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Be sure to read the full description as always. Working in this case means it actually plays which is extremely rare for these. See the Novachord label at the bottom of this post for more including the Novachord Restoration project by Phil Cirocco who is known for his own modular systems and work on ARP synthesizers including restoration and the ARP Lumina upgrades.
Description via the auction: "The introduction of the Hammond Novachord, the world's first polyphonic synthesizer, at the 1939 World's Fair is a major milestone in electronic keyboard musical instrument history. With over 100 vacuum tubes inside, this synthesizer has a thick, harmonically rich sound that you can't get elsewhere. The instrument is incredibly rare (only 500 are said to have ever been made, and who knows how many remain in existence). Commercial sample libraries of this instrument alone cost $300; that's how rare, complex, and musically useful this instrument is!
This Hammond Novachord is in better functional shape and cosmetic shape than all three of the Hammond Novachords we have sold in the past. It actually plays! It doesn't play perfectly though, and has some minor issues, but it probably will be an easier repair than 90% of the Hammond Novachords out there, if you can find one. It is sold as-is, no returns, because obviously the buyer will need to spend many hours repairing it in order to have it play perfectly. Cosmetically, it has scratches on the sides and back that might merit it being refinished, but from the front it looks very nice.
Our movers took the pictures shown below of the Novachord. They have moved many fragile and expensive musical instruments for us and received our express instructions on how to properly dismantle a Novachord for transport. They dismantled it into its three main parts: (1) lid, (2) metal chassis, and (3) bottom half/base, in order to get it out of the door of the house we bought it from, where it had sat for the past several decades. We have done this dismantling before with our last few Novachords and will be putting the Novachord back together as soon as it arrives on August 22 (it came from the east coast of the USA).
If you are in California, we can offer free delivery if you buy this before August 22. The shipping prices listed here are just estimates. Shipping to other locations will be determined by the actual zip code of the destination."
