Gibson G-101

The Gibson G-101, (or "Gibson Portable Organ"), is a combo organ, a type of transistorized portable organ. It is one of many popular models of such a type of organ that was widely used in rock & roll bands of the mid- and late 1960s, designed for use on stage or in the studio, for players that transported them between frequent performances.

The instrument was sold by Gibson but produced in the U.S. for them by the Lowrey Organ Company. It was first introduced in 1966 as the Kalamazoo K-101, the name was changed to Gibson G-101 shortly thereafter, and production continued until 1971. Today, the Gibson G-101 remains one of the most sought-after keyboard instruments in the vintage market.

Despite the change in name badges and model numbers shortly after its introduction, the Kalamazoo K-101 and the Gibson G-101 are the same instrument. It otherwise remained unchanged for its entire production run, from prototype to the last unit built. Gibson, which still makes service manuals available for the instrument, supplies only the G-101 manual.

The instrument was 38" long, 20" front-to-back, 10" top-to-bottom of the cabinet (including the cover) and weighed 65 lbs. It had two square, tubular, fold-out legs, and a "drop panel" that acted both as support for the legs when standing (via thumb screws that secured the panel to tabs on the back of the legs) and also as a cover for the folded-in legs during transport. The bottom of the organ was recessed 2½" to accommodate the folded-in legs and allow room for the power supply; when standing, the organ is 40" tall (not including the detachable music rack).

The Gibson G-101's external features included a textured black plastic top, a tri-colored plastic keyboard (specifications detailed below), color-coded rocker-switch tabs, and a vinyl/fabric-covered plywood cabinet, drop panel, and lid, using an aqua-and-gray color scheme. It was a very sturdy and handsome-looking instrument. While superficially similar in appearance to many other combo organs in the 1960s, it can easily be distinguished from competing models (the Farfisa Compact and Vox Continental) by identifying the cabinet colors.

According to the service manual, the G-101 had a single manual of five octaves (61 keys), which was divided into three sections:

The instrument offered the following controls across the cabinet top, listed from left to right:

Using these voicing tabs individually or mixing and matching them could produce dozens of distinct tones. Combining all of them would produce the signature "Gibson G-101" sound.

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