Must always have your tom-tom bongo bollocks divided! This is actually a very creative instrument for the 1960s. I imagine it would have been rather space age for the period.

The Brush Accent Knob does the Sustain Time for the Brush Voice.

0:27 -> the sound is similar to the one performed by Mike Ratledge on Soft Machine's 1st album -at the end of "save yourself", 13:34 - > "a Certain Kind", another notable Ratledge theme at 17:52 ("Why are we sleeping"), and so on. It is so sad, that so astonishingly little is known about the Lowrey organs today, as these instruments took a vast part in the late 60's psychedelia beat explosion. All of us remember the Farfisa from Pink Floyd's early albums, The Vox Continental from on Doors recordings, but this... is as important piece of machinery from my 21st century musician's standpoint. You can feel 60's spirit pulsing out of these incredible instruments. And when we have lost these with the introduction of transistors and FM synthesis, we have lost a whole lot...

@VintageKeysStudio

3 жыл бұрын

Yes it is a great shame - our aim is to keep these sounds and instruments alive

Fabulous. I picked up an unseen unnamed organ yesterday. Turned out to be vacuum tube driven. Internal leslie the lot and still working. Literally the circuitry is off the wall.

@VintageKeysStudio

Жыл бұрын

Brilliant! They are stupendously rare - you are very lucky!

@unrulysoldier2140

Жыл бұрын

@@VintageKeysStudio well I have a few.. hammonds, yammys, italian made stuff too but the one last night turns out to be a us conn designed in the 50s with beautiful circuitry, valves the lot and a leslie but it's made in 65. Seems they had a technology and just ran with that. It makes all sorts of characterful sounds and whirs and that's what I like. Even older units that arent working exactly as they should are invaluable to keep things spicy and unusual. Loving your videos. You got some great inits there. I currently have a bellows reed in for restoration.. am adding piezos to each flute to amplify it. I want to capture the sound of all the felts and wooden rods working as well as the breathiness.

This organ is close to the one(s) Mike Ratledge used. His first Lowrey was about a 1966 Selmer built TLO-1, which can be heard on several early recordings from 1967, as well as their 1969 album, Volume 2. This organ had an identical cabinet to yours, but did not have the “drum machine” or wah. Mike also had an earlier TLO-1 that he got for Soft Machine’s US tour with The Jimi Hendrix experience. That organ was used on their debut album. This organ had a different cabinet found on the early 60s Holiday organs. Mike had a few more Lowreys just like this one throughout the 70s, which were more similar to yours.

@VintageKeysStudio

Жыл бұрын

Thanks very much very informative:)

My first organ was a Lowrey. I'm not sure what model it was, but it looked kind of like this one (I believe mine was a spinet). I remember the drum section, and it looked like the one on this organ. Nothing automatic though. You could assing different sounds to different manual, i.e. bass drum to pedals and snare to the lower manual. My brother was in a professional band at the time, and he convinced me that I should get a Hammond B3. He took me to a band practice, and the organist let me play his Hammond. I was immediately sold. (The organ player went on to play in Kenny Rogers band playing piano, singing backgroud, and co-written with Kenny Rogers.) My mother ;promised me that if I brought my grades up to all As and Bs on my report card, she would get me a B3. Well the next report card was all As and Bs, so she got me one. There was a woman in a neighborhood next to us that had a da;ughter who had cerebral palsy, and she needed money to g et a pool for therapy for her daughter. My mother traded organs plus cash, and I got a 1964 to 1967 B3 in pristine condition with a H- 22 Leslie cabinet. I later bought a 122RV Leslie, and I have the organ and Leslie today. I really like seeing all of the keyboards on your channel.

i have a lowrey citaion theatre from the early 70's in my flat. it has a tape deck and a leslie speaker inside. it all works except for the fact that it emits a hum when you switch it on which sort of renders it unplayable just now. it didn't do this when i got it, so is possibly quite an easy fix. the only thing is it's an absolute tonne weight and i live in a block of flats, which took about 6 people to get up here. let me know if you're interested. i found the manual for it last night after watching your videos about lowrey organs. i'm in south west scotland.

@VintageKeysStudio

Жыл бұрын

Feel free to contact me via my website, I may be able to help

We owned one of these in the early 70’s - we were attracted to the Organ as it had a built in Leslie speaker. The Organ voices were very nice indeed although footages were either on or off - no fader system. The next model up was the Berkshire which had even richer flutes. One of these was used on the TV programme - Stars on Sunday - played by Jess Yates - it sounded gorgeous through a Leslie cabinet. Thanks for the memory.

@davidrose213

10 ай бұрын

Pleased you liked my comment. You mentioned the strange Kinura tab. You probably don’t need me to tell you that this very thin reedy stop was found on most Theatre pipe Organs as a mixture stop. A friend of ours loved to use it on the Lowrey to give a sharp ‘attack’ mixed with the flutes on faster tunes. It was interesting also to see your Hammond M 102 - we owned one of these just before the Lowrey - we often regret parting with the Hammond. We would have liked to add a Leslie but space at that time prevented it. The tonewheel sound is so unique. Our Hammond was in the light oak finish and had previously been owned by a Vicar. It was immaculate and although we weren’t too keen on the colour the condition made it impossible to turn down.

The Beatles actually used a valve based lowrey heritage. That was on the let it be album and mainly played by billy Preston

interesting to see this used in the get back documentary

@VintageKeysStudio

2 жыл бұрын

We have reason to believe that our Hammond M100 is actually the organ seen in the Get Back documentary - kzread.info/dash/bejne/Z3es0qmhYrvTpKw.html

@AdenThie

2 жыл бұрын

@@VintageKeysStudio hey! That’s incredible! One thing that really got me in that sequence was the shot of the control room with the cardboard box that the Leslie came in. Never seen that before..

It is indeed that inimitable, glorious Soft Machine sound. Back in the day there was nothing quite like Mike Ratledge playing his Lowrey Holiday through a 'steaming' stack - I think it was Marshall in '69 and Hi-Watt later. An incredible sound, where the high amplification level in a 'live' situation really brought out the sonic idiosyncrasies and volume-exaggerated key-click distortions - nothing else quite like it, then or now. Hear 'Volume 2' or 'Live at the Paradiso 1969' on a good sound system with the volume up. I'm sure the modern day compact keyboards must do everything the Lowrey did - glide and wah included - but then why do I never hear those sounds anywhere else except on old Soft Machine albums 1 through 4 ?

@DonLeino

Жыл бұрын

live at paradiso is awesome

@mootbooxle

5 ай бұрын

Dave Stewart (not Eurythmics guy) played something on the first National Health LP that sounds an awful lot like that early Ratledge sound. Iconic sound!

Thanks for posting this video - it brings back a lot of memories of when I was small. I started learning the organ on a Kawai-something in 1969 (it only had 8 voice tabs for the upper manual, 4 voice tabs for the lower manual and maybe 2 voices for the pedals and maybe a vibrato knob)... and quickly moved to the TLOR when I changed teachers (by this time, i was learning from a fellow in one of the big music shops in Melbourne, au). In the in the early 1970s, we bought a TLOK model (often referred to as a 'Holiday Deluxe', it seems), which was the model that came out after the one in the video... and it was a BigDeal™ as it cost a LOT of money for us ($2500+) but it had the 'manual' and 'automatic' rhythms, the cassette recorder/player (a huge advantage for self-study) and the 'Automatic Organ Computer' (AOC) that brought single-note chords to the upper manual... as well as the Leslie and the glide switch and wah-wah pedal (which was always demonstrated by playing "Stompin' at the Savoy", particularly in the 'Pointer System' instruction cassettes). Unfortunately, we traded-in the 'Holiday' in the early 1990s, replacing it with a Casio CT-7000 ... By this time, I was huge into MIDI.. and the Casio gave me a 'digital tape recorder' (although I'd been using a Teac Portastudio with MIDI and tape sync since the early 1980s).. It's still great to hear the sound of the first Lowrey organ I played, though... 😊

@VintageKeysStudio

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for your comment. It's lovely to know that this has given you a case of nostalgia. I was in Melbourne about 20 years ago and I wish that my hand luggage would have stretched to accommodate some of the organs I saw in the second hand and music shops.

townsend used that lowrey for baba o'riley sequence sound. they could never recreate it, so all these years its a tape on the front board, which is why, keith moon used headphones to stay in sync.

I've been offered one and even though i have 6 organs I may go for it. It has so many features for an old unit.

@VintageKeysStudio

Жыл бұрын

Good job

Nothing wrong with a good witter! I'm a bugger for it as well!

Love those old lowery organs. I had the Gak and the symphonic holiday, both brand new at the time.

A new day a new vintage.. just arrived home with an Orbit III synth organ.. and it works. And its nuts. Very doors / byrds sounding.

@mootbooxle

5 ай бұрын

my neighbor had one of those Wurlitzer organs with the Orbit III synth built in. They couldn’t get me away from it!

@unrulysoldier2140

5 ай бұрын

@@mootbooxle yep. That extra single oscillator addition looked plonked on but was damn fun

somehow i watched for 3 minutes and didn't notice the massive bearded dodo

@louisarevolta

3 жыл бұрын

😂 🥸 🦤

It sounds great and it's just awesome like the tenacious switch at 10:40 reminds me to the "Tap Tempo" rubber pads which can be found on many recent synthesizers respectively pad MIDI keyboards. Almost that strong as position 21:34 appeares like a early generation of step sequencers with knobs at both the left and the right side - yes, there roughly are similarities with some models from Korg like the Volca series. Equipped with that Lowrey and it's multi percussive rhythmic advantages there could be made the whole musical scoring for the behaviour rules Vintage Keys Studio conducts to their costumers - "The Dos and Dodos in wah-wah land" ;-)! All the best and many thanks for sharing this presentation with us :-)!

Ah, mike ratledge's organ! put that thing through a fuzz box, please..

Interesting video once again. Keep up the good work.

@VintageKeysStudio

3 жыл бұрын

Cheers Tony!

Fab. You've shown me how to use a fair number of features on my promenade. I have another lowrey somewhere I'll have to have a look which model it is. The promenade is massive, the largest of my 13 organs. It's the analog early version. Seems to work although havent got repeat to work nor the arp. Yet. Might just be not using it correctly. All organs free except one. Just fabulous. Did dave Sanders work for you by any chance ?

@VintageKeysStudio

Жыл бұрын

I don’t think I know a Dave sanders - I know many Daves though so maybe?

@unrulysoldier2140

Жыл бұрын

@@VintageKeysStudio ok. Here's some of my organs. Arp not working on the lowrey but I can hear it trying so may be op amp for that function. Also i think it might be a valve unit. kzread.info/dash/bejne/k4GIq8SomJbbmLA.html

There is a soпg from 1968. It has inтeresting lуrics wнich are 12 years ouт of date as of 2022. The band's name is Tinkerbell's Fairydust and the song is called Tweпty Тen. They use an organ wiтh a wah, it's possible they used a Lowreу.

@VintageKeysStudio

Жыл бұрын

Ahh yes I have heard of the band (did they do a song called lazy day or something?) but not that song

I learned to play on a 68 h25. Yours is much smaller but had the same tones, features, and tabs. I would say that is about 68-70. Newer models had the cheap auto chord rhythm that plagued shopping malls in the 70's, the demise of Lowery.

Love the extinct Dodo bird

Please, Sir, I want more

Thank you so much for your video. I got one for free three weeks ago. Old Lowreys (dso, tlo, tlo-r...etc) are pretty rare in France, especially in the South where i live. My TLO-R1 had a huge 100hz hum and a muffled sound, so i changed all the lytics on the power supply and amp chassy. No more hum ! ... only a dicrete hiss due (my guess) to dry solders on the expression pedal (wah circuit). Ground issue maybe. Same problem as you : the repeat didn't want to speed up ! Thanks to your magistral finger tapping demonstration, i did it too... and it works !😂 Drum board is ok but a bad shhhhh can be heard when increasing the volume knob. I'll change some lytics tomorrow. Did you manage to lift up the upper manual on the tlo-r the same way you did on the dso ? Btw thanks again !❤

@VintageKeysStudio

4 ай бұрын

Thank you - that’s all fantastic! - I did manage to lift the upper manual (I think it was just two screws) but I could be wrong… I am about to dismantle a chopped one of these for spares.

@Kavadub

4 ай бұрын

Ok thanks, i'll have a look on those 2 screws. Drum board fixed ! Guess what ?... the 3 black lytics (the brand is "Callins"). I'm about to change these black caps for new ones on the exp/wow pedal board, on the reverb board and on the repeat board, because every time i did it elsewhere it made a huge different in the sound ! The electrolytic on the 12" speaker (cardboard look) was almost dead (it's a crossover filter i guess). I changed it for a 47uf/35v, and i can hear an improvement in the high and the low frequencies. In short : now the Lowrey sound lovely and .... emotional, if i may say 😄

@Kavadub

4 ай бұрын

@@VintageKeysStudio One foot pedal cap is broken on mine, so if, by any chance, you want to sell one to me, i will be the luckiest guy on earth !🤪 These are made of plastic/bakelyte, i think.

@VintageKeysStudio

4 ай бұрын

Send me a message via the website vintagekeysstudio.com and I will check what spares I have. I should be dismantling the TLO-R today and tomorrow

@Kavadub

4 ай бұрын

@@VintageKeysStudio Great ! Thank you, i'll do it 👍 Good luck for your hard work 🖖

💯❕👍

Search 'Tell the World We're not in' by the Peddlers. I think they use one on that track. Best looking at them on the Les Dawson show.

@VintageKeysStudio

Жыл бұрын

Fantastic I will, thank you!

sweet sounding thing,. good demo. i got a free Eminent and im trying to get it all working. 16' bass not working

@VintageKeysStudio

Жыл бұрын

Thank you! Good luck!

Hello! I know this organ has a 1/4in output Jack but does it have a phones Jack? For silent playing?

@VintageKeysStudio

Жыл бұрын

Not built in, but I think the manual may have had instructions on how to fit one…the Hammond m100 service manual certainly does

Meaning of "TLO-R" ? T is for "Transistorized organ". L is for "Leslie". O is for "Orchestra" (AOC > Automatic Orchestra Control"). R is for "Reverberating Rhythm". My 2 cents.

@VintageKeysStudio

4 ай бұрын

Sounds about right to me!

@Kavadub

4 ай бұрын

@@VintageKeysStudio Hey ! I found a date of production for my TLO-R1 : that was printed on the drum board : "19 Oct 65". That marvel almost died at 59 y.o. 3 weeks of love, care and playing : Yeah ! It's alive and kicking ! (Oh dear... that Simple Minds song again...🙄).

I think Pete Townshend had one of these.

@moogyboy6

2 жыл бұрын

Similar...his was a TBO-1 Berkshire Deluxe, which I guess was a more upmarket model with more doodads and the tabs are arranged differently. The TLO-R seems to have all the essential Townshend effects though, so it would make a decent, er, substitute. 🙂 I actually own a slightly earlier (non-Deluxe) TBO which is essentially identical to Pete's but without the wah-wah and a couple of other minor differences. Some moron threw it away so I got it for free; my friend found it next to a dumpster by his apartment, so I ran to grab it before the garbage collectors did. After a lot of cleaning and several cans of contact spray it *mostly* works (the connections behind those tabs are insanely complex and finicky) and the thing sounds amazing. This generation of Lowrey organs should be way more respected than they are imo.