Wurlitzer in the 140 series are transitional models: more reliable than Wurlitzer’s earlier electronic pianos, but not as portable as later models. On the other hand, the 200-series is the iconic final iteration of Wurlitzer keyboards: smaller, lighter, more chrome. If there’s a Wurlitzer 140 (or any of its many variants, from the 140b to the 145) that has caught your eye, you may be wondering if buying it is a good idea. How does it stack up against the 200a? Does it require more work? What are the practical differences between them? This guide is here to help.

If you own vintage gear, you must have a really good outlet to plug it into. There are a lot of options for this, but our favorite is the Furman SS-6B power strip.

Our Furman SS-6B is easily the most essential thing in our studio. Not even exaggerating: it is a pleasure to plug things into this strip. If you have only ever used cheap, flimsy surge strips — or, God forbid, you’ve been plugging all your gear straight into the wall — you are honestly in for a treat when you use this thing. If I could return to any moment in my life, I’d choose the first time I plugged something into my Furman SS-6B, just to relive the surprise and delight of it.

There are two major reasons why an amp might smell like it’s burning:

1. The amplifier is covered in dust, which is in fact burning from the heat of the tubes

2. The amplifier is malfunctioning and a component is burning

If you have any doubt whether your amplifier is burning, you should turn it off and unplug it right away. However, you may be asking yourself, am I overreacting? Is it correct to be concerned about this burning smell? Or do old amps always smell this way?

The only true difference between 140-series and 145-series Wurlitzers is the amplifier. Both keyboards were released in the 1960s and represented a total redesign of the Wurlitzer electronic piano. Wurlitzer overhauled the mechanical action, revised the cabinet, and — for the first and only time — manufactured two parallel styles of amplifier: a solid state amp (the 140/140a/140b) and a tube amp (the 145).

We loved Billie Eilish and Finneas’s performance of Sunny — and, of course, we always love seeing a console Wurlitzer out in the wild. It’s pretty rare to see them on stage. That’s because they aren’t as convenient as a Nord (or even a portable Wurlitzer), nor are they as visually dramatic as a conventional piano — but they have a full, rich tone with vintage character that rivals any other keyboard.

This vintage tube amp was removed from a Wurlitzer 700 electronic piano. It’s is the same amplifier as a Wurlitzer 120…unfortunately. The 120 had very limited cabinet space, so that’s why the physical design of the amp is so cramped. On the other hand, the 700 had a cavernous cabinet that could definitely have handled a larger amp chassis. Oh well: that ship has obviously sailed.

These photos are from a batch of four student model Wurlitzers that we recently picked up. All arrived in amazing condition, with very few rips or scuffs and immaculately clean interiors. With just a little restoration, they became excellent and highly playable examples of early 200 Wurlitzers. Only one is still available.

It’s impossible to talk about Music Man amps without bringing up their creator, Leo Fender. And once we start talking about Leo Fender, we can’t help but think of the famous Fender tube amplifiers he also created. And perhaps studying Fender tube amps and Leo Fender would be a great exercise to help understand & appreciate just how awesome Music Man amps are.

This Wurlitzer 214 that we once had is a classic example of 214 glory. The Avocado green top was in excellent condition and the tolex was all there without any tears. The wooden keybed has some “chair” nicks and the grill cloth had some stains, but no tears! Perhaps the most amazing feature of the 214 is that it is a complete 200 set on top of a console which houses four 8” round speakers. The four speakers - two in front and two in the back - project the Wurlitzer’s awesome tone in all directions!

This Wurlitzer 120 arrived in exceptional condition. It had spent many years studio, a carpeted, finished basement housing an enormous collection of jazz records. Really the only indication that this keyboard is a late-50s vintage is the splatter-paint finish. It doesn’t show any of the cosmetic wear that you’d expect from a 60-year-old piece of gear. There’s a little bit of dust in the cheek block tolex, a little bit of patina on the metal parts, and that’s it.

When we walked into the room where the original owner had this keyboard, the seller mentioned they had it switched on for us ready to try out. We thought, oh then it must not be making sound because we heard nothing - not even the usual idle hum. We played a A-7 chord, and a wall of rich tube sound blasted out of the massive 12” alnico speaker. Needless to say, we were floored.

This is a classic example of a Wurlitzer 112a that we once had. We photographed it in our main studio live room. A serviced Wurlitzer 112a electronic piano is a powerful music making tool in any studio! The effective alnico speaker is mounted on the rear of the instrument so it can be easily mic’d without picking up much (or any) mechanical key or finger noise from the players’ hands.

This Wurlitzer 145 was brought in by a customer, who had just purchased it from its original owner. The Wurlitzer was in a state of obvious neglect: the amp was noisy, the keys were sticky, and the entire unit was covered in a film of dust. It had been refinished many years ago and had developed an interesting patina, but it needed to be handled gently because the old paint was prone to chipping. The 145 is a rare model of Wurlitzer and this one in particular was truly one-of-a-kind. We were very happy to work on it.

Fender Rhodes keyboards came with quite a few parts and accessories, many of which are subtle and easy to lose. If you’re unfamiliar with the Rhodes, it can be hard to tell if a keyboard you’re thinking about buying is complete or not.

This Wurlitzer 140a belonged to a producer for many years, and arrived at our shop in well-used condition. By that, we mean that it was pretty banged up and showed evidence of previous repairs. Also, because multiple latches were missing, the lid didn’t attach very well. At some point, it had obviously once been held in place with duct tape.

We received a pair of two optigans!

We’ve been interested in optigans for a while, but we never tried to acquire one because their maze-like construction makes them notoriously hard to service. Also, we don’t really do motors around here. But the opportunity arose to pick up two, so here we are.

All Wurlitzer electronic pianos - from the model 112 to the Wurlitzer 200a - are more or less built the same. There are subtle differences in the mechanical action and the amplifier, but they all follow the same basic principles.

When you hit a key on the Wurlitzer electronic piano, a felt-tipped hammer rises and strikes a metal reed. The reed vibrates to a certain pitch, which is determined by the weight of a lump of solder at the end of the reed. A pickup converts the vibration into an electrical signal, which is finally amplified by the onboard amp and sent to a speaker.

Here’s how it works in a little more detail:

The Wurlitzer 206 is the student version of the Wurlitzer 200. It is equivalent to the 200 in every day, but it is mounted on a cabinet instead of legs and some features of the amplifier are disabled. However, all of the components that are in a 200 are also present on the circuit board of the 206. Enabling vibrato and the aux output is therefore as simple as adding some wires and a 10k potentiometer. Here is how we do it.

The Wurlitzer 200 and 200a are extremely similar. If you are trying to decide between the two models, you should first of all realize that there are no bad decisions here. When restored, both types of keyboard are equally reliable, high-quality instruments. And, of course, both of them have that iconic Wurlitzer sound.

If you can’t decide between a Wurlitzer 200 and a 200a, this guide may help. Below, we’ve listed the differences between the 200 and the 200a.