CAN YOU DO AN APPRAISAL OF OUR ORGAN THAT WAS DAMAGED AND WE ARE SEEKING TO DO AN INSURANCE CLAIM?  We can do this but there will be a charge involved. Insurance companies often call and ask us for replacement costs on damged organs.  Again, to do this there will be a nominal charge involved in this service. Our time is valuable and we can't spend time doing research and trying to give an honest evaluation without being reimbursed for our time. If you are replacing the organ because of an insurance claim, after you purchase your replacement instrument through us we will reimburse your appraisal fee.   Current cost of most used organs on the open market,  and new or rebuilt replacement cost are two different things.  Some instruments may have very little value for resale, but could be expensive to replace new.   A Full 2 manual organ with pedals are expensive new because there are limited manufactures and limited production.   They are not like casio keyboards that can be cheaply reproduced.

WE ARE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW MUCH AN ORGAN IS WORTH FOR AN ESTATE SALE CAN YOU GIVE US A ROUGH IDEA?   Again we really can't unless you want to pay us for our time.  Remember, there is a price of what you might sell it for,   what a dealer may purchase it from you for, and what the average dealer would sell it for, and what it would cost to replace to replace it new.  To ask us to give you all these prices takes research on our part. Therefore don't even call or ask us for this information if you do not want to pay us to do the research.   We sell new Lowrey organs, New Hammond Organs,   New Viscount organs,   and Yamaha Keyboards and full line Kawai Pianos and Digital Pianos as wll as Hallet Daivs and Gallileo Digital Piano products.  For other brands I would suggest you contact a dealer who sells those brands.  They will probably tell you the same thing I am telling you. They too will probably charge you for appraisals.

IS IT WORTH HAVING MY ORGAN REPAIRED OR REBUILT Only if it is of value to you as an instrument.   People think that getting their organ repaired will make it more valuable for resale it may or it may not. Unless you are a dealer and can give some sort of back up or guarantee your wasting your money. Sell the organ as is. If you enjoy the instrument and want to play it and use it. Get it fixed and enjoy it. Every Hammond organ we buy we assume it needs work and every other dealer does the same thing.   People think Hammond organs are collector items. They are not collector items they are instruments.

This statement I made opens a can of worms, and there are lot of people making B-3's to be some sort of GOLD ICON.  They are crazy. First they are valuable because they do not change, they are repairable the sound has become a standard in music, and they are desirable.   But that may change as my generation dies out and the sound becomes more easily duplicated. Here is the reason they are valuable, (1) the new B-3's are 20,000 or so, and no one is sure that Hammond Suzuki will support parts for more than 7 years on old models.   A good refurbished B-3 can be purchased for less than a new one and there are plenty of used parts to keep them running.  However, here is why they are not the ICON of GOLD that some think. There are more vintage Hammond B's C's D's RT's A's floating around than all the other organs put together. I probably have more parts in my storage trailers for these organs than Hammond Suzuki has for some of it's organs that are only 7-10 years old. the original Hammond Organ Company, made more organs and sold more organs than all the electronic organ companies combined including Hammond Suzuki. Also, when they made a A-100 do you think they had tone wheel generators marked A-100, C-3 B-3 RT3 no the workers just pulled one off the shelf and put it into a cabinet.   Also most parts were backward compatible, the pedals on a BV, CV, C-2, B-2, A-100 all are interchangeable! The genius of our manufacturers back then was they made things to last and they made things to be fixed. Today from one year to the next parts are different. So diverse are they that in a few years no parts could be had. Everything is throw away today.  What makes something extremely valuable is that it is rare, it does not change, and is in demand. What makes the vintage Hammond valuable is that it has that unchangeable sound.   However it is not rare.  And with todays electronics it keeps getting cheaper to duplicate.  It is economical to rebuild your Vintage Hammond, to enjoy, it will probably hold it's value, but don't think someday it will make you rich.   Enjoy it .. play it.. it is an instrument not an icon. The reason we get 6,000 - 10,000 for our organs is because sometimes we have that much retail labor invested in them... with a little mark up for profit.   If you send a basket case B-3 to us don't be surprised that you pay $5000 - $10,000 to have it totaly rebuilt depending on what it needs. If you are not going to use and enjoy that instrument and think you will now sell it for twice your investment you are not. But if you play the instrument, and enjoy it.. and know what it is ,,, and love it.. it will be worth it .. You already own it and maybe for 3000 - 4000 you can have something that we are selling for $10,000 however don't be surprised if you never sell it for $10,000.   Just my honest advice. Don't fix something to resell. You are not in that business and it is not worth getting into that business.   Take my advice.  

ARE THE NEW HAMMOND ORGANS BETTER THAN THE VINTAGE truthfully, yes and the again I say no....   Yes in that they sound great and clean, they are a lot of fun to play..  if that is the sound you like, but it is the old story of analog verses digital,   the fellow who is used to the old sound will always miss those little noises and imperfections, and though they try to imitate it the imitatation never seems to be the same.  When I record I want to record a vintage Hammond not a new one..  However,   the new ones have Midi and this opens up a whole new world for extra voices. So in some respects they are better, However, I doubt they will be able to be repaired in a few years, when parts cease to be made, and there just are not enough of them sold to to cannabalize parts from other organs. Who is going to be able to duplicate the chips in these organbs.   The propaganda put out that the old ones cannot be fixed is just not true.   It is only true if for some reason you think you have to fix the very organ you have without replacing parts from another organ. And that quality refubished used parts is bad. The stupid argument that if you put A-100 part or C-3 part into a B-3, it ceases to be a B-3.   Tell that to the original Hammond this company and they would laugh.   Again is it an instrument or an ICON.. truth be told .. you would be surprised how many records you have heard assuming it was a B-3 when it really was a C-3 or a A-100. Keith Emerson played a C-3 and used a M-100. In fact our tech Paul Studor had to fix his M-100 in between concerts one time.  He thought it a shame anyone would abuse organs like he did. Also what is amazing is that they even could be fixed after being bounced,  dropped and abused.   We just fixed a 2 B-3's that were totally submersed in the Wilkes Barre flood.   Not partially but totally. I have been playing a Vintage Hammond since I was 15 years old, I am now 59 years old.  My original vintage Hammond was keeped in a truck or van all week all year long, and taken out each week when we played out.  A few times our sound men dropped it and it still worked. Once it fell over in our van and the keyboards slipped forward out of place and all jammed.   A friend loosened all the main bolts punched it back in place and glued one key with super glue and I was playing that night.   Could you imagine doing this with any contempory organ today. Could you imagine restoring a new B-3 that was totally submersed in flood water? We resored two of them. So I tell you all this to emphasize that a vintage Hammond can be repaired and restored far longer in the future than any other electronic organ being made today.

THESE ARE SOME OF THE MOST COMMON QUESTIONS ASKED I hope they are a help to you.   We will adding more to the list as time permits.   If after reading this you think you may be interested in shipping your organ to us for a rebuild or are interested in one of our rebuilt or refurbished vintage organs we are selling, feel free to email me at bissol@pianoorgandepot.com or call 570 352-5501.