Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Yep, I know--strange request.

I'm looking around for a Guitorgan.
They look like this:


Basically converted Japanese 335 copies (Univox, Ventura etc) with an onboard electronic combo organ, and can be played as a guitar.
. Done by the Musiconics company in Waco, Tx. in the 70s.

If anybody has seen one for sale, and can point me in the right direction?

Cheers,
-Collin

Btw....for those interested in Guitar organs and VOX history, here is a really cool video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtUrpzkfeuI

Watching Vox hero Dick Denney sing "Swanee River" while playing a Vox Phantom Organ is amazing.

At the Detroit guitar show this past Sunday there was a dealer that was getting organ sounds from a regular guitar. I really didn't pay attention to what he was playing it through though. I am sure it was some sort of amp/processor.

That's a cool video Collin! $600-$800 back in the 60s was quite a sum for an instrument!

If you really want something cool, try and find one of the few Guitorgans which were built in the Rickenbacker factory.

johnhall wrote:If you really want something cool, try and find one of the few Guitorgans which were built in the Rickenbacker factory.

Whaaa?

HUNH?!?!?!?

Collin, pm sent.

johnhall wrote:If you really want something cool, try and find one of the few Guitorgans which were built in the Rickenbacker factory.

Wow, that's news to me! The hunt is ON. (of course you have the power to steer me in the right direction John ?)

Cheers,
-Collin


PS....seriously though, were they experiments during the F.C. era?

How neat! And John drops another bombshell. Did ANYONE here know that the factory dabbled in guitar organs? Other than light organs....

johnhall wrote:If you really want something cool, try and find one of the few Guitorgans which were built in the Rickenbacker factory.

Photos or it ain't true

We were Musiconics supplier for a short time. These didn't have our name on them. I honestly don't know much about the deal but do remember having one of the units in our showroom at the old headquarters building which I played around with for awhile. The problem as I remember it was that, at least in the early version we had, it would play all the notes in a chord, so you couldn't do bar chords.

We also had one of those Hammond Organ guitar units as well, which was really slow to track the notes, much worse than early midi interfaces for guitars for comparison.

Through the years we've done a lot of different projects when there was spare capacity in the factory. For instance, we used to make the wooden cases that were used on high end executive desk telephones. That was for AT & T as I recall.

Hey Collin,

There's a Guitorgan on eBay right now.

http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-ALL-ORIGINAL-G ... dZViewItem

Apparently, not any more...

Danotron wrote:Hey Collin,

There's a Guitorgan on eBay right now.

http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-ALL-ORIGINAL-G ... dZViewItem

Ah! Now been relisted (looks like he got slammed for writing Gibson Style in the title:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Guitorgan_W0QQitemZ ... 7C294%3A50

It's the earlier ES-175 Barney Kessel type copy, but looks good! Thanks for the heads up, I will try to get me hands on it!


But now JH got me thinking......if Paul/Dale can build a lightshow 330.....how bout a Guitorgan 330? I guess the body would be too thin, but that would be incredibly awesome.

Not as awesome as a "Lightshow Guitorgan 330" but that's a heck of alot going on in one guitar.....it'd be about 10" deep!!

Cheers,
-Collin

Hey Collin again,

Actually that's not the one that I copied and pasted the link for. However the one I saw was taken down too, probably for the same reason.

Anyway, it's back. This one is more like the one you have pictured.

Good luck!

http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-ALL-ORIGINAL-G ... dZViewItem