Repairman in NJ?

[Franz]

Hey there,

Anyone know a good tech in NJ who's knowledgable about combo organs? AND is fairly reliable?

I know a bunch of repair shops, but unless its Korg or Roland, they tend to get confused.

I actually don't have a pressing need, but I'm on the hunt for a Vox, and they always seem to be broken. And the guy who fixed my Farfisa was a flake. And I'm no good with the solder gun.

Any info would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Rod MPS]

We have another member from Jersey. i will drop him a line and see if he knows someone.

[blair]

Sept 9, 2008 21:39:20 GMT -5 Rod MPS said:

We have another member from Jersey. i will drop him a line and see if he knows someone.

Look in the Combo Organ Heaven list of repair people...I think there's a guy named Ray Klos in either southern or western NJ. Or you can go into NYC. I think Main Drag in Brooklyn does some stuff. There's also a guy in Queens, I think. I believe his name's Takeshi, although that might be his first name.

[Franz]

Thanks for the skinny, gents!

Blair, who do you use? Any experience with those fellas? Or do you do repairs yourself?

Thanks again.

[Rod MPS]

I pinged Kokojoe and he sent me this link...
www.triplesservice.com/

[Franz]

Thanks Rod! I sincerely appreciate it.

I am familiar with Triple S, however. Their problem...?

I had a buddy who brought an ARP Quadra there. After about six weeks, he called them up to see if they'd fixed it. They said, "We tried calling this ARP company about the part, but no one will get back to us."

In other words, if it isn't a Roland Fantom, they're kinda hit or miss. It's too bad, too, because they are by far the closest to my house.

Any additional empirical experience is very welcomed!

[blair]

Sept 9, 2008 22:18:22 GMT -5 Franz said:

Thanks for the skinny, gents!

Blair, who do you use? Any experience with those fellas? Or do you do repairs yourself?

Thanks again.

Well, I've got so many organs at this point that I only buy them if they're fairly close to giggable. In other words, if it's just out of tune, needs some contact cleaning, etc. The one I got from you, for instance, was giggable in my eyes, as I could have just used the keys and not worried about the buttons. (But, like I said, a bit of research at Combo Organ Heaven and that was easy.)

Once in awhile, if something does come up, I bring it to a friend who only does this kind of stuff for friends. (This is why I very rarely ask for his help, as well...Never ask for too much when someone's doing you a favor.) Once in awhile, an old roommate of mine - an electrical engineer/guitarist/sound engineer - comes to town and he'll take a look at something for me while he's staying at my place.

I do have one or two organs sitting around that are in very bad shape, held over from when I used to just acquire things because I hoped I'd get to them. One of those is the red Farfisa Combo Compact I bought from Peter Zaremba of the Fleshtones about 15 years ago (very cheaply 'cuz it didn't work). It's the one they had with them on American Bandstand. It needs a ton of work and I have another Combo Compact, so I'll eventually sell it. But only to a true Fleshtones fanatic, as it needs to stay in the family of Fleshtones' fandom.

[Franz]

Thanks for putting the question to rest.

Now, Blair, seriously, the weirdo Elka accordion organ thing, WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE?!?!? I'm dying to know!

[blair]

Sept 11, 2008 12:28:52 GMT -5 Franz said:

Thanks for putting the question to rest.

Now, Blair, seriously, the weirdo Elka accordion organ thing, WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE?!?!? I'm dying to know!

Well, you know what the regular part of the organ sounds like: Pretty much like what the Elka Panther might've sounded like had it been made 5 years later. Overall, pretty cool.

As to the buttons...Some are bass, some are chords: minor, major, 7ths, and...I forget the other one.