The following comment was posted with this video:

"Apparently, this did actually happen sometimes when Bach was asked to inaugurate a new organ. He would do some limbering up exercises, and then say "Let's see what she can do," and pull out all the stops and the organ builder and the church architect would cower in a corner to see what would survive."

Was this true?

Speaking from experience with worn out consoles... often times the price to rebuild/releather all of the components in the old capture systems, let alone managing to get the multitude of small components back in their original spots, is far greater than simply updating to modern solid-state control systems. Also, when you look at the long term, in another 50 or 60 years the repairs you make to the leather will have to be done again while if you solid-state the console, it can last indefinitely (in theory at least).

Charles, here's an update for you. Since my last post on this thread in 2014, the Schantz I now play is, finally, being upgraded to solid state. The work begins the Monday after Easter. You had previously asked if the quoted $85,000 seemed reasonable for a console upgrade. Keep in mind that the Schantz I play is a 1963, 2 manual, so it is likely much like yours. The final price for the upgrade was $32,000.00 (about $10,000 of which is labor), and that's with a "custom" built solid state from Peterson. I'm not quite sure what else factors into the $85K price you were quoted, but that seems very high compared to what we paid. In fact, with this upgrade, our console will be entirely digital, complete with a sequencer, 100 levels of memory, more divisional and general pistons and new stop tabs. I realize that the prospect of your console being "gutted" doesn't sit well at initial thought. It seems a major undertaking, I know. But believe me, I'm very much looking forward to consistency of functioning pistons, along with multiple memory levels. Also, I shall not miss that "hissing" sound coming from the present, worn out pneumatics inside the console.

I contracted with Miller Organ Service of Louisville to rebuild the console. Everything now is Peterson solid-state. Included in the price was the re-racking of a nice 2' principal in a shrieking 3-rank mixture, and voicing the mixture itself down in volume. The 2' is now playable either separately with its own stop tab, or as part of the re-voiced mixture. We also added a 32' Resultant which improved a rather weak pedal division. A few key covers had to be replaced and I went for ivory to match the originals. More expensive than plastic, but well worth it. I purchased a zymbelstern and gave it as a gift to the church. I should add that roughly $3,000 of the total was for a new adjustable bench. Total price for all but the zymbelstern, $45,000 - a far better price than originally quoted by 2 other builders.

I am pleased, the congregation says the organ has never sounded better, and the quality of the rebuild work is excellent.

My understanding is that legal ivory exists- not on the scale it once did, but still available in limited quantities. Someone else will have to look into the details.

The same may be said of wooden or bone keys in relation to soulless plastic.

No objections to bone at all. I haven't played wooden keys.

Used ivory and mammoth ivory is not unheard of these days in the piano world. Last I checked ten years ago, I could recover a keyboard with mammoth for $3000 and elephant for $10,000.

...extinct will it make...

Being, then, unreplenishable, it should make them more expensive.