07. 700 (1958 through…early 1962?) Wurlitzer Electronic Piano

For the next duration, I will be uploading documentation on every model of Wurlitzer Electric Piano ever produced, chronologically.  Approximately 1 page per model, 5 instruments per week, around 40 instruments total.  And then the accessories.  

This will take a several weeks, as each page is a photo essay… and an essay.  In the meantime, if the instrument you are curious about isn’t here, I refer you to my complete list, on which these blog entries are based: Here.

The Wurlitzer Electronic Piano Model 700. Pratt-Read Action, like the 112A and the 120.  The is the “furniture” console version of the Model 120, introduced a roughly a year after that model’s debut.  Soft pedals in this and the later various 720-series wooden console models are electronic, on/off, not mechanical.

It was introduced in 1958*, maybe 12 to 18 months after the 120.  Advertisements appeared mid-year. The last ones I have found have electronics stamped for the week of September 11, 1960, which has me surmising they were assembled in late 1960 or early 1961.  The next models (the 140, the 145, and the 720) debuted in late 1962, and I don’t know when the last of these would have shipped.  1961 may be the actual end-date for manufacture or sale.

*Update– I have just received data on Model 700 serial number #12744, the earliest one I know of.  Several dates, including handwritten production ones, place this instrument in late October 1957.  It is now unclear when this instrument hit the market; it might have been late 1957.

Further update, December 10, 2022:  Documentation says that the earliest serial number for a 700 is 12501.  This implies they were being manufactured by summer 1957.

A distinctive new feature of this model is its 12″ 4-ohm speaker.  Combined with the richness of the recently-redesigned bass reeds that debuted with the Model 120, these instruments can have a phenomenally full, rich sound. Only two other Wurlitzer models, both tube-amp wood consoles, will come with a speaker this large:  The 720 (1962-3) and the 720A (1963-4); in fact, the later 720A’s from 1965 used the last of the 1960 production run of speakers intended for this model.  (The late 60’s console models, and on, will have 8″ speakers instead.)  The printing on the speaker, by the way, is the best way one has of determining the relative date of this instrument, unless there’s a piece of masking tape with scribbles on the reed bar.  That’s a topic for another day.  (I would like to add some more photos of these speakers… clearly they changed from year to year.)

This instrument came in one basic style: wood, various furniture stains (brown mahogany, but also lighter/blonder walnut-style wood stains).  The main external physical difference, apparently, is the music stand.  Certain ones on lighter wood stain instruments are rectangular, like a door turned sideways, but more common are the curvy, pretty “saloon” look also found on the wood-stained version of the later 120’s.  As noted above, some instruments have the on/off/volume knob above the keys, instead of the cheek block.

As the 120 manual calls the amp the “600-C,” the 700 manual’s amp schematic calls the amp model “600-3.” The amps that I’ve taken note of in a 700’s seem to have evolving labels: Some say “Model 700,” (1958) some say “1200-1” (circa 1959) and later ones have part number 601200-1 (Sept 1960); there may be some additional variation over the run of these instruments.  See the Model 120 page for a brief further discussion of this vagueness.

Note: There are important differences in the installation wiring of the amps for 120’s and 700’s over time; this also partially corresponds to differences in the model number of a given amp. In short, some or all later amps, as shown in the 700 manual, have an extra heating wire running to through octal terminal 5 to power the pilot light, and in model 700’s, some other wires are moved around to accommodate the soft pedal. The internal speaker is wired differently as well–the wires on the end of the 120-manual amp’s chassis, which connect to the internal speaker, are absent on the later 700-manual-schematic amps.  Some amps seem to resemble the later schematic wiring while “plugging in” according to the octal arrangement of the earlier (120) schematic. If installing a Wurlitzer amp from the 1957-61 era into a 120, and prior instrument source is unknown, check the octal socket wiring carefully against both the 120 and 700 schematics, especially terminals 4 and 5.

The workings of the damper pedal mechanism deserve note.  It was a thick/heavy wood-lever design.  In ALL of the later console models (720 through the 214 and on), this was replaced with one or another variation of the cable-release system used in the portables.  (Only exception being the rod system of the 270 Butterfly Grand.)

I recommend reading the Model 120 page for additional technical and historical information about this model.  As well as caveats on how time consuming they are to tune and restore.

As with the 120, and the 1962-3 Models 140, 145, and 720, this model keeps its top 11 notes undamped, presumably to add harmonic overtones and a sort of “reverb” to the other notes, similar to the undamping found at the top of a piano.  (In fact, the dampers start in more or less the same range as on my conventional upright piano.)  Wurly expert Mark Alden Ross finds that his 700 has TOO much upper-note resonance, perhaps more than found on a 120.  He theorizes that the additional mass of the furniture model’s body makes overkill out of the sustain brick design. Now that this has been brought to my attention, I look forward to working on my next 700, to see if I find this to be a typical trait.  It’s a good, plausible theory, at least.

This console model was followed by similar-looking wood/furniture models in the early 60’s that complemented their parallel portables:  The aforementioned 720, the underrated, stunning 720A, then the solid state, smaller-speakered 720B, and the 726(B) (a classroom console). This is also the forebear of various plastic-topped consoles in the 200 and 200A series, plus the more furniture-like wooden 270 “Butterfly Grand,” and the German early 1970’s Model 300.

(The 1960’s 720-series consoles were notable in that the keysticks were 2 inches longer than in their portable counterparts, which explains their wonderful feel.  This is a recent epiphany.  So I wonder if there is a similar, unnoticed difference in the keysticks of the 700, vs. the 120.  I doubt it.  Nonetheless, a subject for further research, next time I work on one of these!)

Production Run of 700’s.

I surmise that 3000 of the Model 700’s were manufactured, between Mid 1957 and late 1960 (or so.). Perhaps 70 instruments were manufactured, on average, per month.  There is some possibility that the quantity of instruments produced was double this;  I doubt it.  My reasoning is discussed in detail on the Model 120 page.

Tremendous gratitude to Taylor McIntosh for many photos of the inner workings of his snazzy 1960 or 1961 instrument. To supplement my less than comprehensive or aesthetic photos and support my texts, I have also grabbed a few images on this page from auctions and hobby sites, as well as two internal ones from the wonderful blog www.before1975-blog.tumblr.com.  Please check that site out!!!  In the process of trying to create a one-stop resource for Wurlitzer information, I am using some others’ images as placeholders.  I am running around doing my best to get retroactive permission as time allows.  In the meantime, please let me know if I’ve used your images, and I’ll attribute or remove them, according to your wishes. Thank you!  –SE