Wurlitzer's iconic little keyboard. Many people have wanted me to have one of these, and I finally broke down and bought one for the studio. It has an awesome sound and I think you'll be seeing it in a lot of videos to come!
Well, the band I instantly think of when I think of the Würli, is Supertramp. It's all over all of their discography :) "The Logical song" is probably their most recognizable song, their signature song. It's got a really cool chord progression all throughout.
Loved the "outdoors" intro and the road trip! Totally cool man - great vibe! What a buy :-D Interesting about the weight! Nice view of action and inner workings. Sound is uniquely classic! Oh yeah!
I could only wish to afford all those vintage keyboards! How much did you get it for? I do however have a Yamaha cp 70 in excellent condition now! I love it!
Great stuff! I can't help but think of the immortal Seeds (the '60s garage band) when I hear a Wurlitzer. I just got a Rhodes Stage 73 and have been checking out your vids.
There are a couple of electronic mods that can be done to the Model 200 to reduce electronic background noise. They are described in the factory maintenance manual. I performed them on my 200 and it did make a noticeable improvement. Please don't get zapped from touching the pickup assembly, it has high voltage on it. The shield also serves to limit how hard the hammers strike the reeds; you'll notice there's some adjustment range due to the oversized mounting holes. If you set it to give the maximum striking force and play like that guy from Supertramp, you will break reeds eventually. Thanks for sharing with us :)
Wow ...great side view and explanation of in amplified sound. The. Hi notes fine and the low notes. Only the partial highs very interesting. Enjoyed that...God continue to bless you and I just heard you explain dampers on highs
I love my Wurli! It has a reputation as being gritty but when you play it softly it has a very dreamy sound. I like playing with a compressor because I can hit the keys hard if i want a gritty sound or softly for a sweeter sound, with the compressor making sure the dynamic range isn't too jarring.
My Dad, a pianist, bought the Model 100 (Ray Charles-What'd I Say 1961) it had tubes, was squared off, and only one speaker, which was in the back. A couple years later, he came home with this Model 200, transistorized, sleek, tan colored. (Three Dog Night songs) I used it for playing out on spot gigs, but it was a hassle to carry. Bought a handle strap like on a bass amp, screwed it into the wood in front under the keyboard, and had a portable keyboard. Sold it to my guitar player for $300 but now wish I had kept it.
Love the sound, and the look under the hood. Don't forget to play some Bach hymns on it to make the purists eye twitch ;) those oval speakers used to be quite common car stereo speakers when I was young. You really had something if you had a set of Bass48s. I wonder if the oval shape did anything for the sound, or if it just was 'cause they looked different?
Hi James. Love the video. I had a Wurlitzer model 200 from 1975 to about 1990. When I was at school at Berklee in Boston living in a dorm on Hemenway St I used to carry it under my arm to and from the main building. I also have fond memories of cleaning the pots with Radio Shack Black and White TV tube cleaner. (Basically the same stuff you have there) The most challenging thing I had to do was replace one of the tines which meant tuning the replacement. That calls for micro pieces of solder added to the end and then filed off and cleaned until you got the note just right. All that said I miss it very much as it had great action and mine saw more gigs than I can remember. Enjoy yours. No matter how close the digital clones come it will never be The Same. Stay well. Keep playing. Enjoy your work.
As already said, excellent video, very informative. I think I am going to modify my digital piano pedal unit, fastening a metal plate under it to replicate that design. Thanks.
Hey James, I'm watching this the year after and I know the song you played a cover of was Friends by Marshmello and Anne Marie lol. That song as well as Clair de Lune sounded awesome on the Wurly. Quite frankly most things sound good on a Wurly in my opinion. Thanks for showing us this James.
One note: Contact cleaner is in 99% of brands not conductive, which means that you do not have to turn the device of. Additionally it helps to rotate the knobs while spraying to loosen all the dirt and/or corrosion.
If you shoot it through a wah wah pedal, you could simulate the closing cut on Carpenters’ Close to You LP, “Another Song”, during which Richard Carpenter used his Wurlitzer to “play guitar”. (It was his principal keyboard during their first four albums.)
Be careful not to touch the reeds/tines and the comb pickup at the same time while its powered up. I heard you can get a nasty jolt/shock from what I read in the past.
Nice done. Very interesting. Never knew what’s inside. When I was a kid those where popular. Its funny if you could turn de way-effect down the davy jones theme would sound nice on it.
Great piano. I just purchased my first 200 for my own studio. And that song? Sounds like “All We Do” from the British crime drama Unforgotten. Love it.
Very good overview of the Model 200 Wurlitzer. Mine is from 1974 and it's one of the favorite keyboards in my arsenal, (I also have a Rhodes 73 from 1974 and several analog synths from the same period). Two thoughts: First, when you remove the lid of the instrument, don't you have three screws under the keyboard that hold down the front of the case? Second, there are several excellent upgrades that are available to further diminish the electronic noise, replace the amplifier/speaker system (better & louder stereo sound as well as a greatly improved vibrato effect), and to improve the action. Without mentioning any company names, a search on RU-vid will bring up many videos with instructions on making upgrades to the instrument. (There are similar videos for the Fender Rhodes.) The music desk is very useful, especially because the top of the case has a "trough" that holds the bottom of your music in place. Unfortunately, one of the vertical supports on mine came loose and it vibrated terribly when I played the keyboard. For years, I left it off but I've since replaced it with a modern reproduction and it's as good as the day I bought the instrument. I've always loved the action on the Wurlitzer. I'm looking forward to your comparison with the Rhodes as well as the modern digital instruments.
The potentio-meter can be fixed by bending the spring (contacts) to a new unworn area so that it becomes new, almost new. That is how I repaired vacuum radio in 1960
I am an organ piano user myself, previously playing at church sacraments for two main area wards. Wurlitzer must do a comeback with portable keyboards, keyboard workstations synthesizers davidjseibuhr davidjsiebuhr
The Wurlitzer is earlier than the Rhodes, it was developed (roughly during the Early 1950s) as an Instructonal Instrument design with input from a Piano Music Educator Benjamin Franklin Meisner. They often appeared in College Piano Labs. Sun Ra and Ray Charles (What'd I Say) both used them in the Mid-Late 1950s. Harold Rhodes also wanted to be remembered as a Music Educator. When, he started his association with Leo Fender in the late 1950s. Fender wouldn't allow Fender to build a Full Length Piano, so there are no "Pre-CBS" Rhodes Full Length Pianos.
Hey this is all new to me - the reeds work exactly like a reed organ but with an amplifier instead of air. As with a reed block the reeds are a close fit but I guess this is for a different purpose. The treble reeds appear to have solder at their ends for the purpose of tuning.
James thanks fro sharing this video on the Wurlitzer 200,Nicky Hopkin's played a 200 on John Lennon's Imagine Album the song that sticks in my mind is How Do You Sleep a Red Top one. Will you be doing a video sometime on the RMI Electric Piano.
The problem with contact cleaner is not that it can short circuit anything (it is non conductive), but that it is hightly flammable, so any spark can ignite the vapours. So, yes, better use it with the power off and then let the unit opened for a while. Also, use it sparingly, as you don't want to remove all the greasing inside the pots, just softening it and using the pot cursor to clean the conductive carbon layer
I used to have an Ep200a as well as my '69 200, but I sold the 200a because the 200 sounded so much better - it has more raunch and bark. The 200a was a bit too polite sounding for me. As I have a Rhodes as well, I didn't have enough space for all 3 in my music room. Also, the 200 has the ultra cool Forest Green top.
Do you have a Casiotone 101? I found one years ago for $40 local pickup and not working (dirty power switch very easy fix!!) I love that damn thing and it has that cheesy Casio sound but with professional build quality and you can run it through a multi effects pedal and get all sorts of weird and awesome sounds!
Nice presentation of the Wurlitzer, thank you. You asked: The Roland DP10 pedal has a similar construction, where the foot rests on a plate in front of the pedal.
Three Dog Night used Wurlitzer , and Hammond mainly Joy to the World, Mama Told Me Not to Come), and Supertramp(Bloody Well Right) used only Wurlitzer, and Piano, Ray Charles- What I'd say was a Wurlitzer
The pedal design is genius, simple as it is. I have a Yamaha FC3A and I don’t believe I’ll stop using the oriental rug, my keyboard and pedal sits on even when I travel with it. I can see modifying the pedal to copy this one.
I have both late 70s wurly 200a and rhoads mark i stage, both in phenomenal condition for being picked up second hand. Got them at a steal. Out of the both I feel the wurly is a lot more practical to use and the feel of the keys are a lot more easier to dig into compared to the rhoads. Still love them both.
I am lucky enough to own a Mk 1 Rhodes and a Wurlitzer electric piano, both of which in very good condition. I love both of these pianos, but if I had to choose just one, I'd probably go with the Wurly. It's far more mechanically complex, and even just tuning it (I'm told) requires a soldering iron! Still, I love the feeling of the keys and I can honestly say that I play better on the light, wide response keyboard of the Wurly than the very heavy keys on my Rhodes. I'm actually saving up for a Crumar Seven for the purpose of replacing my Rhodes and (I thought) my Wurlitzer, but after playing my Wurlitzer again, I could never let it go..... but that Crumar will be mine! I bought mine from a Russian guy in Boston, and I had to drive a ways to get it, then I started getting sick on the way home. Come to find out that it needed some tlc and tuning..... and there's actually a Rhodes/Wurlitzer specialist literally just down the street from the guy I bought it from! Essentially, there was a lot of mileage put on my car, shuttling it back and forth and the restoration set me back about $350, (tree fiddy!) but it was worth it!
I didn’t see any coils like a Rhodes has. How does it make an electrical signal? Is there a magnet on the reed? I’ll be up all night on google now because I have to know! :).
I love the warm sound of a Wurlitzer piano. But it doesn't seem to make sense. A Rhodes has these larghe tone bars and this only has little metal tines. Why does this sound warmer? It's counterintuitive.
