Noble Porto Organ?

[cre8nplay]

I have just come upon a Noble brand electonic organ. I have found almost no info about these or any photos. It appears to be early 60's and has an electronic air pump (kinda loud) built in. It has 4 octaves with narrow plastic keys. I believe thay are associated with Noble Co from Chicago area and perhaps Noble Accordians. Cheesy is their sound. It has a unique right knee lever that controls volume like a pedal steel. It is covered in bright green and neutral vinyl material. Does anyone have any info, history, photos, links or value of this item. I can post a photo later...txs!

Ag

[blair]

Short answer: Not much.

Here's a link on the basics.

There really were quite a good number of different combo organ brands, though. The best known are obviously Vox and Farfisa, but Acetone, Elka, and Gibson certainly got some recognition. (Gibson, especially, since Ray Manzarek used a G-101 after he stopped using a Vox Continental.) Yamaha should really be counted in that group, as they made EXCELLENT combos - my overall favorite, actually - but as their signature line of combos, the YC- series, didn't get introduced till '69 (after the Golden Age of Combos), they don't get the recognition that they deserve. (They did have the A-3 out in '66, but that's almost pre-history as far as the Yamaha line goes, though Burton Cummings did play one early on in The Guess Who.)

But look around at Combo Organ Heaven and you'll likely find brands that you haven't heard of, like Rheem (the water heater company!), and brand names that you know, but perhaps had no idea they made a combo (Fender). And then there's the Others page at Combo Organ Heaven.

But this isn't even a complete picture. Someone *does* have a working list - called List.txt - in the Files section of the Combo Organ YahooGroup, though you probably have to be a member of the group to look at it.

[zappa74]

I just found this noble combo organ and I can't find any info on it either.

[scattond]

I have one of these that somebody left in my house. It's my favorite organ! The one I have though has no label, it just says "Porto Organ" and has a blue top. I think it's the type B. Unfortunately, all of the F's just stopped working and the tremolo never worked. Some of the bass keys are hard to get sound out of as well. I'd be very interested in getting my hands on one in good working order if anybody happens to want to get rid of theirs. Or if you have any advice on how to fix it, or whether it's fixable at all, I would be very grateful for it.

To elaborate on the F key problem. Only the highest octave F keys works. The octave below plays the octave above it, and as you continue down the keyboard, they stop working completely. Also, every C# plays the octave above what it should be.

The battery's dead on my digital camera, but I can take a picture in a bit and post it.

[sammbee]

Hi all

I've just found a Porto combo organ in my area, that just look like the Porte Noble on the picture above.
On the net, I've seen the electronic circuits seem to be very basic, with all components easily replaceable (http://www.organforum.com/forums/showthread.php?15869-Porto-Organ-Octave-Divider-Problem-Help).
I was wondering if those organs where equipped with decent line output and how they sounded, compared to more modern Farfisa VIP/Matador, Gem Caravan. I guess they only provide the 8' footage ? They ask 100€ for it, which seems to me a bit too much ? What do you think ?

Thanks