What to do?


What to do?

I’ve already told you that I have a new friend, nice Mr Colin who is going to work on my console

It might surprise you, dear follower, that anything much needs to be done - and especially if you saw Miss Catherine's or Mr Thomas's nimble fingers whizzing up and down my keys - so let me try and explain.

I have 61 keys on three keyboards.  Inevitably after 108 years use, many of these keys have slightly changed colour (interesting that this is most noticeable in the middle octaves of the middle keyboard where I guess most of my organ playing friends tend to play!).  That is all part of my character, so I hope will not change, but one key does need to be patched up.  At the same time all the keys have been disconnected from my lead tubes, and will be re-connected to electric switches; how that is done is beyond my technical knowledge!

Then the lovely wood faces of my console, to the sides of the keyboards and in front of the player, all need to be patched up.  There was a driving mirror for organ players to see what was happening behind them - that was so unsightly and apparently ineffective  -  much better to have left it in a van!  Things have been screwed in and taken away leaving holes.  There was an old electric socket with round pin holes, which hadn’t been used for many years; this had to be removed.  There were two small signal lights screwed above my left side stop jamb, long since unused as it was discovered that my organ playing friends can actually see what's going on by just turning round.  The lovely large sliding glass doors, at the front of the console, hadn't been used for many years as they kept getting stuck; those need restoring so they can once again slide smoothly across and make me more secure.

And then Mr Gary and Mr Colin are having to think about playing aids - new buttons can be added, but only a very few please! - and the two pedals working my two sets of box shutters will be moved to the centre of the pedal boards.

I know my friends are very conscious that Mr William made me a lovely console, typical of all his best Edwardian work, and iconic in style and appearance.  Once restored, it must continue to look fantastic, yet at the same time use 2020 technology sensitively. I do not want my console to look as if it’s come out of a fairground or a nearby cinema and I’m sure all the right decisions will be made.

East Sussex National Wurlitzer Console - American Theatre Organ ...

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