Delaware Organ Co.
1961

Updated by Scot Huntington, who maintains the organ.

The replacement of the Pedale Sub Bass with a recycled set of Bourdon pipes on an electric chest happened either with this rebuild, or the subsequent enlargement by Geddess just a few years later. The Delaware reservoir sits on the floor where the original Pedal trackers would have been, suggesting this change occurred with Delaware and not Geddes- who also added more electrical equipment. However, further forensic examination will be required to sort out the provenance of the added electric chests and pipework, to determine the exact timeline and source of their installation. No church records have yet come to light concerning the date and scope of these two organ projects and it is not known which project an attached memorial plaque refers to dated 1964. I recently had a conversation about this with Richard Hamar, Norwich Connecticut organbuilder, who assisted Geddes on several projects in the 1960s. Without prior knowledge of the memorial plaque, he dates the Delaware work to 1961 and the Geddes work to 1964.

This entry describes alterations to an existing organ. Identified by Scot Huntington, who maintains the organ. The Delaware rebuild was extensive. A second-hand Spencer Orgoblo was installed in the bell tower and the original double-rise reservoir, feeders and wood wind trunks were discarded, replaced with an under-sized floating-top reservoir (combination leaf springs and weights). The wind pressure was reduced to 50mm for reasons unknown, and the original pipework re-regulated accordingly. The original Dulciana was replaced with a Grave Mixture II. The pipework was re-pitched 1 HT higher (from various starting notes), shortened, and fitted with slide tuners to flatten the pitch from the original high A450 to A435. New longer pipes were inserted at the re-pitching point in each rank. The original hitch-down Swell pedal was removed, horizontal shades were balanced, and replaced with a traditional Swell pedal in the same location. The foot pump for light playing was removed and the organ was cleaned. The case was not altered other than a large hole cut in the side for the main windline, and the voicing of the pipework was not altered except for volume regulation and removal of the "expression" tuning slots. The instrument was altered further by the Geddes Organ Co. of Winsted, Conn. shortly thereafter, adding a soft stop on the Great on an electro-mechanical auxiliary chest.