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Elusive problems


MusingMuso

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We've got the organ in bits at Holy Joe's, Keighley; or at least some of it.

 

Since God was a boy, there's been a bit of a problem with drawing the Pedal Bourdon, which has always been very stiff.

 

Last year, the diagnosis of a rapidly failng Pedal Bourdon seemed to centre around slider-seals, and the possibility that some had come unstuck and moved about a bit.

 

Following the application of a little logic, it eventually became apparent that the problem was not just one of slider-seals, for by inching the stop in and out, certain pipes came back on speech while others fell almost silent.

 

There is undoubtedly a slider-seal problem, because there is an element of leakage with various wind hisses to be heard without stops drawn, but it seems that the greater problem is that of the stop-linkage. Being "werkprinzip" in style, the pedal organ is divided, and it seems that there is lost motion in the transfer of movement from left to right, resulting in the slides being out-of-sync. As the stop action converts to about half an inch of twisting motion applied to a vertical metal rod, it follows that there must be an element of "gearing-up" at the slides, and I'd like to bet that there is a problem at the fulcrum of the C# slider operating lever.

 

It demonstrates, I think, how the diagnosis of a problem may appear to be one thing, and then turn out to be something quite different.

 

Hopefully, all will be well within a week or two, with the fitting of new seals and whatever needs to be done to the stop mechanism.

 

'Til than, it's all Stanley and Walond I'm afraid.

 

MM

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They did put in pneumatic action on the pedal a while ago, but it didn't last. I believe that the whole action was replaced during the 1959 -1961 Marcussen "restoration" with a balanced action. And very nice it feels, with no "clanking" at all.

 

 

===========================

 

 

I didn't actually know that pneumatic-action was used for the pedal organ, so I've learned something. It just seems to have been there all my life, with bits of re-voicing here and there.

 

As David suggests, the present balanced-action is that installed by Marcussen, and it does feel good in spite of the length of the runs.

 

 

MM

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