Rodgers dating guide.
Church organs since 1958 — date by console generation and the official model timeline.
Rodgers Incorporated was formed in 1958 and became the second maker of solid-state generated organs. The company's history divides cleanly: the analog era (the famous 32-series), the Roland years (1988–2015) and today's Vandeweerd / Global Organ Group era (2016–). Rodgers publishes a full model timeline from 1955 to 2023, which is the best dating anchor for this brand.
No model-by-model serial tables
Rodgers never published serial charts — and no verifiable community table exists. This page is a working dating guide: era markers, plate location and component date codes. The general dating guide covers the component-code route.
Where the serial number lives
- Model/serial plate under the keydesk — literally: lie on the floor and look up at the underside of the keyboard assembly.
Era markers
| Era | Years | What it means on the instrument |
|---|---|---|
| Analog era | 1958–1980s | Series 32: 32B — shallow console, presets, no crescendo; 32C — deeper, stepped cheekblocks, setterboard and crescendo; 32D — moving drawknobs |
| Roland era | 1988–2015 | Rodgers under Roland ownership |
| Global Organ Group era | 2016– | Vandeweerd / GOG ownership |
Model catalogue
11 documented models — 11 with published production years (observed 2026-10-12). Years are catalogue-derived; models without published years are listed as placeholders.
| Model | Years | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rodgers research prototypes | 1955–1958 | Era | Rodgers Jenkins and Fred Tinker begin experimenting with transistor oscillator organs in 1955 |
| Rodgers first instrument | 1958– | Console | first finished instrument 1958 (second maker of solid-state organ generators after Gulbransen's July 1957 Model B); first public performance of an all-transistor Rodgers: 12 January 1959 |
| Rodgers all-transistor organs | 1962–1990 | Era | in 1962 Rodgers introduced solid-state amplifiers and became the world's first all-transistor organ |
| Rodgers 32 series (32B / 32C / 32D) | 1965–1970 | Console | 32B: shallow console that fits a 30" doorway, presets instead of combination action, separate Swell+Pedal / Great+Choir expression, no crescendo · 32C: deeper, stepped cheekblocks, usually setterboard + crescendo |
| Rodgers touring organs ('Black Beauty', 'American Beauty') | 1966–1975 | Console | 'Black Beauty' built 1966 for Virgil Fox's 'Heavy Organ' concerts; a second touring organ, 'American Beauty', was based on the three-manual American Classic |
| Rodgers under Roland | 1988–2015 | Era | Roland was the parent company; Rodgers also produced Atelier home organs and the Roland Classic C-330/C-380 |
| Rodgers first digital organ | 1990– | Era | Rodgers sold analog instruments exclusively until 1990 and introduced its first digital organ on 20 November 1990 |
| Rodgers 'Digital Domain Expression' | 1993– | Feature | feature introduced in 1993 |
| Rodgers Infinity II | 2014– | Console | introduced Bluetooth wireless controls including reading music from an iPad |
| Rodgers current lines (Infinity, Imagine, Inspire, American Series) | 2016– | Console | current catalogue: Infinity 367/489; Imagine 359D/359M/359T/241/239; Inspire 234/240/352; American Series 232/342 |
| Rodgers under Global Organ Group (Vandeweerd) | 2016– | Era | current owner |
What it is worth
- Analog Rodgers consoles are collected in the church-organ market; the generation and stoplist drive value.
Frequently asked
How do I date a Rodgers organ?
Find the model/serial plate under the keydesk and match the model against the official Rodgers model timeline (1955–2023); the era rules (Roland 1988, GOG 2016) bracket the decade.