Swell Chest
  • Bobby Bolin
    Posts: 417
    There is a possibility that we will need to replace the swell box of our small pipe organ (Cleveland, OH). We have a few dead notes and our technician is saying that it is probably easier to replace than refurbish. Does anyone know of anywhere or anyone that has something that may fit in with our organ? Budget is obviously an issue. I'm not sure what we have to work with or if we have anything to work with. I'd really like a trumpet stop... The builder of the original organ is unknown. The Great was just tuned and had some work done and it sounds terrific. The swell, not so much.

    Current Specs (from memory):
    Great
    8' Principal
    8' Pommer
    8' Dulciana
    4' Octave
    4' Can't remember
    2' Can't remember
    Mixture
    16' Great to Great
    4' Great to Great
    Chimes

    Swell
    8' Gedackt
    8' Schalmei
    8' Viola
    4' Gedackt
    4' Violin
    2' Flautina
    2 2/3' Nazard (I think)

    Pedal
    16' Bourdon
    16' Diapason
    16' Gedackt
    8' Gedackt
    4' Gedackt
    4' Choral Bass
  • Felipe Gasper
    Posts: 804
    I think builders often leave nameplates, names of the installers, date of installation, etc. in the initial install. I’d say the first order of business should be identifying the builder and year of installation.

    “Fit” is a hard thing to gauge—and far from something on which there exists much of general agreement. Even the same builders often produced instruments that sounded quite different in different eras; in my own parish we have a 1924 Pilcher and, for a while, were eyeing a large, dormant Pilcher in the neighboring state with a mind to mine it for spare parts. But, that Pilcher dates from several decades before hours; the tone quality of the pipes is probably too different from what we have for it to fit well.
    Thanked by 2CharlesW BruceL
  • Bobby Bolin
    Posts: 417
    The console was replaced before I arrived. I have not been able to find a nameplate anywhere.
  • matthewjmatthewj
    Posts: 2,696
    Old organists know all the details of all of the things that have ever happened. Go to a local AGO event or have the local AGO chapter send out a group email requesting information. Find two of them that know the builder of your organ and agree on the builder. If two agree, you've found the builder.
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