Central Music, Inc., founded in 1958 is a piano and organ dealer located in

Clearwater, Florida Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, northwest of Tampa and St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2020 census, the city had a populat ...

. Central Music represents Rodgers Instruments,

Fratelli Ruffatti Famiglia Artigiana Fratelli Ruffatti (''Ruffatti Brothers, Family of Artisans'') is a manufacturer of pipe organs based in Padua, Italy. History In 1940, Antonio Ruffatti and his two brothers founded the firm of Famiglia Artigiana Fratelli Ruffa ...

, Blüthner,

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

and

Roland Corporation is a Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment, and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on 18 April 1972. In 2005, its headquarters relocated to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture. It has fact ...

instruments. They serve Florida, Georgia and the Caribbean.

History

Central Music is a Florida corporation that began in 1958. It was founded by Les Trubey and its first location was opened on Central Avenue in St. Petersburg, Florida (explaining the name). The late 1950s through the early 1980s represent the peak of the home organ industry in the United States. In its beginning, Central Music represented the Wurlitzer brand of home organs and pianos for the Tampa Bay area of Florida. Shortly after its founding, Central Music also became the dealer for Rodgers Instruments to serve the musical needs of the area's churches. One of the most popular organs found in churches and homes alike is the Rodgers organ. Central Music enjoyed great success with Wurlitzer. Due to this early success, Central Music was faced with a need for a larger location. It was also at this time that Les Trubey and Nelson Newby of Illinois became acquainted. In 1973, Trubey built a new home for Central Music—a building at 5175 Ulmerton Road, Clearwater, Florida 33760 (where Central Music still resides today). At the time, there were cow pastures on either side of the building. However, the area has grown up around Central Music with an international airport within and a new eight lane road in front of the building. In 1977, due to health issues, Les Trubey decided to retire. Having developed a friendship over the years due to their mutual experience with Wurlitzer, Trubey approached Nelson Newby and offered him the company. In November 1977, Nelson Newby with his wife Sharon and son Timothy moved to Florida and became Central Music's new owners. At that time, Central Music had three locations throughout the Tampa Bay area. These locations not only offered new and used instruments for sale but were also locations where private lessons and group lessons were available. Around 1980, due to challenges from competition, a worsening economy and what was the beginning of a decline to the home organ industry, Wurlitzer began to struggle. To compensate, Central Music took on a new brand in the musical instrument field, Yamaha. Yamaha, quickly rose to prominence in both the piano and (albeit declining) home organ industries. In recognition for Central Music's sales and service, company president Nelson Newby was nominated to the National Association of Music Merchants ( NAMM) Board of Directors in 1984. The highlight of his tenure was as co-chairman of the committee that created NAMM University and as a workshop presenter in its inaugural season. Over the years, Central Music's church organ division steadily became a larger and larger portion of the company's revenues. In the mid-1980s, Central Music began to shift its attention away from home products, and moved toward the churches outside Tampa Bay. Today Central Music serves Florida, Georgia and the Caribbean.

Brands represented

Liturgical worship styles: Rodgers Instruments, LLC. of Hillsboro, Oregon

, pipe organ builders of

Padua, Italy Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

Contemporary and Gospel worship styles: Rodgers Instruments, LLC. of

Hillsboro, Oregon Hillsboro ( ) is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County. Situated in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city hosts many high-technology companies, ...

(U.S.)

and

Leslie speaker The Leslie speaker is a combined amplifier and loudspeaker that projects the signal from an electric or electronic instrument and modifies the sound by rotating a baffle chamber ("drum") in front of the loudspeakers. A similar effect is provided ...

Concert pianos: Blüthner Piano Company – Leipzig, Germany Kawai Brand Pianos

Notable organ installations

*First Presbyterian Church, Naples, Florid
website
Fratelli Ruffatti organ V-manuals 108-ranks + 12 digital stops (Rodgers) *Epiphany Catholic Church, Miami F
Official Website
Fratelli Ruffatti organ with twin III-manual consoles, 61-ranks *John's Creek Baptist Church, Alpharetta G
Official Website
Fratelli Ruffatti organ V-manuals 103-ranks + digital stops *St. Mary Cathedral (Catholic), Miami F
Official Website
Rodgers Custom IV-manual pipe organ console + 90 digital stops *Exciting Idlewild Baptist Church, Lutz F
Official Website
Rodgers Custom IV-manual organ *The Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle (Catholic), St. Petersburg F
Official Website
Rodgers Custom IV-manual organ + 10-ranks of Fratelli Ruffatti pipes & Rodgers III-manual organ *The Cathedral of St. Ignatius Loyola, (Catholic) Palm Beach F
Official Website
Rodgers Custom IV-manual organ *St Peter's Cathedral (Episcopal) St. Petersburg F
Official Website
Rodgers Custom IV-manual pipe organ console + digital stops *First United Methodist Church, Clearwater F
Official Website
Rodgers Custom IV-manual pipe organ console + digital stops *Covenant Presbyterian Church, Ft. Myers FL, Rodgers Custom IV-manual organ *First Presbyterian Church, Boca Raton F
Official Website
Rodgers III-manual organ + 23-ranks of Fratelli Ruffatti pipes *First Baptist Church, St. Petersburg F
Official Website
Rodgers Custom IV-manual organ + 4-ranks of Fratelli Ruffatti pipes *First United Methodist Church, Tavares F
Official Website
Rodgers III-manual organ + 4-ranks *Suntree United Methodist Church, Melbourne F
Official Website
Rodgers III-manual organ *Anona United Methodist Church, Largo F
Official Website
Rodgers III-manual organ + 4-ranks of Ruffatti pipes *St. Catherine Catholic Church, Clearwater FL (2010
Official Website
Rodgers Custom III-manual organ + 4-ranks of Fratelli Ruffatti pipes *St. Stephen Lutheran Church, Longwood F
Official Website
Rodgers III-manual organ + 4-ranks of Fratelli Ruffatti pipes *St. Paul's Lutheran Church Lakeland, Florid
Official Website
Rodgers III-manual organ + 12-ranks of Fratelli Ruffatti pipes *St. Lawrence Catholic Church, Tampa F
Official Website
Rodgers III-manual organ + 12-ranks of pipes *St. Frances Xavier Cathedral (Catholic), Nassau Bahama

Rodgers III-manual organ + 6-ranks of Fratelli Ruffatti pipes *Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral (Catholic), St. Thomas USVI, Rodgers III-manual organ *Memorial Moravian Church, St. Thomas USVI, Rodgers III-manual organ *Basilica of Our Lady of Altagracia, Higuey Dominican Republic City Overview, Rodgers III-manual organ *Cathedral of the Incarnation (Anglican), Orlando F
Official Website
Rodgers III-manual organ

References

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External links

*http://www.centralmusic.biz *http://www.rodgersinstruments.com *http://www.ruffatti.com *http://www.bluethner.de *http://www.rolandus.com *http://www.hammondorganco.com Companies based in Clearwater, Florida