The Organ Forum

I am looking for some info for the Rodgers 36e organ. I presume its mid 60's. Is this larger than a trio organ? More stops? IS there 2nd touch? How about percussions?

I am thinking about getting one for $500 just as a fun organ to play on (and learn theatre techniq). And get the Johannus van eyck as my serious organ. 

 

So your opinion would be great! Thanks! 

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I believe that the 36E was near the top of the line analog Rodgers organ of its day. There are more ranks of oscillators than a Trio and a somewhat more realistic sound. $500 seems like a good price for an organ that new went for more than $30,000. I find the build up and blend of these analog organs to be better than all but the most expensive digital organs.

 

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Style D Wurlitzer Pipe Organ
http://www.bluemoonwalkinghorses.com/Style_D_Description5_rev2.html

cool! I do just love the rodgers theatre organ, and that is one reason i want one! So warm! I love their lush strings! But I dont think the tibias are as good as a conn still, but close!

 

I would like a manual if anyone has one. THanks! 

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Home-
Rodgers 22b analog organ- 1968
Hammond CV- (no longer owned)
Kimball The entertainer

Church
2003 Martin Pasi Opus 14- dual temp pipe organ- Omaha Nebraska
Holtkamp martini practice organ
Bedient 1m/p 3 stop organ
Bedient 2m/p -? stop- organ

The 36E, according to the 'mother of all organ lists', dates from 1962 and is all transistor, with independent oscillators for every note. This is an old instrument, but the electronics will be pretty much 'bread and butter' stuff, so any problems should be fixable without too much hassle or expense.

The sound? I've never heard a 36E but I have heard the smaller 33E and that sounded rather better than the Trio's of the time. Independent oscillators do give an ensemble and warmth that early digitals failed to produce.

At the price, I'd go for it. You could even try a little gentle haggling, pointing out the age of the instrument etc, etc. 

Andy

PS Googling came up fruitless, unless you wanted a Rodgers 36E Gas Control Valve!

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It's not what you play, it's not how you play. It's the fact that you're playing that counts.

I have been hearing that this organ is much better than the trios, and some say it is in every way better than a 340, as there is more stops, and more couplers, (even unison off)  But the problem seems to come up, that it uses geranium transisters, and is not always reliable, so some suggest to replace them with a different kind.

 

 

and yes google is worthless for surching old rare organs on. you get 1,000,000 things with 3,6, and e, in it! 

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Home-
Rodgers 22b analog organ- 1968
Hammond CV- (no longer owned)
Kimball The entertainer

Church
2003 Martin Pasi Opus 14- dual temp pipe organ- Omaha Nebraska
Holtkamp martini practice organ
Bedient 1m/p 3 stop organ
Bedient 2m/p -? stop- organ

Brandon Tuomikoski:

 it uses geranium transisters

That's a priceless typo or spelling error. I wouldn't normally point it out - as I don't mean to be in any way rude - but it's such a gem. I have this mental picture of a 60's transistor factory. Flowers in one end (geraniums) and transisitors out the other.

I'm sure you meant germanium! There are experts around here who will be able to suggest replacement parts should they be needed!

Andy

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It's not what you play, it's not how you play. It's the fact that you're playing that counts.

Off topic; but I regret that I cannot resist under the circumstances:  I have a tie pin that is a chromium zucchini.  LOL!

Lol Sorry I knew someting wasnt right!

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Home-
Rodgers 22b analog organ- 1968
Hammond CV- (no longer owned)
Kimball The entertainer

Church
2003 Martin Pasi Opus 14- dual temp pipe organ- Omaha Nebraska
Holtkamp martini practice organ
Bedient 1m/p 3 stop organ
Bedient 2m/p -? stop- organ

Hi Brandon,

I had a chance to play around with a 34E that was at a local thrift store many months ago.  They were looking to get $1,000 or so for it but it did have a very nice 145 Leslie with it.  It had a number of external speakers and it appeared to be all connected correctly but it wasn't in top form even though they said it played well before they moved it.  I've currently got a couple of Trio's (321B and a 322 Deluxe) and in terms of size it was certainly a larger instrument.  The pedalboard appeared to be full AGO spec and the console was quite a bit wider than the Trio's and it really looked like an old pipe organ console.  Two swells and a crescendo pedal, setterboard combination action with moving stops, toe studs.  The insides were definitely old school with lots of key contacts, solenoids and relays very similar to my old Allen Theatre Deluxe.  I'm guessing that the 36E is similar.  This particular 34E looked to have a few parts and wires that sure didn't look original.  If the one you're looking at has been "improved" it could lead to some challenging troubleshooting sessions.  Even the documentation on my Trio's isn't spot on so I'm imagining that you'll have to do a fair amount of wire tracing on the 36E even if you can find a set of schematics for it.  Not a big deal unless you're paying a tech big $$$ to poke around at it.  I ended up passing on the 34E since it wasn't a big enough jump in organ appeal for me, I'm still holding out to find a decent Olympic 333 or a 340 :^)  The folks at the thift store thought that the other interested buyer might have wanted it to use the console for a VTPO.

I wouldn't let the germanium transistor design alone cause you any special concern.  I've got plenty of them in some of my older organs and so far have had only one failure and that was a transistor that was used in a sustain circuit that had a lot more stress on it than the tone generators.  If you did run into a failure in an older transistorized power amplifier I'd be tempted to just replace the amp with a newer one since most of the old power transistors don't come cheap.  You should be able to find suitable replacements for any transistors that you might need to replace.

The 37E had too many tone generators to fit in the cabinet so they put them in a good size cabinet that I believe was connected to the console with lots and lots of wires, like an old pipe organ.  I'm not sure if the 36E uses a similar design.  If I was closer I'd definitely take a look at it, the price seems quite good if it's complete and in reasonable shape.

I too love the sound of the older analogs.  Now that I've done a few things to my 321B (speakers, amps, reverb, adjustments and a couple other mods) it's very pleasing to play.  The only downside is the typical 70's plastic keyboard which just doesn't compare to the wood core keyboard systems on my old Gulbransen's and 322.

Let us know if you go take a look at it and if you end up picking it up.

 

 

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Gary
(Rodgers 321B, Gulbransen Theatrum, Hammond H-133, Gulbransen Rialto K with 100GK Isomonic Leslie, Rodgers 322 Trio Deluxe,Rialto K 1135 with 102 and 103 Leslie, Allen Theatre Deluxe with Gyrophonics and other speakers.