Turtlerock Forum

Hi guys,

I have recently acquired an air driven yamaha keyboard but I'm having trouble identifying the model of it and what it is worth. It's a very basic keyboard in wood veneer finish with a wind turbine beneath it that blows air through reeds when keys are pressed. It sounds very much like an accordian (or foghorn on the lower keys). Anyone got any ideas as to where I could go about finding it's value? I have googled like it's nobody's business but have found absolutely nothing

Are there any numbers on it at all?

There's a serial number but searches for that have yielded nothing either

well, if it's got a fan and reeds, it's a reed organ... they are pretty cool, and do have that melodica sort of tone about them..

I never knew yamaha made any reed organs tho.. generally people like bontempi & maybe farfisa made em...

Yeah, that's what makes me think it might be kinda rare. It's in pretty good condition too. Funnily enough, I haven't yet searched for "reed organ". I'll let you know how that pans out

They are not as old as you might think. in another life (as a Yamaha organ dealer), my shop had a GX1 for over 18 months for free and I also had one of these on the floor next to it.
They were about $500 retail in 1975 and came in wood grain or battleship grey. The first musical instrument Mr Yamaha made back in the late 19th Century was a reed organ and I figured it was a homage to him and a reminder of where they came from. Sorry I can't remember the model number.
They have a great sound and I remember using one on a jingle in about 1984.

Wow, that's older than I expected. I was thinking of somewhere mid-80s. Do you have any idea of other model numbers or anything that I could search for? Reed organ search came up with nothing too, as did a search for harmonium. I just want to know if it's worth selling. At the moment it's doing nothing other than making a great table/bench for my Kaoss Pad and MicroKorg :)

not to rain on your parade, but to put it in perspective, I've found 2 reed organs on the side of the road.. Though, I have met people who collect them.

The thing to watch out is the reeds (well, they generally are made of steel) can rust, and this will knock some notes out of tune.

Cheers
Mike

That's right about the reeds they can go at anytime and there would be no spares for them. There are no spares for Yamaha organs in general any longer in Australia as Yamaha music sold off all their repair kits for Electones many years ago.
It really isn't worth much these days except as a curiosity piece, and it hasn't got the looks of the claped out 100 year old examples of reed organs you see on eBay.
Sorry to burst your bubble.

but to play devils advocate... people like Beck & Beth Orton use em..

Fair enough. It has one dead key (which I may be able to fix if I actually have a decent look at it) but other than that it's in mint condition. I too picked this thing up on the side of the road. I might just hold onto it. You guys have helped me at least figure out that it's not worth a great deal

I bought one with a dead fan motor at a junk shop for $15 a while ago. Threw at away not long after, couldn't be bothered trying to mod it to fit a different motor.