It has a STACCATO tab, indicating that sustain behaves in a "reverb-like" way instead of "true sustain" like some other Lowrey models (see the LS article and the circuit description further down for more info).
The underlying design is much like other tube Lowreys, with a frequency-divider tone generation system producing squarewaves, a combination of direct and electronic keying (the latter for the upper-manual 8'-4'-2' registers), and tone shaping via tuned filter-amplifiers.
Power consumption of the tube heaters alone is about 246 watts! As well, roughly 260 neon lamps are used, mostly for keying the sustain registers of the swell manual, and for facilitating the swell-to-great manual coupler. In total, it uses 89 tubes, the highest count of any tube Lowreys. In fact, a large part of why these organs are so interesting and worth saving is because they have distinct sounds of their own that also happen to be satisfying and beautiful.Įxcept for its use of silicon diodes in the power supply and vibrato circuits, the FL is a vacuum-tube instrument. Especially when installed domestically in acoustically "dead" rooms, they do not sound very much like pipe organs, but I have no problem with this, since I don't find the comparison with a pipe organ all that useful or necessary.
All models produce a good variety of satisfying tone colors, and have useful variations in expression (sustain, slow attack, staccato, etc.), which are the basis for real musical enjoyment and achievement. The CH and CN models have a 15" woofer, made possible by the extra space available in the enclosed lower portion. Unlike Hammond's four-poster models, the FL contains internal speakers and amplification: a 12" woofer and a rectangular horn tweeter, driven by a built-in power amplifier of 40 watts. The FL exhibits a "four-poster" cabinet design (with open space in the knee area), in imitation of certain Hammond organs such as the famed B3, while the CH and CN are designed like normal pipe organ consoles, the Church model being more traditional and heavily built than the Coronation.
These were the first full-sized Lowrey organs, each having two 61-key manuals and a 25-note pedalboard. Lowrey's "Festival" FL model was introduced in 1959, along with the electronically identical models CH and CN: "Church" and "Coronation" respectively. They even smell good, and their warmth makes me warm on the inside (to paraphrase my German friend Bernd)! Simply put: they look cool, they sound great, and they can last forever. Why are tube organs my favorite, you may ask? Because they are universally well-built, attractively styled, fun and easy to work on, and unique and satisfying in tonal quality.
This article describes the Lowrey "Festival" model FL, as one of a series of articles on my favorite class of instruments: vacuum-tube organs. Crasno Electronics - Lowrey "Festival" model FL Lowrey "Festival" model FL Electronic Organ