My Yamaha Electone FX-1 Acquisition

My Yamaha Electone FX-1 Acquisition
Or, How I ended up with the coolest organ of all time!

FX-1 General Description

The Electone FX-1 is an FM based Organ/Synthesizer built by Yamaha in 1983.

Yamaha’s Electone department has made several Stage Models that were usually in limited runs and were the flagship of their newest technology.

In the case of the FX-1, we are talking about FM synthesis like what was introduced in the most famous keyboard of all times, the DX-7.

Lest you think this is just a bigger DX-7, make no mistake, this is not your parents FM. The DX-7 for example had one DAC (Digital to Analog Converter) and was mono. The DX-5 was a multitimbral version with two DAC’s. You could layer or split the manual with two sounds.

The Yamaha Electone FX-1 has three DAC’s, each with 6 channels! That’s 18 audio channels. So, many of the sounds are designed with built in panning left, center or right offering a very deep stereo field. Plus. you can layer three fully polyphonic sounds on each manual. (six layers) In addition, there is a monophonic section that can be assigned to either manual. Plus, the solo manual sounds and of course, the pedals. Lastly, a stereo rhythm section and rhythmic chords. Add two large and powerful speakers and you have some sound. There are enough outputs to actually connect 6 Yamaha speakers and a Leslie. I promise, two Yamaha cabinets is enough for most people.

Yamaha Electone FX-1


The first time I saw an FX-series organ was either the FX-10 or FX-20 at a local dealership in the early 80’s. The FX-20 is nearly identical to the FX-1 but in a self contained wood cabinet. My first impression was wow, a very large organ from Yamaha. But that quickly changed when I saw the motorized sliders! I don’t remember hearing it that day but soon after, I found myself face to face with the FX-20 in a customers home. I was adding the MDR-1 disk drive for this customer. I was again impressed with it’s size, the motorized sliders, and now, the sound. A huge sound with so much power you could hurt your ears.

Yamaha FX-20


Here’s a video of “Penny Lane” being played on the FX-20.

In the late 80’s, I saw a white model for the first time. It was the FX-3. I had to go out of town at Yamaha’s request to service this FX-3. When I first saw it, the wow factor was awesome. I loved the cool finish. What a beauty to look at. Even the speaker was beautiful.

Yamaha Electone FX-1

My First Electone FX-20

So the stage was set for a subliminal desire for such an organ. Well, a couple of decades went by and then I received my first FX-20 home model. As an organ technician I’m often given organs for all kinds of reasons. Usually, they aren’t worth keeping. However, in 2006, I was given an FX-20 from a local dealer. They took it in on trade and didn’t give much for it. They didn’t want to put it in inventory and decided to get rid of it. I was asked if I wanted it. I said OK figuring it didn’t work! Otherwise, why would they be giving it to me? I put it in temporary storage not knowing exactly what I was going to do with it. The truth is, I don’t have room to store every organ that comes my way! About a month later, I moved it to my shop and turned it on. Wow! It worked! In fact, as I began to look closer, the cabinet was near mint. I opened the bench and found the original owners manual, three RP-1 memory packs, and a beautiful color brochure. The first time I played it I was reminded what I liked about FM sound generation having used sample playback for so many years now. I started playing it every day. Again, Wow! What a sound. Being more of a keyboard player, this organ gave me the opportunity to start playing the pedals so I began to learn a couple of new songs with pedals. That, with the couple of songs I already knew, made me feel like I was well on my way to a new music experience.
Recently I actually met the woman who traded this organ in. What a small world. Actually, the organ world IS small. Turned out she bought it used for $1000.00 from a neighbor and had it for about 10 years. I suspect the dealer gave her half of that or less off the new purchase making it expendable for them.
I was so excited about this organ I was telling every one I met. A couple of months later, I happened to be servicing a Funeral Home. They had a large Kimball (K-600) which didn’t work at all. I took it into the shop and after several weeks, I couldn’t make any headway. I suspect it was a casualty of a significant surge such as lightning. In my talks with the owner, I happened to mention the Yamaha FX-20 and how much fun I was having playing it. I think he detected my enthusiasm and was very interested in looking at it, possibly to buy. I had to decide if I was willing to sell it or not. At that time, I was in need of some plumbing work that was going to run around $1800.00. So I decided if he was willing to pay $1800.00, I would sell it. Well, he did. (Ever wonder where the price of a used organ actually comes from?) Shortly after selling it, I began to miss playing it and started watching eBay to see if another one might pop up.

My Second Electone FX-20

Over the next couple of years I saw a few FX-20’s show up on eBay but they were usually too far away. Several listing for around $800.00 to $1000.00 which seemed like some good prices. This year (2008) An FX-20 came to eBay for an opening bid of $100.00, but with a reserve. The notable thing about this one was it was located fairly close to me. I watched it closely. No one bid on it until the last two days of the auction. $150.00, $200.00, $250.00… The night it was to go off, at around $250.00, I decided to go for it. I decided I would pay $500.00. I know that’s not a lot but then again, I didn’t need it, just casually wanted it. So I bid $500.00. Immediately, the reserve was met and I was the high bidder. Problem was, it would be hours before the auction ended and way past my bedtime. I went to bed thinking there was no way I would win. Surely someone would bid $50.00 more or so. To my surprise, I woke up as the winner! That weekend, I drove up to get it. Again, it had the owners manual and four RP-1 memory carts.

It still had the magic so I decided I would keep it this time. But of course, the best made plans can be made better! Now, things got interesting.

Now, The Mighty Electone FX-1

The FX-1 shown below appeared on eBay located in Florida. Ahh, the FX-1. It was listed at $6500.00, which was too much for me but there it was in all its glory.

Yamaha Electone FX-1

I had seen the one below on eBay back in 2006 right after I sold my first FX-20. I actually bid $3500.00 on it but I was out bid by about $150.00. You may notice the tops of the speakers are different. The speakers with the “grooves” on the top are the TX-1 models. The smooth tops are the TM-1 models. The ones I have are the smooth top versions. Same as the one in the FX-3 picture. TX-1’s have four channels for a total of 310 watts each. The TM-1’s are three channels with a total of 210 watts each.

Yamaha FX-1

Well, even though I couldn’t afford it, it got me thinking about the FX-1 again. I love playing the FX-20 but how cool would it be to sit at an FX-1? The auction went off with no bids. Hmm… It gets re-listed for $3500.00!! Wow, I actually bid $3500.00 on one before but in that case, I had someone who would deliver it to me. Not so in this case I’m afraid. So, as a casual watcher, I let it go by. Again, no one bid on it. Here’s another interesting thing happening at the same time. I had someone coming to look at a Hammond organ I had for sale. The organ was $3000.00, and with a Leslie, $4000.00. He was fine with that and wanted to see them both.

When the customer came by I learned he was looking for a nice organ for his dad’s birthday. They lived in a very nice house and I knew the Hammond wasn’t what they were looking for. It’s a good church organ and a workhorse, but not pretty enough to go to River Oaks! I suddenly realized, he needs the FX-20! But how much? Well, $3500.00 is halfway between $3000.00 and $4000.00 and he was good for $4000.00 sooo… I showed him the FX-20. (Only had it three weeks this time around!) He loved it. While I was showing it, I remembered the trip to pick it up cost me $150.00 in gas so I told him the organ was $3650.00 delivered. He said OK! Can you deliver it this weekend!(Ever wonder where used organ prices come from?)

So, with money in hand, I had to decide if I wanted to try to get the FX-1. First listed for $6500.00 and no bids, then $3500.00 and still no bids. This thing seemed so unreachable! Is it possible I could actually own one? I sent an email offering $2500.00. He emailed back saying he had a potential buyer and didn’t want to go that low. So at that point, I completely wrote it off. I’ll just keep the money and move on. I emailed him back and told him I was sure he could get $3500.00 if not more since I just sold my FX-20 for $3650.00. Yep, I told him the price! I suggested he take better pictures and re-list it. I encouraged him to sell it for more! As for me, I went out and bought a new stove and microwave. Heh.

A couple of days later, on a Tuesday, I was emailed by the FX-1 owner accepting my offer. Huh? I thought this was over. Now for a real coincidence. I had some friends vacationing in Florida that week. I made a call to see if they would be willing and able to swing by on their way back and pick up a U-haul trailer, and the coveted FX-1. They said, sure! (They are really good friends!) I agreed to buy the organ, pay for the trailer and their gas back, and began to make the arrangements. I reserved a 5X8 enclosed trailer near the FX-1 owners home and gave my friends the address. I asked for extra moving blankets because of the delicate nature of this organ and it’s speakers. That Friday we planned to pick it up and needless to say, it was nerve racking. I’m in Houston and all this is happening in Florida! The owner told me that the organ was real heavy and that it took 4 men to move it in! I asked if there was anyway he could get some help there. He said he could arrainge for his two sons to come by and help. That plus my friends made 4. So far, so good. I told the owner they would be by around 11:00am. They ended up leaving late from their friends and there were problems with the trailer hook-up. They didn’t get there until around 3:00pm. Finally, it was loaded up in the trailer and with a couple of cell phone photos, all I had to do was wait! That Sunday, around 9:00pm, I received the FX-1. What a sight watching that trailer backing up to my door!

I had never seen an FX-1 in person and was not sure what to expect. In a couple of words, visually stunning! In fact, hardly a scratch! How’d they keep it so clean for 25 years? This is not only visually stunning to behold, it’s large! 60″ long. 507 Lbs for the organ without the pedals and bench! Whew! Both speakers look like new. So finally, I got my FX-1, and I got a good one.

Fixing It Up

I couldn’t wait to play it so I moved it right into the music room. Connected up the speakers and fired it up. Initially I was impressed but something seemed lacking. The FX-1 didn’t sound right. Could that be? Having played the FX-20 I was sure I knew what It was supposed to sound like or at least I thought so. The next day I tried it again. Yep, not sounding right. I determined a couple of things. First, the Symphonic Chorus was affecting the Combination and Orchestra sounds, whether it was on or off. Secondly, the Tremolo was also affecting these two sections and didn’t matter if it was on or off. Normally, you can only select one or the other. Here, they are both on, all the time! So, the sound was mushy, too animated, and not clear.

I was about to try to order a service manual from Yamaha hoping they even had one when I found one in my files. Never been used! So, I studied it. I learned that this organ had three DAC’s, each with six outputs. (The FX-20 has two DAC’s) Each output is basically hardwired to its destination. So, in order to turn the Symphonic Chorus or Tremolo on or off, the DAC output had to turn on or off. I thought maybe a DAC was bad. I removed the DAC board and discovered a DAC had been changed before. I thought maybe this problem was tackled before. I replaced the previously replaced DAC again, but no change. After much study of the manual, I learned that there was a signal going to the DAC from the main CPU called Panel Data. It seems the DAC’s get the status of the panel buttons at power up and every time a panel button or preset is changed. I located this line between the CPU and DAC board and observed it with a scope. It was in fact working. I made a jumper to the DAC board where this signal enters the board so I could observe it with the DAC board plugged in. Here, I observed there was no data. So, this panel data is not getting to the DACs. I simply took this jumper wire, and touched it to the line where the signal was working and instantly, the whole sound of the organ changed. I was able to turn on and off both effects. But beside that, it now had a clear and powerful sound not heard up to this time. In fact, I now hear the stereo placements built into the mix. Apparantly, the DAC’s were not receiving the panel data and they were just defaulting to a power up condition. By removing a circuit board that carries signals from one end of the digital cage to the other, and cleaning the plug connectors, the organ was now fixed. The sound is awesome! Even better than the FX-20!

Here It Is!

My Yamaha FX-1
My Yamaha Electone FX-1
My Yamaha FX-1
First Level Raised Up
My Yamaha FX-1
Digital cage raised into service position
My Yamaha FX-1
Upper manual raised up
My Yamaha FX-1
Lower Manual raised up

TM-1 Speaker Cabinet
These speakers are self powered and multichannel. The TM-1 is a three channel cabinet with 210 Watts of power. This organ came with two speaker cabinets. (420 Watts)

TM-1 Speaker Cabinet

TM-1 Speaker Cabinet

TM-1 Speaker Cabinet

TM-1 Speaker Cabinet

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Comments

10 thoughts on “My Yamaha Electone FX-1 Acquisition”

  1. Wow, what a story. Do you still have it? I think you told me about it but not this much detail. By the way. Talking to Kyle about revamping our website. I am just fixing to send him half of his bill so he can get started. I’m going on your recommendation. I ‘m sure you are keeping busy in the organ/digital repair. Oh, I am getting a CVP 609. If I could wait 10 years I would probably be able to buy one for $500. YOu don’t know of a deal on one do you?

  2. Can you please help locate an FX 1 in excellent condition? My kids live in Katy, Texas area and would arrange the transaction through them. Thanks. Akin

  3. Hi, I recently found a TM-1 speaker. It has that weird 13 pin connector though so i don’t know how to test it. I was planning on trying to use it as a bass amp. Any ideas? Thanks

  4. These speakers are really designed specifically for the Yamaha organs. It has three channels setup for left, right and center. It would be better served if paired with the appropriate organ. It really isn’t suitable for Bass.

  5. Amazing story! But how could you prefer to buy a stove and a microwave instead of considering to acquire the object of your dreams with no more delay? And how could you be such a hard businessman and apparently so proud to be?! As a musician I just can believe you revere money more than it allows you to afford! For sure, if I congratulate you for your expertise, I just can’t impeach myself to complain with your unwise customers you’re mocking here after having being mocking them in selling your previous instruments the price they were asked! But after all is it perhaps just a bloody French lesson-giving way of thinking! 😉

  6. What an awesome story! I loved hearing about all of your acquisitions of Yamaha Electone. The FX-1 sounds like even more of a beast than the FX-20. These organs were extremely expensive during their debut in 1983. Can you believe that the FX-1 retailed for a whopping $43,628? And the FX-20 for $21,329? The only other organs that came close to these figures were the HX-1 $32,198, the ELX-1 $28,116. Most recently you have the ELS-01X at $14,400 and the BRAND NEW ELS-02X (just came out in 2014) for $15,500. Keep in mind the FX-1 was the MOST EXPENSIVE organ Yamaha has ever made. Not to mention their weight. The FX-1 was a whopping 562 pounds!!! And the FX-20, 427 pounds!!!

    After over 20 years of not having an organ, I bought an EL-90 from a seller in Massachusetts. I paid $1200 for it. I owned it for a little over 2 years. The organ played beautifully, but there was a problem with the main display flickering out, while at the same time the MDR drive would no longer function. The weird part was that if you knocked underneath the organ it would work again. But eventually I got tired of doing that. Eventually I sold it for $500, without the speaker box. The speakers were broken, the rubber surrounds gone, and sounded extremely flat. In an effort to reduce the weight of the organ and the speakers I wouldn’t replace, I removed the speaker box and threw it out. A few months later I realized I should’ve kept the speaker box because it adds to the stability of the organ.

    A few more months went by, and without an Electone I was in the market again. This time I picked up an HS-8, paid $1,000. Even with this organ, I had my fair share of getting it to sound right after it was delivered. The service tech had to replace one of the circuit boards for the pedals since it wasn’t working properly. I also had to re-route one of the permanently attached ribbon cables that routes the rhythm section through the amplifier (near the headphone board), since rhythm was only outputting to one channel (the cable had settled over the years, the connection was loose, but with some trial and error I found the cause).

    But now the HS-8 plays perfectly, and I have to say I actually do prefer it over the EL-90 (even though it is 4 years older, 1987). Interestingly it seems to have more output power. There is much more flexibility with the arpeggio section (absent with EL-90), and the ensemble section (4 sections each for both lower and upper keyboard, also absent on EL-90). The voices also have a certain ‘warmth’ to them, similar more to FX-20. The factory AWM piano is too quiet. The violin is not nearly as rich. The strings are pretty good.

    And here’s where things get even better… I was able to get the AVS-10 AWM Voice Expander unit, along with the MDR-3 Music Disk Recorder, complete with the rare double bracket. The AVS-10 (while only having 12 AWM voices) sounds absolutely stunning. The piano is far better, in-line with the ranks of the EL-90, as is all of the other voices. The wood bass and guitar triumphs the factory versions if you listen very closely. The timpani is strong, and powerful. The strings (actually string bass) is quite lush. The AVS-10 has its own separate reverb, and other adjustments that can be recorded along with your registrations right to the MDR-3 as well. It really is a unique bit of kit!

    Now, lets talk speakers. The speakers of these old organs just don’t sound as good as they did 25-30 years ago. They’re not meant to last forever either. In today’s day and age, it’s very wise to hook a separate amp/speaker system. In my case, I wanted to go very inexpensive, without a huge footprint, and amazing sound. I found that in the Bose Companion System 3 speakers. They are actually meant for a computer setup, but they sound brilliant. I mounted the speaker box to the left of the expression pedal. The satellite speakers go just in front of the lid cover, for great separation. This system sounds excellent, and perfect for smaller places, or apartment. I could only imagine what it would be like to hook to a REAL home setup, such as a Bose 901, or similar. It would probably blow your socks off! 250W for EACH speaker in FX-1, WOW that is over 500W of adrenaline pumping power!

  7. WOW! I have a similar story, but with the predecessor to the FX Series organs, the E-75, which was the model that added the Symphonic animation sound, to use as an option for the Leslie. I first saw my first FX-20 at a newly built church in our area. They had a Leslie 715 sitting up in a megaphone styled area in the top of the A-frame of the church – in wall – directly over the choir – the most HEAVENLY place. The organ ALWAYS sounded full and loud, because the Leslie was in the most prime place, and the organ was loud by itself. It was the ONLY pentecostal church for 7 years that had ever purchased something OTHER THAN a Hammond! There were also two rival churches (if that could be used) What ever one church did, the other HAD to follow suit. One church purchased the FX-20 and was talked into running it through their new PA System (WHAT?!?!? no External Leslie??), the other had to take the OTHER organ in the store, the FX-10, without a Leslie (the WORST)! Then there was a church that had the FX-1 with the dual speakers, however, they took so long to pay for the organ, the company would not give them the speakers until they paid up, thus making them have to use the PA System to use the organ. I worked for the organ store that sold that organ and asked where did the speakers go. They said they dry rotted and became water damaged, so they threw them away! I was SHOCKED! That church ended up having a brilliant organ technician to build a multi-speaker system that makes the rafters and windows shake in that 2500 seat sanctuary. They also added 3 Leslie speakers to bring out the gospel sounds as they need it. Enough of my rambling! Thanks for sharing your love for these organs!

  8. GEOFFREY KUMBURU

    HI I WANNA KNOW IF I CAN GET YEMAHA ELECTONE LATEST ONE BUILT FROM THE YEAR 2010 OR AFTER THAT,MAY I GET THAT PLEASE.

  9. I’m the same kinda guy, George: lugged a Hammond & Leslie around in a Microbus during the 60’s, moved to fixing audio gear & synthesizers. My organ story isn’t an FX1, it’s an HX-1, not near as epic as your FX-1, but pretty cool, nonetheless. Playing an Allen Renaissance at church. Good to see your website: linked one of your pages to the Hammond Organ Owner’s FaceBook page for the Hammond Percussion “zap” for a member. In any case, great & informative site: glad to find another guy of the same cut & cloth of fabric!
    Pat Finnigan

    1. Thanks. One of the first HX-1’s I serviced was owned by a guy who didn’t play very much. He played the organ with the remote control, playing sequences. I thought, wow, a 20K music player!

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