We acquired thousands of Wurlitzer Co. engineering drawings.
We want to share them with everyone.
Help us preserve music history
In 2022, we discovered thousands of original Wurlitzer Co. engineering documents. They contain valuable information about every component in a Wurlitzer organ or electronic piano. The collection includes schematics, drawings, measurements, materials, purchase orders, notes on manufacturing defects, and more.
The documents were stored for the past 40 years by a former employee of the Wurlitzer factory, who saved them when the factory closed. Many of the documents were carefully filed in folders and organized by part number. He kept them in his workshop and consulted them for his own repair work.
In 2022, the workshop was sold and everything inside was scheduled to be scrapped or destroyed. We purchased the documents so they would not be incinerated.
The documents contain information that is important to organ and electronic piano techs, musicians, and researchers.
That’s why we want to share the documents with everyone who might want to see them.
To do that, we need your help.
Get involved or donate today.
If you’ve ever bought a vintage amp or keyboard, you can probably relate to this:
It caught your eye because it looked so cool and unique. A quick google search proves that it has an amazing analog sound. You’re so excited to buy it! But when you take it home, it has a problem. Maybe it’s missing some little part. Maybe the outputs don’t work with your inputs. It sounds great in the room, but it doesn’t record well. It’s such a small problem though—surely it can be fixed!
You go online. Documentation is basically nonexistent. You call a tech, who is hesitant to fix it since the instrument isn’t worth the repair cost. Since it’s partially working, it doesn’t have very much practical use for you. You put it in a closet until one day you just give up and resell it.
But what if someone saved the schematic for that missing or broken part? What if the original drawing still existed, and you could look it up in an instant?
This is the dream behind the Tropical Fish Document Archive. And, with your help, we can make it happen for nearly any Wurlitzer organ or electronic piano that was ever manufactured.
