More information.

[Noel jones]

I can tell you that a project of mine, making it possible to print out all the pistons you set with stops and couplers all for you to see and use, has been slowed down a bit (we have completed this for the Roland organs already, but the Rodgers uses a more complex data format that we need to work on to get this ready for use.) because Rodgers is unable to give us any guidance on dealing with their files, as Engineering has a project underway that has to be done and it is followed by another one that must be done.  This tells me that it is business as usual and these are not the actions of a company that is on the verge of being shut down or be taken over and technology scrapped.

My own guess is this is all work as the create the software for the Revolution stop lists of the models.  But just a guess.

The possibility of ownership change at Rodgers does not affect the warranty status on the organs. 

When Roland started providing the Roland SSC platform in Rodgers organs, that was all done with full knowledge that those organs must be supported for 10 years and beyond.  And that 10-year timeline continues to roll forward into the future for organs being built today, of course.  So this is not a new issue or question in the context of any contemplated ownership change of Rodgers—it has been a fact in Roland's technology and support plan all along, and it doesn't change with an ownership change.

About all the silly speculation that has “reported" here and there....especially anyone who thinks they've heard breaking news that Rodgers has been sold and are the first to "share" it here with the Users' Group.  It's just silly.

Corporations have certain responsibilities when it comes to sharing knowledge of changes that can affect the financial status of a company.  In fact, they are governed by law - you’ve all heard about famous people, once thought to be brilliant business people, who have gone to jail by acting on inside information, which IS ILLEGAL.

When there are changes in corporate ownership, those corporations are very prompt about announcing it--these things do not remain a secret for very many hours--they WANT people to know ASAP.  And furthermore, the dealers will all know what has happened and they will be talking about it.  So the fact that there are no dealers making any substantive comments in the Users’ Group is a huge clue that there is no change and nothing to say.  

Rodgers has been very open about sharing information when they can.  But you need to know that the times that I have spent at the factory while developing our Frog Music books about using the organs, I have had to sign an non-disclosure agreement when I arrive.

As a result I have very carefully contacted them prior to writing about anything I learned while there that might not be ready for public sharing.

Rodgers has not kept this recent news quiet.  In fact, they started all this conjecture sent a letter to dealers informing them that they were in talks about a possible alliance between Johannes, Makin, Coleman Hart and Rodgers.

Much of the conjecture has come from that letter.

It will be a great gift to all of us if news reaches us that Rodgers has come to an agreement for the reasons stated by some here.  The owning family of Johannus is very media conscious and such an alliance could not only spread Rodgers dealerships more widely across the globe, but also create a newsletter and maybe, even, make this user’s group an official user’s group that is featured on the Rodgers website…something that has never been possible before.

We at Frog Music have never been paid by Rodgers for running the user’s group.  None of us work as employees in any sense for Rodgers.  I am not a Rodgers dealer.  At the current time I am working as a commissioned sales person to help establish a new dealership in Chattanooga.

noel