Wurlitzer Styles

Wurlitzer Theatre Organ Styles

The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company developed numerous theatre pipe organ styles in the early 20th century to suit venues of all sizes — from small neighborhood cinemas to grand movie palaces. Each style number refers to a specific configuration of manuals, pipe ranks, percussions, and trap instruments.

Style Specifications Table

Style	Built	Manuals	Ranks	Perc.	Traps	Console Type	Earlier Style	Later Style
1	30	2	4	4	7	PC	A	135
100	20	2	3	1	0	SC		115
105	38	2	3	2	0	PC
108	49	2	3	4	3	PC		125
109	55	2	3	4	17	PC		130
110	8	2	3	2	0	PC
115		2	3	1	0	SC	100
120		2	3	2	0	PC	105
125	1	2	3	4	3	PC	108
130		2	3	4	17	PC	109
135	203	2	4	4	17	PC	1
140	5	2	4	3	17	CC	B
150	28	2	5	3	19	CC	B
160	84	2	6	4	17	PC	2
165	19	2	6	4	20	CC	D
170	15	2	5	3	17	CC
175	6	2	7	4	18	CC	E
185	33	2	7	5	14	CC	3
190	44	2	8	4	18	CC
2	3	2	6	4	17	PC	L	160
200	17	2	8	5	14	CC	F
205	6	2	10	5	14	CC	HNP
210	51	2	9	5	15	CC	5
215	14	2	10	6	14	CC
216	12	2	10	6	14	CC
220	7	3	10	6	15	CC	H3M
225	1	3	11	6	14	CC
230	6	3	11	5	15	CC		BAL1A
235	64	3	11	7	15	CC		BAL1
240	24	3	13	6	12	CC		BAL2
250	4	3	14	6	14	CC
260	62	3	15	7	14	CC		BAL3
270	4	4	21	7	20	CC
285	7	4	32	9	22	CC
3	47	2	7	5	14	CC	N	185
35	6	3	15	6	15	CC		260
4	11	2	8	5	10	CC
40	1	2	3	1	0	SC
5	1	2	9	5	15	CC		210
6	2	3	13	6	4	CC
A	1	2	4	4	17	PC		1
B	225	2	4	3	17	CC	M	140
Balaban 1		3	11	7	16	CC	235
Balaban 1A	7	3	11	6	16	CC	230
Balaban 2	6	3	13	5	15	CC	240
Balaban 3	6	3	15	6	17	CC	260
Balaban 4	4	3	19	6	17	CC
C2	3	2	3	0	0	SC
C3	3	2	3	0	0	SC
CH	135
D	201	2	6	4	20	CC		165
E	165	2	7	4	18	CC		175
F	81	2	8	5	14	CC		200
F3M	13	3	8	5	14	CC		200
Fox Special	5	4	36	13	27	CC
G		2	10	5	14	CC		205
GRA1	6	3	8	5	16	CC
GRA2	6	3	8	5	16	CC
H	56	2	10	6	14	CC
H3M	19	3	10	6	15	CC		220
HNP	23	2	10	5	14	CC		205
HYMGB	2	3	8	4	14	CC
J	13	2	7	5	14	CC		N
L	9	2	6	5	14	PC		2
M	6	2	4	3	17	CC		B
N	3	2	7	5	14	CC	J	3
Publix 1	17	4	20	8	9	CC
Publix 2		4	22	8	9	CC
Publix 3		4	25	8	9	CC
Publix 4	1	4	26	8	9	CC
R13	1	2	6	1	0	CC
R14	1	2	9	2	0	SC
R15	4	2	10	4	0	SC
R16	2	3	10	2	0	SC
R20	7	3	12	2	0	SC
R25		3	14	2	0	SC
R5	6	2	5	1	0	SC
RJ11	6	2	7	3	0	SC
RJ12	7	2	7	4	5	SC
RJ2	1	2	3	0	0	SC
RJ3	1	2	3	2	0	SC
RJ4	11	2	4	0	0	SC
RJ6	1	2	6	2	0	SC
RJ8	2	2	6	2	0	SC
SCH10	3	2	5	0	0	SC
SCH11	5	2	4	0	0	SC
SCH20	6	2	5	1	0	CC
SCH21	2	2	5	1	0	SC
SCH22	1	2	5	1	0	SC
SCH25	5	2	6	1	0	SC
SCH30	1	2	6	1	0	CC
SCH32	1	2	7	2	4	CC
SCH35	2	2	7	2	0	CC
SCH40	1	2	7	1	0	CC
SCH5	4	2	3	0	0	SC
SCH51	1	2	8	1	0	CC
SCH6	1	2	3	1	0	SC
SCH61	5	3	9	2	0	CC
SCH7	4	2	3	0	0	SC
SCH75	1	3	21	2	0	CC
SP	107
UNN1	3	3	8	5	12	CC
UNN2	2	3	7	5	12	CC
UNN3	4	3	8	4	12	CC
V	26	2	8	1	0	PC

Understanding Wurlitzer Styles

The STYLE field in Wurlitzer documentation refers to the standard model designation of an instrument. Wurlitzer developed a wide range of standard models, each labeled with a style number or code (e.g., Style 135, Style J, Style BAL1). However, a significant number of instruments built were classified as specials — unique configurations tailored for specific clients, theatres, or musical preferences.

Style Series

There were four overlapping series of style designs over the course of Wurlitzer's production history. Some styles evolved and were rebranded over time. For example:

• Style J became Style N, then Style 3, and eventually Style 185.

Some styles were custom-designed for specific theatre chains:

• BAL1, BAL1A, BAL2, BAL3, BAL4: Built for Balaban & Katz.
• GRA1, GRA2: Built for the Granada Theatres.
• UNN1, UNN2: Built for Union Theatres (UK).
• HYMGB: Built for Gaumont-British Theatres.

Other prefixes indicate the instrument type or installation context:

• R, RJ: Residence models with cabinet or junior players.
• SCH: Church organ models (Scheme series).

Common Special Suffixes

These suffixes often appear after the style number to indicate modifications:

X

Divided chamber instrument (applies to ≤7 ranks)

NP

No piano included

PL

Includes player mechanism

EC

Echo chamber present

2M, 3M, 4M, 5M

Indicates the number of manuals

3C, 4C

Coupler console with a non-speaking 3rd/4th manual (UK only)

Why Were Specials Ordered?

More specials were built than standard styles. Reasons included:

• Custom design for theatre acoustics or layout
• Requests by specific organists
• Aesthetic or competitive advantage for the theatre
• Budget or pricing strategies
• Sales incentives for Wurlitzer representatives

Specials could involve:

• Adding or substituting ranks
• Expanding percussions or traps
• Changing console configuration
• Dividing chambers for better tonal distribution

Style-Relevant Abbreviations

The following abbreviations are frequently seen in Style descriptions or specifications:

MN

Manual (keyboard)

PC

Publix Console

SC

Straight Bolster Console

CC

Curved Bolster Console

SV

Slave Console

SC

Style C Console

CS

Console

GR

Great Manual

SW

Swell Manual

SO

Solo Manual or Chamber

PD

Pedal

RK

Rank

UN

Unification

ST

Style (designation)

PR

Tonal Percussions

TS

Traps (non-tonal percussions)

CM, XY, SB, KD, CY, TY

Various percussion effects

TB, TR, TU, TM, KI, VH, HF, VO

Common ranks

PL

Player system

NP

No piano

EC

Echo chamber

3M, 4M, 3C, 4C

Console/Manual variants

SP

Special

See Also

• Wurlitzer Opus List
• List of Wurlitzer Installations
• Theatre Organ Components