Oldest machine

[Roy J. Tellason]

On Friday 23 December 2005 01:23 pm, woodelf wrote:
> Roy J. Tellason wrote:
> >I did a lot of organ repair too,  from around 1975-85 or thereabouts,  and
> >that included a fair number of old Hammonds,  and I don't recall ever
> > bumping into that.  <shrug>
>
> Just how big are the organs that people are wandering around in, needing
> a light?
> My guess is a light would be aound if the organ was installed in the
> 1900's to 1940's
> as you would have electricty for the organ and may not have great
> lightiing around.

Worst one I ever did in that regard was in a church in Westchester County, NY. 
The only thing they could tell me over the phone was that it was "a 1940 
Wurlitzer".

When I got there I found out that the "choir loft" (not very lofty as it was 
on the same level as the rest of the church) had been built around the organ.  
I got the huge bench out of the way with some help,  stood the full-sized 
pedalboard up,  and removed the panels in the knee space,  which did me no 
good at all.  Then I managed to move it a bit,  enough to get the back off,  
which also did me no good at all -- turned out this unit had *no* electronics 
in it,  the tone generators were a bunch of reeds in a box,  and that wasn't 
where the problem was.

Next step -- find the rest of it.  There was this ladder in a little room 
behind the altar off to one side.  About 2 stories _up_ and it was bendy.  I 
went up there carrying my tube checker and a few tools and a flashlight, 
pushed the hatch cover aside,  and stepped out into the space where the tone 
cabinets were,  only to go *crunch*,  *crunch* because the entire floor was 
covered -- with dead bats!

A bunch of new tubes in the tone cabinets fixed the problems.  :-)

-- 
Member of the toughest, meanest, deadliest, most unrelenting -- and
ablest -- form of life in this section of space,  a critter that can
be killed but can't be tamed.  --Robert A. Heinlein, "The Puppet Masters"
-
Information is more dangerous than cannon to a society ruled by lies. --James 
M Dakin