Pipework, Console and Fittings

Pipework

Damaged pipes should be carefully repaired, always by an expert pipemaker. Replacements for missing pipes should be made of similar materials and to similar details of construction as the original. The original means of tuning should be preserved where this survives. If it does not survive, it may be restored provided that this requires no further alteration to the pipes. Tuning slides should not be fitted if this involves the cutting of any pipe. Efforts should be made to discover the original pitch and temperament of the organ and to restore this when possible. A change to the pitch of an organ to suit a passing fashion is to be avoided. Voicing should be limited to the re-regulation of repaired pipes and the voicing of any replacement pipes in the style of the originals. Wholesale replacement of reed tongues should be avoided.

Console and fittings

Keyboards, pedalboards, stop knobs and other controls and accessories should be maintained in, or restored to, their original state. Original key coverings, felts and bushings should be retained wherever possible and if they must be replaced, every effort should be made to use similar materials and techniques of construction. Ivory-surfaced keyboards can usually be repaired with second-hand ivory. Replacement of ivory key surfaces by plastics imitations is unacceptable. The replacement of original pedalboards by pedalboards of different design leads to serious difficulties as it is usually impossible to place them in the standard relationship to the manual keys without major changes both to mechanism and to visible cabinetwork.

Mains-voltage wiring should not be fixed to the organ case. In particular, unsightly switches or light fittings should not be attached to the cabinetwork of the organ console but be located sensitively elsewhere. The console should be treated like any other piece of good furniture.

Mechanical key action

Mechanical key action should be retained when it is present; its simplicity and reliability is often a factor in the survival of an historic organ, and the sensitivity of a good mechanical key action cannot be equalled. Some examples may seem heavy to those used to organs with other mechanisms. A good player will quickly become used to the touch of an organ and careful maintenance or restoration may make the touch lighter. The heaviness of the action of a Victorian organ when the manuals are coupled is often a consequence of poor adjustment of the coupling mechanism. During the course of restoration the key action and couplers should be repaired and adjusted to give the best operation possible consistent with the original design. Where an organ originally had mechanical action that has since been removed, the original action should ideally be restored, preferably in the style of the original maker.

Pneumatic key action

Pneumatic lever actions (combined with mechanical coupling action) were only made for a short period. They are correspondingly rare so their preservation is important. Restoration of the mechanical and leather components is relatively straightforward.

Early Willis and Hill single-stage tubular actions (with large diameter tubing) are also now rare. They are however very robust and the leather components not difficult to repair.Again, their preservation is important.

Existing two or three-stage tubular (with pneumatic coupling action) key actions should be retained and restored if at all possible. However, not all organbuilders are experienced at their adjustment and repair and some tubular pneumatic actions are susceptible to unreliability in the coupling action caused by low humidity following excessive winter heating in the building. If the lead tubes at the heart of the mechanism are in good order restoration will usually be more economical than a new action of similar quality.

Electro-pneumatic and electric-actions

At the present time, relatively few organs with electro-pneumatic or electric action are regarded as historic. However, the mechanism of some instruments may now have historic value as examples of early electrical engineering, and specialist advice should be sought before discarding magnets and switchgear made before 1925.

Stop and combination action

Stop and combination action should be restored without change to its original mode of operation. The type of stop and combination action has a profound effect on the way an organ is played. A simple stop action, or the absence of any combination action, will prevent anachronistic quick changes from one registration to another, and the retention and restoration of an original stop action will help ensure that the instrument is used as the maker envisaged.

Slider soundboards

Appropriate materials should be used in the repair of slider soundboards, especially as concerns pallet coverings and springs, pull-downs, pull-down seals and slide lubrication. Where upperboards are held down with old or unusual screws or even nails, these should be kept and matched to their holes. Where flooding is needed, the glue should be carefully matched to the original material; synthetic glue should not be used where natural glue was used originally. Slides running in leather should be restored. The repair of split or lifted tables and warped slides and upperboards should be carried out with care, using the minimum of additional material or screws, and the minimum of planing or grooving away of timber. A certain amount of minor running may be allowed where the alternative would involve the loss of considerable thickness in tables, slides or upperboards. Slide seals should not be fitted where not already present.

Sliderless windchests

Sliderless windchests, where they survive as part of an organ being restored, should be restored to their original state using the same care over materials and techniques as would apply to a slider soundboard.

Wind supply system

Original feeder bellows, reservoir bellows, regulators, wind trunks, concussion bellows and other components that determine the wind characteristics of the organ should be retained and restored where necessary. Reservoir bellows winding systems should not be replaced by other types of regulators because the sound of the instrument will be affected. Double-rise reservoirs should not be releathered in single rise form. Hand-blowing mechanisms, where these survive, should not be removed, even if not restored to working order. The retention or addition of a rotary fan blower does not detract from the value of an historic organ if it causes no alteration to the winding system or to the case or the structure of the organ. However there is some difference in sound between hand blowing and electric blowing.

Casework and Front Pipes

If the original finish of an organ case or its front pipes has been altered, an effort should be made to discover the original finish and restore this where possible. This may involve french polishing, graining or gilding. The careful application of an original finish is always preferable to substitutes such as polyurethane varnish or gold paint. If the correct finish is too expensive, then no restoration is preferable to a cheap face-lift.

Storage of unwanted parts

All original parts not used in the restoration should be carefully labelled, packed, and stored in safety in the organ or as near to it as possible. One of the safest places is often under the organ bellows.

Financial restrictions, partial restoration

When financial limitations prevent all of a restoration project being carried out immediately, it is almost always advisable to wait until sufficient funds have accumulated to carry out the work in one go. If an organ is restored in stages, it will decay in stages, and work will be prolonged indefinitely. An unrestored organ, though disappointing, will usually be preferable to a half-finished restoration.

Records

When work is carried out on a historic organ, the restorer should make a report before he starts, covering the history of the organ and its present condition, as well as detailing the work proposed. He should also keep a record of the work as it is carried out, as well as taking photographs before and after, and taking measurements of those parts of the organ not normally accessible for inspection. A copy of this record should be given to the church or customer. The restorer should allow for the cost of this work in his estimate. Copies of such records sent to BIOS’s British Organ Archive will preserve them for posterity and may provide valuable information for future restorers and researchers.