OrganMaster Shoes

[iy45]

I've recently bought a pair of OrganMaster shoes, and was surprised to discover that the soles are suede, rather than leather. (I see they've now made that a USP in their advert, but it didn't used to be.)

 

Can anyone tell me how long they might be expected to last given, say, eight or ten hours use per week. Also, is it possible to have them re-soled and, if so, with leather or with suede? And how?

 

Advice would be much appreciated.

 

Ian

[Vox Humana]

I've had mine for four or five years now and they're still going strong. What you will find is that the suede becomes more smooth and slippery with wear, but if it becomes too bad a gentle rub down with a finer grade of emery paper can roughen them up again. I have never needed to do this, but a pupil of mine does from time to time. Mine originally had a smooth leather heel which I found quite impossible - the heels just wouldn't stay on the keys - so I had those replaced with smooth rubber by a local cobbler. There must have been other complaints about this as Organmaster soon changed the design. I am sure a good cobbler would be able to replace the soles if you wanted, but there shouldn't be any need.

[Robert Bowles]

I've recently bought a pair of OrganMaster shoes, and was surprised to discover that the soles are suede, rather than leather. (I see they've now made that a USP in their advert, but it didn't used to be.)

 

Can anyone tell me how long they might be expected to last given, say, eight or ten hours use per week. Also, is it possible to have them re-soled and, if so, with leather or with suede? And how?

 

Advice would be much appreciated.

 

Ian

I've had several pairs and found that their length of life depends not so much on on how long you wear them for playing the organ, but how much you walk around in them when not playing, and on what sort of floors. Also they HATE getting wet. One of their advantages, in pedalling terms, is that the upper shoe tucks in where it meets the sole, and there is no external welt. However, the joint is glued rather than sewn. I've found that a policy of zero tolerance to any signs of the glued joint coming apart is the key to keeping them going. Keep the supa-glue handy! I think the glued joint may make re-sole-ing them more of a challenge than it would be with a pair of solid brogue walking shoes..

[iy45]

This is really helpful. Thank you both.

 

Ian