| Hook and Hastings Opus 1153, 1883.
Two Manuals, 11 stops, non-radiating
25 note pedal board. This organ,
although not under regular care and not
played at all, it is still playing. The current
owners, Sri Sathya Sai Baba Centre, are
interested in selling it.
When we were first invited to appraise
this instrument, the first thing we looked
for was the blower. We finally found it
sealed into a small closet beside the kitchen
which had been renovated in the late '60's.
After knocking a hole through the drywall
smoke poured out. The blower had not
been oiled in over thirty years! To add to this,
it's air supply was a hole in a brick wall
right behind the church's boiler!
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Von Beckerath, 1963, 30 ranks.
2 Manuals & Pedal.
Contrasting greatly to the Hook & Hastings,
The Beckerath Tracker organ in First Presbyterian
is a prime example of fine German engineering.
This organ is so well made, and installed with
such care, that it rarely goes out of tune, and
has never needed any more maintenance than
cleaning.
A number of years ago, a vandal broke into the
Ruckpositf and damaged the Krummhorn rank. These
pipes were carefully boxed and sent to Casavant
for replication. The new pipes are almost
indistinguishable from the originals.
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Casavant Theater Organ, opus 1231, 1927,
2 Manuals & Pedal, 17 ranks.
Originally installed in a theater close to it's
present location in Broadway-First Baptist
Church, this organ has been modified greatly
over the years, but still retains the classic large-
scale big-sounding pipes of a theater organ.
In 1993, James Musselwhite & Assoc., with
the assistance of members of the congregation,
removed the organ from the chamber, and
cleaned, painted, and generally overhauled
the entire instrument.
Three stops were added, an 8' Trumpet, a
three rank mixture, and a Leblicht Gedackt
16'. The Chimes were relocated into the tower
, and the Voix Celeste 8' was modified into
a Tierce. New wooden windlines were made
to replace the collection of tin ducts and dryer
hose formally used.
Speaking pipes in the facade which had
been silent for half a century, were incorporated
into existing ranks, and the old pneumatic
swell motor was replaced by a direct
connection system.
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Edward Lye & Sons, Opus 12, 1906
Two Manuals, non-radiating flat pedal board.
This organ had been installed in three other
locations before finally coming to rest in St.
Norbert R.C. It has been completely re-built
by James Musselwhite & Assoc., with the
assistance of many members of the
congregation. The entire project from start
to finish cost less than a third of the cost
normally needed for such a project because
of their involvement.
Every single part of this organ was rebuilt,
and all the leather replaced. A new back
to the case was made, incorporating
ingenious methods of access, new windlines
were made, as well as a new reservoir, but
the rest of the organ is original.
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