1960s Vox Continental Baroque V305 Vintage Combo Organ Keyboard, Serviced w/ Legs

Up for sale, a 1960's Vox Continental Baroque model V305 vintage combo organ in excellent condition and in perfect working order, freshly serviced and complete with the original chrome legs. Manufactured in Italy and by far the rarest Continental model distributed by Thomas Organ in the USA (no doubt in part because it cost nearly three times as much as a single manual Continental), the Baroque has an extremely versatile set of features, with a traditional Continental lower manual augmented by a separate bass section, and an upper manual that is wholly unique among the Vox organ family, with sounds such as Harpsichord, Cimbalom, Lute, Celeste, and Carousel.In the combo organ world, the Continental is king, and the range and richness of the tones that can be coaxed from this vintage organ is truly incredible. Unlike most combo organs that relied on simple tone switches, the Continentals featured individual drawbars, allowing for much more nuanced sounds that truly do evoke the venerable Hammond B3 which was the inspiration for the combo organ craze.The Baroque features six drawbars that govern the main signal path on the lower manual, with 8, 4, 2, and IV footings, plus "flute" and "reed" drawbars that essentially control the general bass and treble EQ response of the organ. An 18 note bass section is also included on the lower manual, which can be disabled to extend the standard Continental organ sound to the bottom of the keyboard. This bass section features its own pair of dedicated drawbars, as well as a knob to control sustain, and two toggle switches to further control the depth of the bass signal and whether or not extra overtones were added to the sound.The upper manual is where the real magic of the Baroque model lies, with quite convincing and rich analog sounds that truly do evoke the instruments noted on the tabs. The Harpsichord is thin and reedy, the Lute is smooth and airy, and the Carousel is perhaps the most spacey and lush of the bunch, with a repeating signal that has its own delay repeats and rich overtones. These sounds are all balanced and clear, with independent Volume and Tone knobs to blend the upper manual signal with the traditional combo organ tones available on the lower manual. A hidden drop down knee lever is also included and can be used for either volume or pitch variation. Also unique to this Continental model, a pair of 6x9 speakers are included on the top of the organ which faithfully amplify the keyboard's signal, and naturally the organ has a traditional 1/4" output jack as well.The organ has been modded with two switches on its face, designed to work with a Leslie cabinet. While we were unable to test these with a Leslie, on/off and rotor speed are the likely functions. A second modification augments the organ for use with a set of bass pedals (also included). Both of these mods require a Leslie cabinet to be part of the circuit, and are otherwise non-functional.Cosmetically, this Continental retains the majority of its original gray tolex, as well as the eye-catching orange top. New black tolex has been substituted on the back of the organ and on a patch on the bottom, and there are a couple bald corners on the enclosure. Two new side handles have also been installed, notably more robust than the originals, and the latching lid is also included, complete with original tolex. The name rail is very clean, with bold silkscreen text, and all of the original drawbar tips are present.