the organ to benefit the worship services you'd do well to keep it and I'm sure the giver would find great joy in seeing the instrument used to the glory of the Lord.

I played one of these at one time for a church. This organ had so much potential it was amazing and just a glorious sound.  We used it in all modes of worship, and it fit right in for everything.  I do hope it is used in your worship for the glory of God.  If not, try to locate a young organ student who needs a good practice organ, and give them a chance to practice on it at the church or if the church doesn't want it, well give it to them so it can be used.  Organs bring very little money in this day and time.

 At least your church would be one to encourage some young person instead of them being rejected because of their interest in the organ.  I was so thankful a church gave me a wonderful chance when the one I grew up in gave me the shaft, and almost literally showed me the door.  God opened a window shortly thereafter.

James

There were only four models in the GAK-H series from 1971-1972 approx.

The GAK-H - spinet with 13 pedals , and the GAK25-H - console with 25 pedals. The H1 variants came along the following year and added the Golden Harp feature. What the KHZ part means, I don't know, as I've never heard of it before now.

If you have the spinet version, its value is realistically zero or very little. The console versions may command a couple of hundred dollars, but you'll be lucky. Those prices assume that the organ is fully working, which isn't always the case after nearly 40 years. Don't go by the prices you may see on eBay or whatever. They are usually way too high, as people don't realise how little organs fetch these days. Organs much newer than these have been given away. It would be nice to think that you could raise a good sum for a very worthy cause by selling it, but alas, the market is not there to support this.

I do hope you may be able to use it or at least find a good home for it, as James has suggested.

Andy G

Hi Andy...speaking of too high prices on e-bay....

What I'm tempted to do is to leave the "seller" a message on the "Ask The Seller A Question" prompt...and say something like....

"Dear Seller, I you will lower your $800.00 price for this Conn 580, to $200.00, then I'll bid on it".  Is that kosher on e-bay?

John Smith:

 The model of this organ is GAKH-KHZ. - similar organ for sale in the San Diego area, but it was a GAKH-1. Not sure what the difference is and would like to know more about the KHZ model.

G'day John,

Firstly I'll assume you're taking about the GAKH Citation Theatre spinet.

The letters KHZ are absolutely not part of the model number, but refer to a measurement of AC current frequency.

The GAKH & GAKH-1 are cosmetically and functionally identical, the "-1" referring to the changeover in the organ's tone generator from a combination of transistors and IC's to LSI's (Large Scale Integrated Circuits) which occurred in 1972.

It was common practice for Lowrey to suffix their model nos. with "-1' or "A" when referring to an update not usually noticeable to the player.

* Sorry Andy, but the Golden Harp was on the earlier versions, including the non-theatre Citations. ps.  I know that lawn bowls & mediaeval jousting aren't Olympic sports, but did the British team miss the plane to Beijing?   Haven't seen anything of them yet down under.

Kampai,

Ian

Ian, sorry, I didn't explain that bit well enough. Yes the H had Golden Harp, but only one simple pattern on the kick switch. The H1 added a set of white buttons at the right hand end of the stop rail that offered some choices of Golden Harp pattern. I didn't think the LSI changeover came that early for Lowrey, Ian, but I've never had to open one up to see.

I hope the AC mains frequency isn't measured in KHz in your part of the world. Heaven knows what that would do to a tonewheel organ or a leslie!

As for our Olympians, we're just saving the best till last (I hope!)

Andy

andyg:

. I didn't think the LSI changeover came that early for Lowrey, I hope the AC mains frequency isn't measured in KHz in your part of the world. 

As for our Olympians, we're just saving the best till last (I hope!)

G'day Andy,

This is how I remember the Lowrey LSI bit.

I started with Lowrey in '71 and in '72 all the "-1" LSI models hit  us from ICG-1 thru LC88SG-1, LC98KSG-1 etc. right up to GAK25H-1. Add to that the release that year of TLOKS & H25-3,  both of which were LSI. Then in '73 the TG stuff started, all LSI, then they started using the "-1" bit again to mark the changeover to magic genie commencing in '75.

As for KHz down under, our Leslies are all only single speed, ie. a very, very fast chorale and my X77GT does a great Tiny Tim falsetto version of "Tip Toe Thru the Tulips".

Don't worry about Olympic medals, mate, I think I saw Princess Anne on the telly with her nosebag and Harold Steptoe's horse. You can be confident of a couple of gold.

 Kampai,

Ian

andyg:

. I didn't think the LSI changeover came that early for Lowrey, I hope the AC mains frequency isn't measured in KHz in your part of the world. 

As for our Olympians, we're just saving the best till last (I hope!)

G'day Andy,

This is how I remember the Lowrey LSI bit.

I started with Lowrey in '71 and in '72 all the "-1" LSI models hit  us from ICG-1 thru LC88SG-1, LC98KSG-1 etc. right up to GAK25H-1. Add to that the release that year of TLOKS & H25-3,  both of which were LSI. Then in '73 the TG stuff started, all LSI, then they started using the "-1" bit again to mark the changeover to magic genie commencing in '75.

As for KHz down under, our Leslies are all only single speed, ie. a very, very fast chorale and my X77GT does a great Tiny Tim falsetto version of "Tip Toe Thru the Tulips".

Don't worry about Olympic medals, mate, I think I saw Princess Anne on the telly with her nosebag and Harold Steptoe's horse. You can be confident of a couple of gold.

 Kampai,

Ian

Thanks for the info, Ian. I had the LSI change marked down from the next generation, the Symphonic Holiday, CO80 and so on. I'll make a mental note that it was 72 as you say.

I don't think we need Annie this time. We're amazingly 3rd in the medals table, with a good possibility of a couple more Golds in cyclling and sailing. Over here the press are calling it 'the great haul of China, but don't worry, it won't last and I'm sure you'll catch up. But you're obviously missing that human torpedo you used to have. Now the Yanks have one and if you took off his 8 gongs they'd have 11 like us. (Mind you, if you did that you'd have to put him 8th on the table on his own!)

Andy

This is a grateful reply to all you folks (throughout the world) who have helped me with this question. While I am sorry to hear the organ isn’t worth more, you have given us some ideas of how it might best be used.

First of all, I should say it is indeed a Citation Theatre Spinet with two 44  note keyboards and a 13 note pedalboard. As an EE, I knew that KHZ is a measure of frequency, but not clear why it is in the Model field and no number associated with it.

FYI, the manual makes mention of Golden Harp control on Expression Pedal and a Slow/Fast Speed Control. In looking at the schematic, it looks to be discrete technology rather than LSI.

Thanks again for taking the time away from the Olympics to answer my questions. A slight organ sidelight; when I was a young lad (maybe 10 years old--1950), the nuns at St. Mary’s Church in Bayonne, NJ (USA) used to let me play their big pipe organ for stations of the cross. Since I didn’t know what to do with the pedals (I was a piano student), they worked them for me and I handled the simple tune. I revisited the church last year and toured the choir loft. Interestingly, the console was gone but some pipes remained. Going into a little trap door, there remained the bellows with same piece of slate rock sitting on top, that I remembered as a kid. Thus was my entire experience with organs. But it was memorable.

andyg:

I don't think we need Annie this time. We're amazingly 3rd in the medals table,

G'day Andy,

Yeah, you're one up on us.  The news here is that there's some big money floating around in high places, maybe No. 10 & The Lodge re the size of the respective medal hauls. Our pundits are now saying Britain will be a little richer next Sunday.

More to the point of the forum - What are/were the Kawai "XR" models?  I remember the "X" & "SR" series, and I think there were a few dodgy spinets after that, but we never saw these things.  I stumbled across an ad, probably from the US with pics of XR7000 & 9000.  7000 is a big spinet and you could swear you were looking at a contempory "hole in the wall" model Yammy EL70, same reg. buttons, 20 pedals etc.  9000 is a console, again contempory, 3rd keyboard a la DX1900/SR7.

Any clues?

Cheers,

Ian

Golds keep coming! Mind you, there's a lot of athletics finals to come and we're only likely to do well in one or two of those.

The XR organs were discussed over on Lowrey forum last week. I thought they were simply dressed up SR's, but I was wrong. The tone generation system is the 2nd generation of the ADD (Additive Digital Dynamics) system in the SR5/6/7/70. Like the K5000 synth, it used a very powerfull fully additive synthesis system and for the first time on a Kawai, it could make a decent piano! But they apparently managed to come up with worse brass and saxes etc. The automatics seem to be from the Lowrey NT series, judging by some of the style names. Knowing just what's inside the Lowrey NT organs, that comes as no surprise. Looks like there was more than a little technology cross-over.

Around the same time, there was a definite Kawai/Lowrey link, with the KL (Kawai) and NL (Lowrey) organs being built on a common chassis and electronics. Very different organs and the Kawais were pretty poor compared to the Lowreys.

Kawai now have the Dreamatone DT series in the Japanese home market, but speaking to one of the guys at Yamaha UK today, that home market is going the same way as everyone else's. Could be the final chapter for the home organ, if the big 3 decide to pack it in. I'm sure it's only because of Mr K at Roland, that we still have the Ateliers. If they go, who else will be left? Orla and a few other odd Europeans like Wersi.

Andy

Thanks for the info, Andy,

Seems those XR's were built just for US export then, we didn't see them here.  Maybe the last Kawais here were those KL models, all I do remember about them is that they were all spinets,  very ordinary and only lasted 5 minutes, which was about the same time as the NL Lowreys.  I am aware of the DT stuff, and yeah, you're right about the Jap domestic market. 

IK was always an organ man, started his business that way, and to some of our Japanese friends, not many, sentimentality actually means something.  Maybe he is one of them.

Don't hold your breath waiting for Orla to save the world.

Cheers,

Ian