A co-worker gave me this Lowery "Wandering Genie" electric organ that he couldn't sell at a yard sale, and he hated to trash what was a fully operational instrument, especially one that he paid $1000 for in 1981!...so I ended up with it. It's called the "wandering Genie" because it's a tabletop model that is easy to carry around, versus their floor-standing models.
It's a pretty nifty little instrument, and it sounds pretty good. It's definitely got that seventies analogue synth sound that's actually rather popular today. It looks good too, as you can see in this picture, with the stop tabs lit up from behind.
Lowery made these instruments very easy to play, and I found this little organ a lot of fun, and very addictive. For someone that doesn't have a bit of musical knowledge, they can sit down at one of these organs, flip a few stops down, and end up creating something that sounds reasonably good! The keys are all labeled as to what note they are by a lighted bar. The organ has a rhythm section that makes synthesized drum beats, and the "magic genie chords" will integrate bass and chords into the rhythm for you automatically, essentally playing a good portion of the music for you. All you need to do is provide the melody!
If you know something about music, the organ also does have more of an "expert" mode where you can flip down a few stops and get a more traditional organ sound out of it. If the rhythm section is not playing, the left hand octave becomes a manual bass section, sort of like the pedals on a full sized console. The organ also has vibrato, sustain, and a chorus section just like the organs from that "other" company, Hammond.
I remember Lowery used to sell their organs at shopping center showrooms. They had the instruments set up and playing rhythms in the store. I remember the bass rhythms coming out of the store as the sales reps would get the organs playing music to attract customers. Time hasn't been kind to Lowery unfortunately. Lowery organs frequently can't be given away despite how fun and easy they made them. I'm not even sure if Lowery is still around. I imagine some of it has to do with the fact that they did not have as much of a "Professional" following as Allen and Hammond did, and primarily went after the home market
It's a pretty nifty little instrument, and it sounds pretty good. It's definitely got that seventies analogue synth sound that's actually rather popular today. It looks good too, as you can see in this picture, with the stop tabs lit up from behind.
Lowery made these instruments very easy to play, and I found this little organ a lot of fun, and very addictive. For someone that doesn't have a bit of musical knowledge, they can sit down at one of these organs, flip a few stops down, and end up creating something that sounds reasonably good! The keys are all labeled as to what note they are by a lighted bar. The organ has a rhythm section that makes synthesized drum beats, and the "magic genie chords" will integrate bass and chords into the rhythm for you automatically, essentally playing a good portion of the music for you. All you need to do is provide the melody!
If you know something about music, the organ also does have more of an "expert" mode where you can flip down a few stops and get a more traditional organ sound out of it. If the rhythm section is not playing, the left hand octave becomes a manual bass section, sort of like the pedals on a full sized console. The organ also has vibrato, sustain, and a chorus section just like the organs from that "other" company, Hammond.
I remember Lowery used to sell their organs at shopping center showrooms. They had the instruments set up and playing rhythms in the store. I remember the bass rhythms coming out of the store as the sales reps would get the organs playing music to attract customers. Time hasn't been kind to Lowery unfortunately. Lowery organs frequently can't be given away despite how fun and easy they made them. I'm not even sure if Lowery is still around. I imagine some of it has to do with the fact that they did not have as much of a "Professional" following as Allen and Hammond did, and primarily went after the home market
