I am champing at the bit, but David from Norwich Organs has forbidden me from diving in with a knife and fork. Removal of components shall be done at a stately, unhurried pace. I am forbidden to remove the old manuals until he has explained his Big Idea to me on Monday. Fortunately I am very busy this weekend, so I shall not have to struggle with the urge to have at the console with my screwdriver.
This is what it looked like before I started:
It is a first-generation digital instrument, using the Bradford 5b 3-board system. It has eight speakers (including two 350W monsters), four of which are in a separate cabinet. Each set of four speakers is serviced by a Quad 405-2 amp. It looks like it was purchased in 1984, and received regular support and maintenance from Wyvern until 1997. There are several versions of the spec chips between these two dates, so presumably over the years the organist(s) had varying ideas of how it should sound in the church wherein it was installed. An instrument of this size will have pushed the Bradford system of the era to its limits. It looks as if it has not been played for several years, and as a consequence the battery has discharged and whizzed all over several of the circuit boards that comprise its brain. Restoration might be possible, with a great deal of effort, but really its day of doom has come.
David wants the speakers and amps, so I have carefully removed them ready for him to collect, and it now looks like this (note the pre-amp still in situ, on the right of the first photo):
I want to fiddle with the transformers, but that is Not Allowed either, until discussions have been had. It’s very frustrating, but I know the intention is to prevent me from removing something that I actually need – or that can be sold. I will be patient.
The old console goes a week tomorrow. By then I should have removed most of the innards of the new console, which will (I hope) make it somewhat easier to move into the centre of the lounge while it is being worked on. Eventually it will need to go next to the wall, but that is a problem for another month.