However, a couple of better Claviolines recently appeared on Ebay giving us a chance to find out how much a "good" one is worth.
First up is a scruffy "Gibson Standard" model (top two pictures) which despite appearances has been restored well. To quote the auction:
Rebuilt the Amplifier Unit: I put in fresh old stock tubes, including a matched pair of RCA 6V6's. Replaced ALL electrolytic & beeswax capacitors. Replaced all but one resistor (as they were all out of tolerance) with NOS carbons, maintaining the same tone through the unit. It now works perfectly and with no legitimate level of noise output!
New Rubber Feet
Cleaned and readjusted all keys, stops and pots: Now THAT was unpleasant! Cleaned the pots with DeOxit. It took some time and a bit of crafty cleaning work to get all of the key & stop contacts nice and shiny again. Since they were silver plated, I used the best old trick in the book: a No. 2 pencil eraser! That's right, no messy contact cleaners or other junk all over the thing--the eraser removes all of the silver tarnish MUCH more effectively, but doesn't remove the plating like sanding would! I also readjusted all of the keys so they are right where they should be, not flopping all over the place or permanently pressed down.
Went through keyboard unit and replaced bad caps and resistors as needed.
This unit now works perfectly, and will do so for years to come thanks to my (somewhat anal-retentive) work.
It sold for US $382 (£188).
Next is a "Selmer Concert" model in exceptional condition and fully working (bottom two pictures). This one sold for £510.
So, there we have it - a good Clavioline can cost anything from £150 up to £550. However, beware that this is far too small a sample to really be sure.
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