The Wurlitzer electrical piano was one among a series of electromechanical stringless pianos manufactured and marketed by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, Corinth, Mississippi, U.S. and Tonawanda, NY. The Wurlitzer company itself never known as the instrument an “electric piano”, inventing instead the phrase “Electronic Piano” and using this as a trademark throughout the production of the instrument. See however electronic piano, the generally accepted term for a completely completely different kind of keyboard instrument today.
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The Wurlitzer piano is typically a 64-note instrument whose keyboard range is from A an octave above all-time low note of a commonplace eighty eight-note piano to the C an octave below the prime note of an eighty eight-note piano. Tone production in all models includes a single steel reed for every key, activated by a miniature version of a typical grand piano action and forming part of an electrostatic pickup system using a DC voltage of 170v. A mechanical sustain pedal just like that of a conventional piano is fitted.
Inventor Benjamin Miessner had designed an amplified standard upright piano within the Nineteen Thirties, and Wurlitzer used his electrostatic pickup design, however replaced the strings with struck steel reeds. The instrument entered production in 1955 as the EP-110, followed by the 111 and 112 of the same year, and continued to be made in varied forms till regarding 1982 when production of the EP-200A ceased.
There is evidence of a piano designated as the model 100, but whether or not it had been created or solely a prototype is up for debate. Pictures of a model one hundred do exist, and also the Wurlitzer EP Service manuals do state that the Wurlitzer was introduced in 1954, not 1955. The model 106 was a later model, not an early model.
Most Wurlitzer electrical piano are transportable models with removable legs and the sustain pedal connected via a Bowden cable; console, “grand” and “spinet” models were also created with a permanently attached pedal. The early models sustain pedals truly connected through the side of the instrument, with the pedal eventually being connected directly beneath the unit in the late 50s.
The earliest versions were the “a hundred? series; these had a case created from painted fibreboard or wood and were fitted with one loudspeaker mounted within the rear of the case. But the very initial models, the transportable Wurlitzer pianos featured a tremolo impact with fastened rate but adjustable depth. Models created till the early Nineteen Sixties used vacuum tube circuitry; the 140B was the primary solid-state model, introduced in 1962. The model 145 was tube and came out around the identical time because the 140 solid state pianos. Ultimately each were replaced in 1968 by the plastic-bodied 200, a abundant lighter instrument (fifty six lbs, without the legs or pedal) with two loudspeakers facing the player. This model was updated because the 200A in 1972 and continued in production into 1980. The 200 was offered in black, dark “Forest Green”, red or beige. The 200A was only available in black and avocado green. The white Wurlitzer generally seen being employed by bands like The Beach Boys, The Carpenters and Supertramp was a custom painted finish not made by the manufacturer. The last version to be introduced was the 200B in 1978; this was visually a twin of the 200A however was designed to be powered by a pair of medium-tension (85v) rechargeable batteries; it had no internal speakers or amplifier.
One vital role for the Wurlitzer piano was as a student instrument in college and college music labs, and non-moveable console versions were made for this purpose. The teacher had a headphone and microphone to be able to listen into every student individually and speak to them without others hearing them. All students listened to each of their instruments through headphones. Those usually seen resemble a beige or light-weight green Model two hundred mounted on a matching pedestal containing a loudspeaker, headphone niche and sustain pedal. On these models there’s no tremolo (although later models merely have the power disabled). A number of these models got the designation 206/206A. Several console models have recently been modified to 200/200A specification to be used on stage. Rarer than the coed models are the teacher consoles, featuring multiple monitor/mute switches and, in some cases the power to feature a giant illuminated display panel operated via the keyboard.
Since production began, small numbers of wood-cased spinet-vogue instruments were made for domestic use. These sometimes had an upright-piano style soft pedal (truly an electronic attenuator) moreover as the sustain pedal. The mechanism of these pianos is a twin of that of the modern moveable version. The model 700 was the same amplifier and action as the moveable model 120.The model 700 was created circa 1959-1962. The model 720 was the spinet version of the 140 series, (140B,145) piano. The model 720 was created circa 1962-1965.
The rarest of all Wurlitzers was the European only model 300, which was a spinet type piano based on the model 200A. This was the very last model created and is even rarer than the model 270, butterfly grand. The model 300 looked almost like a modern digital piano.
The two hundred uniquely had a domestic sister model 270 called the “Butterfly Baby Grand”, a semicircular, walnut finish wood-cased piano with twin quadrant-shaped lids angled above horizontally-mounted eight? loudspeakers. This was among the last Wurlitzers created, and is terribly troublesome to find. It is additionally the heaviest Wurlitzer ever produced.
A rare version, and the only known model not to possess sixty four keys is the 106P (P for “Pupil”), a 44-note classroom model with a plastic case, no controls, one loudspeaker and no sustain pedal. The 106P was out there as a set of eight on a folding frame, forming a moveable keyboard lab. They were attached by an umbilical to a full size teacher piano with controls to feature each pupil piano. This model appears so far from the early 1970s and was accessible in orange or beige.