Johannus quality generally

[Hecklephone]

[Originally written for the Johannus Prestige 300 thread]

What are current opinions on Johannus for sound and reliability, please?

The reason I ask is that they seem to have beaten the others in crafting wonderfully compact but jam-packed HOME models specifically. The one I'm smitten with at the moment is the Opus 370, a grand-looking and very button-rich model.

Provisional process of elimination: All the more button-rich Allens I could consider are more church-sized, and Johannus seems to be the only brand that really really appreciates the greatness of buttons. Viscount is very intriguing indeed, and it (like Johannus) offers set prices, thank God, but it's very weak on general pistons, something even 16 memories can't make up for. Have totally, utterly given up on Rodgers. We finally had the fixer in again and he determined among other disconcerting things that THE INSANELY WINDY FLUES AREN'T ADJUSTABLE.....

Thus my determination to get something that actually works and just keeps on working. In these days of Hauptwerk et al, an organ's factory sounds are almost superfluous, but it sure would be nice to have excellence there too.

 

[Albert]

I own a Johannus Opus 10 USA that I bought in the fall of 2000. The model was built, I was told, as a demo organ for the 1998 AGO Congress in Seattle, WA. It was new in box. It has been moved from my apartment in Chicago to a local restaurant several times, using $20 furniture dollies from Home Depot and free dinners for friends to attend the "Resident Talent Showcase". There are a few dings and dents. It is now at my home in Canada, having been loaded with a couple of hired teenagers in Chicago and a couple of neighbours here in Sparwood, BC.

Two problems have arisen in the years I have owned it:
1. Swell Expression Pedal rheostat got scratchy after 7 years. Johannus mailed me two new ones, express post from Ede in the Netherlands, honouring my warranty, even though the organ had changed countries.
2. One of the light bulbs for the pedal board burnt out after 12 years. The base was 13mm and I was unable to locate any. I emailed Johannus asking to buy 3 (the replacement and two spares). They emailed back saying that the bulbs had been used in "old Dutch refrigerators" and sent me, express post (€28.30) three at no charge.

I want an Opus 370, also.

Sorry I'm late to the discussion - I've been off line for a while.

Albert

 

[Hecklephone]

Don't apologize -- you are the discussion so far! Thanks so much for your input. In other words, this organ has proved fantastically reliable overall, and fixes were simple, cheap or free DIY affairs. It was built for an AGO convention -- that could admittedly mean they put a lot more care into making it.

Anybody else? From any era of Johannus.

 

[Nikam]

Bought a 2-manual Johannus Kabinet early in 2007, only trading it in earlier this year for a 3-manual Wyvern. Served me well, but I had been keen for a few years to have more scope, hence the change. Have also experienced an Opus 270 (if my memory serves me correctly) during a stint as a church organist and found it a real pleasure to play.

 

[Hecklephone]

That's great too. So, you all really like the sound itself, feel it's equal or better to Allen or Rodgers in that dept?

What was it like owning a Wyvern, by the way?

The sparsity of answers makes me wonder if there are unhappy Johannus customers who are too polite to say so.

Thanks.

 

[Albert]

I personally dislike the sound of Allen digital organs (I really liked their analog instruments). That may be because of the stop lists they put out, which I find extremely restricting, particularly in their small instruments. The stop list problems may be because I tend to play virtually any period of music, and having no reed to play against a cornet sort of gets d'Aquin noëls a bit difficult to register, for example. They also provide only two channel audio, and the cross talk is distinctly audible. My Opus 10 is the second smallest instrument they had around 1998 - 2000. What they did to reduce the costs was to restrict the length of the loops, provide only (!) four channel audio, machines create the consoles which are plain sided, the small instruments such as mine have no manual doubles, and similar cost reduction measures.

Rodgers instruments went downhill for me when Roland bought them. I played a small Rodgers in a church back in the late 70's and it was a fine instrument. The "woofy" diapasons in the current "romantic" stop lists are not my personal cup of tea.

 

[Krummhorn]

I will agree here with Albert on his opinion about Allen's. The ADC and MDS series in particular seem much 'warmer' in sound. The MOS series was just too sterile - too perfect unless one was playing an organ with multiple computers (models 600 and above). I am not impressed with the current models.

The smaller Allen models lacked many of the standard features found on other manufacturers. Allen never quibbled on price ... it was a take it or leave it kind of thing ... after losing my shirt in sales I became a certified Allen technician - much easier going through life doing installs as opposed to selling.

I've heard a couple Johannus organs and was quite delighted with their tone quality ... however each one I've heard had loads of 'reverb' built into the sound releases. All their recordings are like that too ... a lot can be hidden with reverberation. I would like to hear demo recordings without reverb.

Kh ♫

 

[Albert]

Kh - A lot of people turn the "Cathedral" volume way too much. My little "mistress" (wife's designation!) is in one of the deadest rooms on earth, and I never turn the reverb past 9 o'clock on a scale of 7 o'clock to 5 o'clock. Without the Cathedral the sound is a bit dry.

You can see from my avatar that I have the speaker cabinet at my ear level, and when playing the speakers are only a meter away. The add on speaker front is supposed to be mounted above the music desk, but you can also see a problem with the ceiling height.

I find all organs, no matter made by whom, sound like they have reverb turned on when using the internal speakers, including mine. It sounds like the "pipes" are in the world's largest bathroom.

The next time you come to the Canadian Rocky Mountains, about 50 km (30 miles) North of the US border, 3 miles West of the continental divide, you can try mine. It was, at the time I bought it 14 years ago, the second smallest they made and the smallest with an AGO (RCCO, RCO, Willis) pedal board.

 

[DrBen]

Kh - A lot of people turn the "Cathedral" volume way too much. My little "mistress" (wife's designation!) is in one of the deadest rooms on earth, and I never turn the reverb past 9 o'clock on a scale of 7 o'clock to 5 o'clock. Without the Cathedral the sound is a bit dry.

You can see from my avatar that I have the speaker cabinet at my ear level, and when playing the speakers are only a meter away. The add on speaker front is supposed to be mounted above the music desk, but you can also see a problem with the ceiling height.

I find all organs, no matter made by whom, sound like they have reverb turned on when using the internal speakers, including mine. It sounds like the "pipes" are in the world's largest bathroom.

The next time you come to the Canadian Rocky Mountains, about 50 km (30 miles) North of the US border, 3 miles West of the continental divide, you can try mine. It was, at the time I bought it 14 years ago, the second smallest they made and the smallest with an AGO (RCCO, RCO, Willis) pedal board.

My Johannus Opus 1100 (ca. 1990) has 8 cathedral settings plus cathedral volume. The instrument is in a small living room. The cathedral setting is 2 and the cathedral volume is low, at 9 o'clock. The main volume is almost at the minimum setting.

As for quality, mine was built when market conditions still allowed for an affordable price with a solid oak console and bench. Mine was used in a small church as the only instrument for over 20 years. A similar model from the same era is still used regularly in very small revival gothic church in Wales.

The current Johannus line has better sound sampling and the ability to switch from baroque to romantic voicing but the consoles and mechanical parts have changed to keep cost down. You still get a lot of organ for your money. The current Johannus Monarke line is very interesting if you need a large instrument. Although my organ was almost 25 years old when I got it, the Johannus aftersales department in the Netherlands promptly provided me with PDFs of the user manual and the service manual, as well as answering several questions.

By the way, Gert van Hoef's first home practice organ was a Johannus Opus 1100.

 

[DrBen]

Johannus builds organ for 55,000-seat arena

Published on Nov 27, 2014
"Johannus recently built an imposing organ for the Philippine Arena, the largest indoor arena in the world. The ultra-modern 55,000-seat stadium (243 meters long, 193 meters wide and 62 meters high) is the largest covered arena ever built. The building was commissioned by the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), the second-largest church denomination in the Philippines, with more than 6 million members. The church will use the building for a variety of purposes. 

The INC asked Johannus to build a large custom-designed organ for this beautiful building. Johannus has never before built an organ for use in accompanying such a mass congregational singing. With hundreds of speakers, dozens of amplifiers and several sub-woofers, Johannus made it possible for all 55,000 worshippers to sing along with the three-manual organ during the INC centennial celebration, 27 July, 2014. The custom Monarke organ has 64 stops.

The instrument in the Philippines is not the first organ that Johannus has sold in the country; the INC has previously ordered 100 smaller organs from Johannus. We also installed a comparable instrument in the Capitol House of Worship Building in Quezon City."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brVEB-Mwmmw&feature=em-subs_digest

 

[Hecklephone]

This is all keenly interesting, and partly good news. You folks happen to have gotten on one of my main organ subjects -- the ubiquity of reverb nowadays. I hate and deplore the overuse! Ironically, this makes every organ sound like a 1960s Lowrey, the thing builders are most trying to run from. Don't tell me the stuff is mandatory now, built into each stop in the factory? I won't buy any organ on which artificial reverb isn't strictly optional, preferably on a spectrum. (In other words, I require choice in the matter.)

I take it that overall people are highly satisfied with the tone and function of Johannus organs. No, I have no connection with the company -- am merely a truth seeker and serious shopper.

 

[Krummhorn]

I agree with you, Hecklephone. Those of us with pipe organs in an acoustical dead room can't add any artificial reverberation (except in post production of a recording), so we are used to it and make do.

The only time I get any 'bounce' in my church is when all the banners are removed from the walls, but then only a quarter second at the most.

 

[Hecklephone]

I've heard a couple Johannus organs and was quite delighted with their tone quality ... however each one I've heard had loads of 'reverb' built into the sound releases.
Kh ♫

Thank you, Kh ♫. Just to make sure I'm reading you right, the reverb was built right into each stop and there was no option for adjusting or turning it off?

 

[Krummhorn]

No ... the 'artificial' reverb was built in for the entire organ. All the recordings I have heard have had a very lengthy reverb added ... I would like to hear a recording without any reverb ... there in lies the true sound, for me. Inferior sound quality can easily be covered up by adding reverb, inho.

 

[Hecklephone]

That's disgusting. It wasn't the case on any Johannus I checked at a dealer's in NC about 6 years ago, thank God.

 

[Albert]

On Johannus' organs, reverb is labelled "Cathedral". Mine is turned to 9 o'clock on a scale from 7 (none) to 5 (way too much). My organ is in a low ceiling room with carpets and soft wood walls and lots of upholstered furniture. I prefer the little bit of reverb, but can happily play it without. The newer organs hide it in one of those menu thingies, but you can turn it off and get 100% dry sound.