Kimball Christmas Organ Xanadu J900 & Enterprise W70

Looking at Jan&PatGiradot'sE-OrganList Kimball made the most models of any electronic organ company, it would appear. At least in the top two. The Xanadu J900 shows up for sale every once in a While on Craigslist for peanuts ( usually $100-$500 or free) One in W.V. at the day of this upload for $225! Ad says 'trouble with some of the pedals'. Big deal really. Think of it this way, an organ of this magnitude is far better than any 'keyboard' you can buy now when compare dollar for dollar.The Kimball Xanadu cost as much as a luxury car in 1981. The main competitor was Hammond's Elegante that year and I'm curious to know what the Kimball cost. The Elegante was $14,000 in 81'. I recently got the best deal ever on a mint condition fully operational Elegante- $150! Electronic organs are very misunderstood in the general population, but what's worse is that a great number or professional musicians don't know the power that can be unlocked from a REAL ANALOG ELECTRONIC ORGAN circa 1934 to 1984. Anyone who says, " My Tyros can do all of that and more. Plus I can carry it to my gig under my arm" is mistaken. Only an organ that has analog components can produce the depth and richness necessary for an ongoing and ever changing interactive relationship between the player and the music. Digital keyboards in and of themselves sound great, but if you have played analog organs for any length of time you can spot an imposter right away. Sure the debate will go on and on with digital coming ever closer, analog is ALREADY there.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Christmas music
• good xmas music
• great christmas music
• christmas organ
• Kimball organ music
• kimball chrstmas
• Xanadu J900
• Kimball Xanadu
• Kimball Enterprise
• Cool christmas music
• corny christmas music
• beautiful christmas music
• relaxing christmas music
• old chrsimas music
• 80's christmas music
• Silver Bells
• Santa Claus is coming to town
• sleighride
• blue christmas
• jingle bells
• let it snow
• rudolph the red nosed reindeer

[TheBaritoneCrooner]

I have three Xanadu demo albums in my organ LP collection. I thought Kimball's string and celeste stops were very nice as well as several of their reed solo voices. These are shown to great effect on the second track: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.

[paulj0557]

@TheBaritoneCrooner I have a Thomas Palace III and a Gulbransen Rialto II, and several other organs- Elegante (81'), Wurlitzer 4500,4410 ES reed...but I've got every organ on a vinyl record EXCEPT the Palace III & the Rialto II. Do you have either of these in your collection. I would love to hear a real recording, especially of the Palace III since I am restoring it and many of the original voices are weak and I could compare to the record. Plus, I just love organ music!-Paul

[patsaxon]

I have brochure on the Xanadu as it is an awesome organ with the 3rd keyboard as the synthesizer! I have a Kimball Sensation that is fun to play on! Just got my Thomas Eldorado 792 organ back from a repair technician as I plan on doing a You Tube video of it soon!

[paulj0557]

@patsaxon Great Pat!Is the Xanadu polyphonic or monophonic on the synth functions?

I haven't hooked the Leslie up to the Thomas yet. They are in different rooms, but I'm putting castor wheels on the Leslie's, so hopefully soon I'll be able to just wheel it over to the 2 Thomas's- Palace III and the Californian. Both of these organs need a couple of repairs, but I finally got manual for Californian. The Palace keeps blowing fuses so I might have to rebuild the power supply.

[paulj0557]

The last song on side 1 ( Just a closer walk with thee) and the first two songs on side 2 are the Enterprise organ, the rest are Xanadu. I also wonder if the Xanadu is a polyphonic 3rd keyboard and is it like the Wurlitzer Orbit where you can couple it to the Swell (middle) manual? Just curious. I'm actually happy with my Hammond Elegante, Gulbransen Rialto II as far as the big advanced organs go. I kind of like the Enterprise really. After 2-3 consoles the fun is looking for good spinets.

[Christmas969]

Paul, Thanks for posting this on youtube. Can't wait to hear Thomas. I also want to thank you for all your support and advise you give to all of us each year. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. M. Mahoney

[JakeZelmore]

I own a Lowrey but before that, I played my family's kimball that was passed down to me until it bit the dust. The internal leslie and the tibias sounded amazing. I would honestly love still to have a Xanadu if I had the room. There are NONE in my area. Been looking for several years. Someday one will pop up.

[Royalorgans]

@patsaxon Do you have the Thomas organ hooked to a leslie speaker.

[Wurlitzer2ify]

Beautiful record! Paul thanks for sharing with everyone.

[navydoctrinidad]

Boy this is wonderful. The Grandkids will hear thie all season long. Thanks and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Charlie