Baldwin 45/46 Crackling Noise

[tsilvent]

I have enjoyed a Baldwin 45/56 from a thrift store for 2 years. It worked perfectly, but yesterday after playing it for 1 hour, it started making a very loud crackling noise. Any suggestions for my electronics wizz husband? Photo is included -front company plate missing and no etching can be found inside to identify the make & model conclusively.

I have been offered a recently refurbished and tuned Conn Rhapsody 625. Any opinions?

Thanks!

[james]

This organ looks like a Baldwin 48C which I have. The bench is not a church organ bench like mine, but a theater bench which apparently serves that purpose. As to what is making those noises I have no clue. I don't think it is anything major. I can't fix organs, but just play them.

You might enjoy the Conn Rhapsody. I know I would.

[OrgansR4Me]

It is time for cleaning and some new capacitors. Your husband should be able to find instructions regarding both in our past discussions. If the organ is a 48 that is one of the best home organs Baldwin ever made and well worth a little repair work. Purchase of service books is often possible from Ebay or one of the members of the forum. If someone here has one I'm sure they'll post to this thread. It would help also if you pull off the back and send some photos of the internal workings. Many of us here are DIY hobbyist and can offer help along the way.

PS - James I love dogleg benches and I think it adds some pizzazz to the organ. The brass Baldwin plate is missing but a slight color change shoes the spot where it belongs. I bet one could be purchased from a parter!

[indianajo]

Electrolytic capacitors are the ones which go bad based upon the calender. They are aluminum cans filled with water solution and sealed with rubber, which deteriorates from oxygen, running or sitting. I replace them all in old electronic equipment, when they start producing symptoms of low volume, hum or crackling or whistles, low bass or treble or other funny sounds. I replace them two at a time, then reinstall to check my work. Amateurs frequently make bad solder joints. You usually cannot afford to get them all replaced by a professional, it costs ~$60 an hour to pay an accountant, run a car, keep a parts inventory and liability insurance. It is about a 2 hour per pair of capacitors job, and an old tube organ from the fifties will have a half to full dozen. Replacing one at a time, gets the repairman out a number of times with one problem after another, IMHO, and is no fun.
It takes about $70 in tools to replace these parts, a pair of reading glasses and a good trouble light. The safety training to do the work is on www.aikenamps.com/safetytips.html. A tutorial of finding inexpensive long life radial lead electrolytic caps is on http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/tubes...ube-amp-3.html with more words on http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/parts...ps-choose.html
I hope you find the time and effort to restore one organ or another. Any organ over 20 years old may have this problem, and few are the owners who will take the effort to replace more than "the one that is bad". I put 71 of them in my 1967 design organ, and enjoy reliability similar to the organ that was delivered in 1968. I run a 1961 hifi amp and preamp, a 197? FM radio, and two organs, 1968 and 1964, that work well with all new caps.
Have fun.
Oh, please delete your duplicate post under organ repair electronics. You click edit, then delete, then click the button next to the "reason" box, which can be left blank.

[Jan Girardot]

Hi, tsilvent;

You may have already made a decision on your 48C (1968), but here is my 2¢ worth: the Conn (1961) you have been offered is, in my opinion a better built and easier to maintain instrument. Would you miss the 32-note pedal clavier? The Rhapsody has a 25-note flat but radiating clavier.

Please let us know what you decide, and best of luck.

. . . Jan
the OrganGrinder

[tsilvent]

I had a wonderful regional organ repairman come by last night, and he states my Baldwin 48C is in excellent condition. He feels he can repair the crackling sound. I tried the Conn 625, but it sounds more like a home organ from the 60's similar to our Lowrey and less like a church organ, so I am going to stay the course with my Baldwin. When I was just in the second grade, I started playing daily mass on an old Kohler & Sons 1800's pipe organ - the rush of the air blowing through the pipes behind me and the power of the crescendo pedal are still fond memories. For my 8th grade paper I wrote "The Organ, the Father of the Instruments". I started lessons at the age of 4 on a little floor portable organ with push buttons for the chords. I had to quit when I went to college. During the 90's, I was a church organist at a parish in AZ for 10 years. Now we are in VA and I have started my 3rd round as a church organist, so I have a strong affinity to church-sounding organs. Besides, my husband and his best friend moved the 48C from the thrift store as my 15th anniversary present - I'm practical but also a bit sentimental. If it's not dead, I just can't give up on it - plus, what a piece of history in my home and my kids think it's really neat too. Two questions - does anyone have a replacement brass Baldwin nameplate I can purchase and also, any ads/repair manuals/any docs on the 48C? I'd like a collectable to frame above my treasured organ. Thanks for all the info - I've been reading about Baldwin all night on the web and I've fallen in love with the organ all over again. Thanks for your responses and this forum - it's great to be able to talk about something of great value.

[james]

I am sure you will like this Baldwin for church music very much. It is made for that purpose only even with pipe organ stop names. I found a Baldwin nameplate from a tech's shop to put over the word Orga Sonic on an old Baldwin 54A I onced had. Some tech on here might be able to assist you in finding a name plate as well as info for a service manual, etc.

You might consider a trophy shop that makes nameplates, and they could engrave the name Baldwin the way you would like it. Baldwin did a nice job with their large church models as well as the larger theater models vs. the Orga Sonics which could sound just horrible IMHO.

- - - Updated - - -

My Baldwin 48C came from a church who decided to have a praise band, and not use the organ anymore. The tech had to do a bit of work on it, and we traded even for my Conn 650 that I never cared for at all. I find much more variety on my Baldwin for church music.

[Jan Girardot]

I have an original Baldwin factory-issued 48C service manual for sale from my collection. It is $14 + s&h. If interested, contact me at
[email protected]

. . . Jan
the OrganGrinder

[james]

Since I like so many organs I would enjoy the Conn Rhapsody. I do wish I had a Conn Tube Minuet. I don't know what happened with the guy who was going to bring one to me from N. TX, and just drop out of sight as the saying goes. I was going to pay him a small fee to give the organ a home plus his trip up to Southern Oklahoma. Oh well, plenty more where that one might come from for sure.

[Larrytow]

To the OP, I'm glad you like your Baldwin. I'm no fan of them, but to each their own. In the photo you posted, you have the bench facing backwards. The arc on the front of the bench is supposed to match the pedalboard arc. Not a big deal either way really, but that was the design intention.