… and the great manual has been wired up and continuity-tested. I don’t mind soldering, but I don’t do it often enough to have developed the necessary asbestos fingers for the job.
I still have to re-wire the 16-way IDC output from the key matrices, to suit the requirements of the MIDI hardware, but that can wait until I actually have the MIDI hardware. Piston engraving is next.
Here we go. Many snippings-out later, and the keyboards are back in their oak frames. Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair. While you’re despairing, pay no attention to the clutter on top of the console.
You will see on the bench a bit of circuit board and what looks like a spinal cord. This is the matrix for the great manual, which had been carefully – and unaccountably – desoldered from the keyboard before I took possession of the stack. Next job is to re-solder the 69 wires into their proper place.
After that, I will need to send the pistons off for engraving. I’ve decided to engrave all of them, unless it turns out expensive, in which case I will not engrave the numbered pistons. This is not uncommon in traditional English organs, and indeed, the Wyvern organ that was in this case when I bought it (last year) was thus.
Still on target to order the first MIDI bits next month, and then will be the moment of truth – do the keyboards actually work?
I’ve just noticed that the first anniversary (1st September) of this blog slipped by unannounced. I shall celebrate with a cup of tea.
Because I had nothing better to do this evening, I decided to have a look at the pedalboard. This is, strictly speaking, out of order since the keyboards and pistons are not yet finished. However, a conversation with a midi hardware supplier (probably the one I’m going to buy stuff from) prompted me to get out the screwdriver for a naughty peek.
Whereas most Wyvern hardware I have seen – especially the older stuff – has all the hallmarks of being made by craftsmen, the workmanship of the pedalboard is, I suppose, best described as ‘functional’. This, coupled with the fact that the pedalboard is ever-so-slightly too small to fit neatly under the console, suggests to me that t is not part of the original console build. There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s just not pretty.
So, the pedals make noises via the medium of 3-wire contact assemblies, which are very badly tarnished, and a couple of them are obviously damaged. I could spend a lot of time laboriously cleaning each wire, and then replace the damaged ones, having tried not to damage any more in the cleaning process. Or I could spend about £50 and put in reed switches in about the same length of time.
With such weighty decisions is my mind burdened this evening. The dogs are no help at all. I tried to engage in a spirited discussion of the relative merits of each system, but Betty started cleaning herself and Mia stared vacantly at me while drooling on the sofa. Drools a lot, does our Mia.
Four contact assemblies on the choir keyboard were beyond straightening. Fortunately my friendly organ engineer had some spares. Prising them off was easy, although nerve-wracking, as it required the judicious use of a hammer and chisel.
Having smoothed the surfaces down and got busy with the Araldite, the replacements are very firmly affixed and soldered.
Close-up of the repairs. Slightly over-araldited, and honesty forces me to admit that it isn’t some of my best soldering, but it is electrically sound, and I won’t see it. Although I will know it is there, and it will haunt me through every Bach chorale.
On a whim, I went carbooting this afternoon. Picked up a couple of odds and ends, but most importantly I bought a Dremel. Only cost £37 and looks hardly used (in fact only two of the bits appear to have been used). I’ve checked the model and it currently costs £90 from Homebase. Result.
Today’s work involved repairing the contact assemblies on the choir keyboard, but I’ll post about that when it is finished. The main event was the reassembling of the swell keyboard in its frame, after cutting out wedges for the additional pistons.
You can see here the additional wedges. Closer inspection will show you that my wedges are rather less expertly done than the original ones. I tidied them up afterwards with my Dremel. That was my justification for buying a new toy.
And here is the keyboard fitted into the oak frame. That took a while; the keyboard sort of guzunder and guzover the crossbars, and it has been a long time since I took it to pieces. Mia is doing QA.
I was going to take a photo of the completely assembled keyboard, but the light was poor and my iPad doesn’t have a flash (do any iPads have a flash?). Tomorrow, maybe.
The next job for this keyboard is to test all the key contacts. I think that the easiest way to do that is to wait for the MIDI encoder to arrive and plug it in. Otherwise I’m going to need a third arm to manipulate the continuity tester and the keyboard.
Things have arrived!
I am now in possession of many new things (for various values of ‘new’).
The piston rails have been drilled (see photo; unfortunately I didn’t take a photograph of the pre-drilled rails, but trust me, they didn’t have as many holes in them).
I have enough shiny! new! KA pistons to fill the aforementioned holes. £145 worth of pistons, to be exact. Actually surprisingly cheap but Mr Norwich Organs had some unused ones in stock. I’m still thinking about which ones to engrave.
I have some contact assemblies to replace the few damaged ones (and have been given instruction in how to do it).
I have some pedal felt for when I eventually get round to the pedals.
I bought some glue, desoldering braid, and a new pair of snips, since mine have lost their snip. That was another £19.
The next step is to replace the damaged contact assemblies, which I hope to do on Saturday if the braid arrives. I will also be ordering my first bit of MIDI kit some time in November. This must be what progress feels like.
Well I’m back from my holiday, refreshed and poor. Nevertheless, there will be progress made this month. At some point in the next couple of weeks I will be collecting the newly-bored piston rails, at which point I can begin to reassemble the keyboards and start testing the contacts (I’ve done a rough test and everything seems fine, but best not to leave anything to chance). In November, funds permitting, I will be purchasing the first piece of MIDI hardware, which will mean that I will finally be able to get some sound out of the console – I want to thoroughly test the keyboards and pistons before I assemble them into a single block and screw them down. I also need to get the pistons engraved – still debating on whether to leave the setting pistons blank and only engrave the couplers (as is traditional) or to engrave them all. Hmm.
In the meantime, and since this is supposed to be a pictoral record (and I haven’t posted any pictures recently), here are a couple of consoles I am thinking of using for inspiration. The first is the Harrah Symphonic Organ from Forrest Burdette UMC in Hurricane, West Virginia. The second is the organ of the Boardwalk Hall Auditorium in Atlantic City, New Jersey. I’m not sure that any other furniture in the lounge is really necessary…
A perfect storm of work (not just mine), illness (not just mine), holidays (not just mine) has led to a regrettable delay in the project. However, things are once again on the move: the pistons have arrived, and the piston rails will be drilled next week.
I’m off on holiday for the next week-and-a-bit, but I hope that October will see the project return to business as usual. I am currently unable to entertain, on account of bits of organ console spread all over the house, and it is beginning to bore me. I yearn to start assembling the keyboard stack and starting to test it.
For’ard!
Grr.
The last six weeks have been a blur. Mia has been in for major surgery, from which she has now fully recovered. More surgery in July, probably, when her skin is elastic enough. Poor thing.
Work continues to age me prematurely. It started with a hard paper round, and has gotten progressively worse since then. I am withered before my time.
But I now have tangible evidence of progress! I have received the repaired oak frames for the Choir and Great organ, with the broken screw removed and the hole plugged, and two new fixings bored. The oak, being at least 20 years old, is as hard as iron, and the job took longer than Mr Norwich Organs expected. None of this work is visible once the console is assembled, but as I mentioned in an earlier post, the idea of leaving the damage in place was something which the original builder was simply not prepared to countenance.
Next month, which is frighteningly close to becoming this month, I should receive both the re-bored piston rails and sufficient pistons to fill them. I then need to be a-thinking about what to do next. My first thought is to buy the MIDI controller so that I can interface with a computer and test the keyboards and pistons before fixing them to the console, however I still have to re-cut the knee-board and rebuild the expression shoe box to take three expression shoes rather than the current two. And I have not even begun to work on the pedalboard. This is a point I must ponder most pensively, preparatory to parting with pennies.
I’m probably beyond help.