60's Philicorda organ in for repair.

I probably wouldn't take this on normally but I always wanted to see one of these in person. Found a shorted capacitor in the G# generator. Replaced some reverb holding springs. Converted the dead pilot light to LED.
0:0 Intro
0:16 Opening the organ
1:35 Look inside
4:12 Back together, check out

[@Danny-nm9sn]

It is really cool looking and sounding. There's something in the tone of a 60's organ that just never was in the mind of a 21st century creator.

[@whiteman1506]

I own the same model for a few years. You can get them very cheap here in Germany, mostly in really good condition. This organs were made as home instruments, they were much more affordable than home pinanos back in the days. In 2020 I did a little overhaul on the Philicorda, the spring reverb was dead (had a shorted transistor) and some registers did not working (some traces on the circuit board near the switches were broken). But that was it. I also added a switched 1/4" stereo jack into the signal path, so I can plug in an effect pedal and use it with the build in speakers. Sounds very cool with the Neo Ventilator II Leslie emulation. It's a neat little and very reliable instrument with a surprisingly good sound. 😊

[@geoelectro]

Nice. Thanks for watching!

[@campobasso]

My favorite cheap organ from the 60's, I have scored one a month ago, could not wait to get it back from the synth repair shop. Well done and thanks for sharing!

[@geoelectro]

Awesome!😎

[@36CatsHeavenRescue]

Sounds and looks awesome

[@geoelectro]

I like it more than I should!

[@clevecleve]

Hi George, I just got a Philicorda GM752 from Europe and it was damaged in shipping. The 5 Din center plug on the bottom for output/headphone? was pushed in. One key is raised but still springy. The front panel looks like it pushed forward and buckled a little so I know the keyboard shifted around in transit. I switched the power from 220v to 110v on the bottom and powered it up. Pilot light came on but no sound with any combination of switches Zero noise. Bummer. Waiting to hear back about the insurance. The inside looks very clean. Did not see any concerns with the naked eye. I'm curious what a general repair guess-timate would be on this organ. I would like to fix it, maybe as a project myself or if there is someone who could repair it I'm all ears. It's too cute to just let it go to waste. Since you JUST worked on one I'm feeling hopeful that I can get this working again. Goes nicely with my other Dutch keyboard the Solina.

[@geoelectro]

Man that's a shame with the shipping damage! It's not possible to estimate this kind of problem. Especially without actually seeing it and making tests. However, I believe it can be repaired. In my case I found and downloaded the schematics and began troubleshooting the problem. The first thing you should examine is the power supply. Good luck!

[@mfbfreak]

2:14 i've done a few philicordas in my life, and it's always incredibly odd seeing the modern/plastic dielectric capacitors go bad in a low voltage application. Their contemporary high voltage, mustard colored ones are always fine.

[@geoelectro]

True. But glad it wasn't a tuning coil!

[@_-_Michael_-_]

Nice. Is this the early model with tube power amp?

[@geoelectro]

No, all solid state. Says GM751/22T as the model number. I found both tube and solid state schematics on-line so I used the solid state version which more closely matched the one I had. First one I’ve seen in person!

[@MrHenkC]

For me the same model. Made a quasi send/return for connecting a drummachine and delay. Use the output connection as send and the pickup input as return for effects connection. The headphone out I use as output for extra amp. It sounds fantastic, clear and deep!