exhibited at Museum of Making Music
electronic home organ
Gulbransen Company was an American manufacturer of pianos, including player pianos; and reed and home organs in Chicago, Illinois. Established in 1904 by Axel Gulbransen as Gulbransen Piano Company, it introduced several innovations in the field. [1] [2]
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Gulbransen introduced several innovations. In its early years, Gulbransen made the first upright piano with a player piano mechanism in the same case. In the 1920s, thousands of player pianos were manufactured by the firm under the Gulbransen and Dickinson name. [1] In the electronic organ era, Gulbransen pioneered several innovations in the production of home electronic organs that became industry standards: [2]
- Use of transistor circuitry
- Built-in Leslie speaker system
- Chime stop and piano stop
- "Automatic Rhythm" (built-in drum machine)
- "Automatic Walking Bass" (bass accompaniment)
In 1957, Gulbransen released the first transistorized electric organ: "Gulbransen Model B" (Model 1100), [2] Its use of transistors was limited to the tone generators; the power amplifier was driven by vacuum tubes. (The first fully transistorized organ for churches was later built by Rodgers Instruments.)[ citation needed ]
In the 1960s, Gulbransen and Seeburg Corporation released one of the earliest transistorized rhythm machines: "Seeburg/Gulbransen Select-A-Rhythm". [4] [5] Seeburg would invent a fully transistorized rhythm machine in 1964 and receive a patent three years later. [6]
Around 1950, the company was sold to CBS. In 1964, it merged with Seeburg Corporation. Production ceased in 1969. [1]
In 1985, Mission Bay Investments acquired the brand and produced Elka organs under the Gulbransen name. [2] In 2002 or 2003, [7] QRS Music Technologies acquired the brand; pianos were made by Samick. [1]
