ajsphead

I like the cherub creature holding a guitar; carved with an eye to the future or eyes closed to the past, or maybe both?

But isn't that less of a problem now than it was 20 years ago? You'd certainly hope so. To be accurate I think slides are OK here. If you're having a new soundboard then why not look at the planting to see if you can get a 4' principal on it too. It's perfectly OK in this Walker period to plant off 8' basses completely. It's also not a complete sin to plant off a 4' bottom octave either and if your soundboard is wide enough to plant the 2' in a single row you might do it. Best of luck AJS

Not enough bag I reckon. Or, the mistaken 70's/80's idea of egg wash as a preservative. Anthony

There's a lot of variance from firm to firm, but I tend to find slides becoming more popular from the 1890's onwards. Certainly JWW were using slides from around then. Given my way, I'd cone tune everything smaller than a 2' pipe if the pipes are made correctly, tuners had all the correct tuning implements and the services of all gorillas were terminated. AJS

Thinking about this in terms of the Shrewsbury organ, I'd be uncomfortable about installing a t/pn action in a known damp environment. The changes in humidity could easily play havoc with the regulation of the action. It's much easier to keep electrics clear of water, but some thought into the type of components, position and maintenance of them ought to happen. I love tubular pneumatics but would never wish to follow a path that created inbuilt unreliability just to make a point, whatever that point was. AJS

Love my SD1. Also preparing to work on 1978 Princess. The Allegro and Princess are two of the least rusting cars from the 1970's being remarkably well designed for the time, and Leyland were still trying to innovate, but were hampered by so many things from inside and outside the company that the writing was pretty much on the wall without a major sea change in attitudes as well as money. ARONline is an interesting read on all this. I still have battles with people half my age who think everything they produced was rubbish. It's nearly all based on pub knowledge and historic reputation rather than reality. Sure there was a litany of disasters like the SD1 paint shop. You might like to note that Brasilia Brown did stick unlike a lot of the other colours. Read into that what you will. Anthony

Likewise. A little cleaning of contacts and wipers on the non diodised ladder switch set ups as you'd expect. Otherwise wear rates are as good as you could hope for.

JWW was, in effect P&S from 1975 although not the Brandon P&S we know now. I'd be surprised if what was behind the key action was much different to a diodised contact and wiper arrangement, and from 1979 it's fair to assume a degree of wear on the components. It's a simple job to replace them unless you want to go for a change in the type of touch generation, but I don't get the impression that's what your builder is talking about. I hope they're not trying to bamboozle you. AJS

The keyboards almost certainly will have been made at P&S. They are, and as far am I'm aware always have been, of a good standard construction. If for some reason you have a set of KA keyboards there may be some variance. I don't understand the remark about flawed design. Sure, they may not necessarily be top notch toggle touch keys, but I don't know of anything that a little adjustment of the type cynic suggests wouldn't sort out. More severe climatic conditions may have some bearing, but the keys should be laminated to minimise this. Get your builder to show you the problem on their next visit. AJS

I really think that the argument on either side falls down as soon as broad brush strokes are applied. There are simply too many exceptions to ever be able to address this matter in anything near to definitive terms. It is something that can only ever be adequately addressed on an individual basis with the parties concerned, with absolute honesty from both sides. Prior agendas are probably the most damaging aspect of this discussion and are met far more than is healthy or right, but they are there nonetheless. Maybe you would be amazed, and maybe you wouldn't at the nature of such agendas. Often parties had no idea they were there, and it can be a tall order to overcome them. Very often the problem is not the instrument at all, but the people involved in the decision making process. AJS

Well there's no accounting for incompetence...except when you come to put it right. AJS

I regularly play T, F, & H on Ave Maris Stella. Not unduly difficult, about 3 systems in the Fugue need attention, but it's satisfying to play and people like to listen to it. Should be aired a bit more I think. AJS

I don't think even the most extreme of the neo baroque would have coined a Pelzregal

And ultimately I think you'll win the argument. My greatest joy is that the onward march of fuel efficiency leaves so much more petrol around for those of us who enjoy burning it. (Doesn't stop me enjoying a good kick from a turbo though.) AJS

I can think of 2 or maybe 3 of which only one was totally new, although the concept and execution of the other two would render them ostensibly new. I suspect if we collectively add our 2's we'll come up with a fair few. I'm thinking about their fitness for purpose rather the sound that they produce per se. It's harder than you might think. AJS

I have an SD1 that'll do the same - it's great in slippery conditions, so long as you don't mind going sideways. Mendelssohn may have written some exquisite music, but none of it compares to a free breathing V8 bellow. AJS

The Lord alone knows the answer to that one, as I think you have hit the nail on the head. It's obviously English, full of character and marries English heavy pressure reed voicing with gloriously clear principals, and lovely flutes. Strings are a bit scratchy for my liking, but the concept is there. AJS

I concur within the caveat of the ranks available. The thing is not to be too prescriptive. You have to use your base but then be prepared to swap things around depending on what your ears tell you, very easy to do electro mechanically. AJS

Gemshorn is tapered in at the top, Ocarina is tapered out at the top, Spitzgedeckt is the nearest thing I know to tapered in and stopped. I should think an open polyphone could be done, but I also think there are some jolly good reasons why it's not been. Chiefly the size and cost of the pipe vis a vis it's effectiveness when compared to a stopped pipe doing the same thing. What I ask is why JC, and anyone subsequently has not hit the compromise of 2 pipes for the 32' octave to allow the notes to go all the way to the bottom and go some way to sorting out the scaling. Such a painfully simple solution. AJS

Dear Paul If you contextualise with the preceding 8 words, I think that clarifies it. I tend to find with Compton's mixtures that it is best to accept them for what they are, not necessarily what it says on the tin. As for whether they work, I find that, in general they do, notwithstanding any self imposed limitations. I think we also need to reveal the spirit of relaxed professionalism amongst people who really know what they are doing. Yes, it's hit and miss, but we don't all understand that in the same context. When you work with real genius, as I would suggest many of the thinkers amongst JC's staff were, then you get to see things in an entirely different way. One day I hope we will wake up to this. AJS

I had 2 builders in mind (and knowledge) when replying above. JC was one, and Reiger was the other. Strange bedfellows in one respect, but both knew exactly what they were doing. As I'm sure others here know, the Compton method of creating compound stops was often a hit and miss affair, trying different ranks at different pitches until they found what worked in the building. I can think of one straight away that had 2 ranks drawn from the Open Wood, 2 ranks from the Subbass, one from the Second Diapason and the 3 5/9 was a stopped metal rank on its own, just of the type you describe. They are very effective, except in perhaps the most unkind of dry acoustics, but an effective way of producing 32' reed type tone from an Open Wood, a Bourdon and a bit of something else, and they will shift a fair bit of wind. Personally, I wish we were a bit less stuffy, and organists were a bit better informed, and then we could specify them more freely. AJS

See my post above. Also the mistake I hear time and again is that the basses of manual mutations are voiced too loud. You would be amazed at how soft they need to be in both tone and loudness to blend with the harmonics of the 8' bass and not sound like a chord. AJS

It has as much to do with the tone of the ranks as the pitch of them, particularly with the 6 2/5 4 4/7 3 5/9. If the ranks are independent, you can also play around with the tuning of them to enhance the affect. AJS

Also, not every division has an 8' Open. It's not uncommon to have to set the bearings on a 2' either as it's the only Principal toned stop. AJS