My organ is an electronic Saville from the 1970’s. The model is Sovereign. The repair man who worked on the organ in August 2017 said the model number is 7216. The organ manaul that came with it, listed 7216 and 7218, so it’s nice to know which one it is!
It is in good condition considering its age. I became the owner of it in October 1999. The organ was originally used in a church and had been donated to Adrian College. After I started taking lessons, Michael arranged for me to have the organ. All I had to do was arrange for pickup and take it home. The case is very heavy!
I have not found much information about the Saville Organ Company. They are no longer in business and may have been located in Kansas. A few organists have indicated that they were well built organs.
The organ has two manuals called Great and Swell. The pedal board is AGO standard which means it has 32 pedals. There are several speakers which are about 4′ high. They were likely mounted to the walls at the church they were in. Now, they line a wall in my living room. The bench also came with the organ. There are a few more pictures following the stop list below.
Hi, I,m still looking for the filter diagrams for the Savikke organ. I have solved the stability issues with the oscillators.
I sent an email to someone who might know about the diagrams and copied you on the email. Hopefully, this person has them or will know who does!
I don’t have any docs. I would try contacting Midwest Organ Systems as I was told that they have restored Saville organs. http://www.manta.com/c/mmscbwl/midwest-organ-systems.
I have a Saville organ, model # unknown… I believe it was built in the early 70s. It is a 3-manual with plexiglas music rack, full AGO pedalboard. 15 speaker cabinets with (2) 12″speakers each, plus 2 cabinets with (8) 12″ speakers each. Also a large cabinet full of circuit boards. I bought this organ from a church in Toledo, Ohio in 1983 and want to sell it! It is in my home in Upper Sandusky. It does need some work.
Lucky duck! I have to use headphones most of the time as I have a little child and wife that will be disturbed 🙂
Any good electronic repairman can install a decoupling headphone jack for you that automatically decouples the speakers whenever your headphones are inserted in the jack. The repairman will also have to install a power-dropping resistor inline with the headphones so that you don’t blow out the headphones (or your ears!) when the headphones intercept the power from to the audio amplifiers. Choose your electronics technician carefully, hopefully someone with previous experience in matching loads with audio amps. The electronics tech should also be able to install a rotary-knob rheostat next to the headphone jack so you can adjust volume to the headphones in addition to the expression pedals.
It’s great to see these beautiful instruments taking on a new life in people’s homes. Wish I had one of my own… I used to work for the original Saville Organ Company and traveled the country installing, tuning and repairing them. The original corporate headquarters were located in Northbrook, Illinois. A northern suburb of Chicago.
I just attempted servicing one I have never seen one before we have dividers out and the amplifiers are very noisy what would be the suggested repair the organ was installed in 1977 are there schematic still available
I was a Saville dealer and presently have a 7337 in my front room. I have been repairing these instruments for more than 50 years. I am located in Denver. Look at the website it has a lot of memories for me . . .
If you lived closer, I’d have you do some repair work on my Saville. It’s been a nice instrument for me.
Change the CAPs in the power supply and amp cards, if it is still playing they have gone more than the design distance. The Saville’s didn’t use dividers, most likely R/C oscillators are down, but they are easily fixed.
If you are still looking for a Saville organ, there is one available at Sacred Heart church in Racine, WI. I would be happy to answer any questions you might have as I have been servicing this instrument for the last 30 years.
If anyone is interested there is a Saville Mod#7228 listed on Columbus Ohio craigslist, as of Oct. 19, 2014. It’s in a church and price is free!! No pictures on the craigslist, that’s why I came to this site to get a visual. Thanks.
The only difference between the 7216 and the 7218 is the number of audio channels. The 7216 has 6 channels and the 7218 has 12 channels. I have the sales brochures for both models. Send me your email address and I will scan it and send it to you. There is one other difference, the 7216 has a wood music rack where the 7218 has a Plexiglas music rack. Looks like your organ is a 7216. Great instrument in its day. Britson Organ Works in Washington State can provide parts for this instrument and can provide assistance to your service tech when necessary.
Our church need to repair our Saville organ, technician ask the model number of Saville. Where could I find the model number of our Saville?
I found the model number in the owner’s manual. I see that site I linked to with the Saville history no longer works! That site (when it was working) had nice pictures that would have been useful.
If you don’t have the manual, I suggest calling this organ company: http://www.manta.com/c/mmscbwl/midwest-organ-systems as I heard that they have restored Saville organs. I have not yet contacted them about my Saville.
Looks like you have a 7218 Saville, I have one that I am replacing the manuals and will more than likely install MIDI on the instrument. I also have a 7337 in my living room. During its time it was the finest electronic instrument on the market. Its construction features permit many things to be done to them, unlike Rodgers and Allen.
Thanks for looking at the photos. The organ manual is for models 7216 – 7218 and I had wondered which model I had. I didn’t realize MIDI could be installed on these older instruments!
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