A Rare Breed Indeed: The Wurlitzer Student Model Classroom
The People’s Music School Classroom
These days, more than half of the Wurlitzer Student models that are serviced by our shop have been chopped into pseudo 200a’s (and yes, we are even guilty of helping to carry out the operation properly–more in a later post). It’s fairly rare to find them intact, yet just last February I had the pleasure of sitting down with nine intact 206a’s as well as their 207 Instructor Console counterpart at The People’s Music School in Uptown.
So the question lies, were Wurlitzers from the late 1970’s better off living the rock and roll dream or bearing the abuse of decades of children’s piano lessons?
These pianos were purchased by the People’s music school back before anyone currently working there can remember. They were believed to have been purchased in the late 70’s or early 80’s. (Of course, not a single date stamp was found on a single one of the ten pianos)!
Aside from being long overdue for a tune up, these pianos were in phenomenal shape! Take a look:
Wurlitzer 206a Classroom
Under the hood of the Wutlitzer 206a
207a Instructor Console
As if the pairing of Student 206a’s and Instructor 207a wasn’t enough, we were also able to bring life back to the Keynote Visualizer! This was the first time that our shop was able to experience it live.
Check it out:
The Wurlitzer Key Note Visualizer
The Wurlitzer Key Note Visualizer
The lights of the Key Note Visualizer are controlled by a series of switches located under the back of the whip assembly. An extra plastic cap is placed on the bottom of the whip assembly that depresses the simple switch.
Uder the hood of the 207a
207a Switches
Under the whip assembly
The controls of the The Wurlitzer Key Note Visualizer are also quite simple. With the selection of a few switches on the side of the Visualizer, the instructor can choose between whether the black keys are displayed as sharp or flat depending on the key signature, and whether it is displayed on the staff, the keyboard, or both.
The Wurlitzer Key Note Visualizer Controls
And there you have it: The People’s Music School’s Wurlitzer Classroom is a rare breed indeed.
And the final verdict, you ask? Children exhibit far less abuse than the a Wurlitzer adopted into the rock and roll lifestyle.
Comments (6)
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FYI- The designer of the Note Visualizer is Paul Gouge. He lives in Knoxville, TN, and is the owner of Knox Keyboards.
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This is one of the more amusing robo-posts I have ever received, I must say. We filter most spam postings off the site but this one cracked me up!
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Good article, Seems like it could be adapted to a midi or synth controller -has anyone tried that? I see there are new digital visualizers, too.
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We have installed the PNOScan midi system in both Rhodes and Wurlitzers and they open up the instrument into an incredible new musical territory.
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That’s probably expensive, I wonder what’s the possibility of pigtailing a midi receiver into the visualizer switches?
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