Gibson G101 and Kalamazoo K101 organs research

[Alan Lenhoff]

In November, there was a thread here that drifted considerably, and turned into a discussion about whose Gibson G101 organ had -- or didn't have -- a large Gibson logo on the audience side of the modesty panel. 

I'm interested both in using actual serial numbers to estimate the number of Gibson/Kalamazoo organs produced, and also to see if there's a pattern of which organs had the large logos.

So, I you have either a Gibson G101 or Kalamazoo K-101, can you post the serial number and indicate whether it has that large logo on the audience side?  If you know the year it was purchased, that would be helpful, too.

(If you no longer own it, but still know the serial number, that would be just as helpful.)

For the record, my Gibson G-101 is serial number 5330, it has the large logo, and the original owner believes he bought it in 1967.

Thanks,

Alan

[Alan Lenhoff]

Just in case you're wondering -- as one list member asked me via PM --  the serial number is stamped into a metal plate on the audience side of the organ. It's on the linen-colored Tolex above the modesty panel.  Bass side of the instrument.

(No need to crawl under the organ or search for something inside the case.)

Thanks,

Alan

[AFeastOfFriends]

4820, has the logo, and is from (as far as I can tell) January 1967.

On that thread I mentioned a sticker on the power supply as well. Does anybody else have the sticker? I was curious because mine has K101 printed, but the key is marked out and G written in.


And please excuse the phone camera quality pictures.

[pianotuner steveo]

The plot thickens....this is WEIRD


Mine is 5049, does not have the logo and never did (no holes)

The original owner insisted that he bought it new in 1968 which makes sense logo wise but not serial number wise

Just for the record,mine is a Gibson, not a Kalamazoo

[OZDOC]

AFeastOfFriends - you,ve said "4820, has the logo"
Do you mean the logo on the player side of the case just below the keys?

[pianotuner steveo]

Ozdoc, we are talking about the large logo on the green panel that attaches between the legs, and faces the audience. Some have em, some dont

[Alan Lenhoff]

4820, has the logo, and is from (as far as I can tell) January 1967.

On that thread I mentioned a sticker on the power supply as well. Does anybody else have the sticker? I was curious because mine has K101 printed, but the key is marked out and G written in.

Thanks for the data.  Mine doesn't have the sticker, nor could I see any sign of glue residue at that location.

They (Lowrey) must not have had a first-in, first out inventory system.  That might explain why roughly a year into Gibson production (which started after they had retired the Kalamazoo name on the organ) they might have grabbed a K101 power supply for yours.  And mine, which was probably produced later in 1967, has boards marked January 1966.

Alan

[Alan Lenhoff]

The plot thickens....this is WEIRD


Mine is 5049, does not have the logo and never did (no holes)

The original owner insisted that he bought it new in 1968 which makes sense logo wise but not serial number wise

Just for the record,mine is a Gibson, not a Kalamazoo

Thanks Steve:

Actually, I'd say the opposite:  Yours doesn't make sense logo-wise, but very well might make sense serial number-wise.

Here's my rationale:

My theory was that the large logos were  added at a certain point in production.  (The K-101s never had them, and neither have the lowest serial numbered ones I've seen/heard of.)  But your serial number is higher than AFOF's. His has the logo and yours doesn't.  Curious.

On the serial number, these weren't exactly the hottest-selling instruments ever made.  It's quite possible your organ sat in a warehouse or a music store for a long time before it was sold.  (And the buyer's memory might be faulty, too.)

The other possibility is that these are like Vox organs.  From what I've heard, Vox never cared enough about serial numbers to use them sequentially.  They -- and Lowrey -- might have simply reached into a box of serial number plates and slapped on whichever one they picked.  I can't imagine that they ever thought they were making "classics" that people would actually care about 40+ years later.

Alan

[pianotuner steveo]

I am pretty sure the original owner still had the receipt dated 1968, and also I believe it was a high school graduation gift from his parents, which also confirms the year he got it, so it may very well be that the number plates were not used sequentially.

[AFeastOfFriends]

I'm the third, possibly fourth, owner of my G101, so I never met the guy who originally had it, so no idea on when it actually/supposedly bought. My guess for early '67 is based on that all the date stamps I found are late '66. And I've found a couple "K101"'s in the organ itself. Although, a possibility is that my serial plate isn't original. It was moved to underneath the organ by the signal out, so I can't guarentee it's the original one, but I don't know why anybody would ever switch them.

Also, I watched the Ed Sullivan performance of The Doors, and Manzarek's G101 lacks the logo and is a Gibson. The show is dated September '67, so perhaps there was a middle period where there wasn't logos. Can't tell for sure when that G101 is from, but some (at least one) didn't have them before mid-late 67.


It could be that they just threw on whatever for the serial #'s, but both the G101's and the T1 I own are carefully constructed, as probably are other Lowrey's. Could be, but I don't think they would.
I'd actually say it's more likely that Steveo's was manufactured in '67 but took a while to get to the hands of the first owner than if they were used out of order.

[Peacefrog35]

Reving an old thread....well as least its from this year 
Anyway, I've had 2 G101s, I don't remember the number on the one I sold,but it was missing the logo,but holes showed that it had it previously.  My current one that I still own has it as well and has a serial number of 5882.
Not sure what was going on back at the factory....

[OZDOC]

There has been some 'off forum' discussion and collation of information of this by members of the Combo Organ Yahoo group.
The current summary is as follows

Gibson G101 -  perhaps 1700 produced from serial # 4500 to 6200
Kalamazoo K101 – perhaps 150 produced from #2100 to 2250 maximum

The earliest serial number with a Gibson badge on the modesty panel so far is 5194.
On this apparent one owner organ the pins were missing from the back of the badge and it was adhered to the modesty panel with foamed double sided tape that was sufficiently aged to be original. There were no holes in the modesty panel for the pins.
The earliest serial number with a Gibson badge applied to the panel with the cast pins in drilled holes is currently 5330.

[Peacefrog35]

That is very interesting info regarding the numbers. I wonder if they just had a big mis match of parts since the K101 switched to G101 but was only a change in model number.  Its funny we talk about it as it's the same organ,but cool nevertheless.  I have a couple of generators in mine that say K101.  I've got the only owners manual I've seen that says Kalamazoo on the front....has anyone else seen any? I'm a little ocd about this stuff so I love having the "paper" 

[AFeastOfFriends]

Ozdoc, is there any chance we could see the raw data?

[OZDOC]

The full list belongs to another keyboard enthusiast - but here are the relevant entries:
4500 Predicted lowest serial number??
4582  Lowest G101 number found so far - No Gibson badge on modesty panel
5194  Lowest number known with Gibson badge on modesty panel (stuck on with tape - no drilled holes.)
5330  Lowest number known with Gibson badge on modesty panel (correctly applied with pins in drilled holes.)
6161  With Gibson badge on modesty panel
6200 Predicted highest serial number??

[paplooo]

hi there im new here..

ive got one ..
Plate number 5149   
power supply K101

NO Gibson PLATE ( no holes )
tone generator   January -February 1966

[OZDOC]

Thanks for adding to the data Paplooo.

[MGrady]

I do have a Kalamazoo K101 with a serial number 2045. I hope that is helpful. I am currently trying to sell it.

[58Mike]

I just realized this is a very old thread, but I already checked my G101 and took out the magnifying glass (my eyes are as young as they used to be) to see the serial number, so by golly, I'm posting the info, even though it's probably not needed anymore! ;-)

My G101, serial #5450 does indeed have a chrome-looking Gibson logo attached.  I have no idea what year it is, though.

[Alan Lenhoff]

This is still useful. Thank you both.

Alan

[Eminor]

In case you're still collecting info, my G101 is #5381.  I opened up the top recently and I was poking around trying to fix a problem (more on that later) and noticed all of the tone generator cards were stamped G101 except for one  stamped K101.

Chris

[Alan Lenhoff]

Chris:

Yes, the information is still useful.  Does yours have the large Gibson badge on the "audience side" of the drop-down panel?

Alan

[Eminor]

It does, bottom left corner from the audience point of view.

[Alan Lenhoff]

Thank you.