A family member has e-mailed me saying they have been offered a Wurlitzer organ. They don't actually play (maybe want to take it up?) I know nothing about them. This organ was up for sale at a garage sale and didn't sell because it was out of tune. Pardon me ignorance: can organs go out of tune?

Mechanical (pipe) organs do all the time, it's their nature.

Electronic ones can't.

Hammond(and other tonewheel) organs can be made to pitch-bend. That's exploiting a "feature", tho. In normal ops,they don't go out of tune.

Chances are the organ in question is electronic, and not subject to out of tune-ness.

"Out of Tune" could mean so, so many things to those untrained in music. Just like "runs great" means "needs new carb, new ignition, new pistons, new liners, new....."

Likely it has a few dead keys, odd noises from flaky components (it was all discrete then, with separate capacitors, transistors, resistors, etc) and with time, they do go noisy.

No big loss if it's a basket case. A Hammond would be worthy of restoration.. I don't know what you're looking at, but if it's a 2-manual one-octave pedal funmaker... well.. the benches were nice.. that's about all I can say ^.^;

Thanks, Stringless. I think I'll tell the elderly relative (late 70's) to stay away from it. She doesn't even play. I'm 500 miles away so I haven't seen it.