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CW,
That console appears to be a stock model 650 or 705. I have one exactly like it sitting in the shop. I'm sure a few pipes make a difference on that one, as the electronic stops are highly unified and, for some reason, not as good-sounding as some other Rodgers analogs of the same era. Maybe the peculiar chorus and "fake" celeste circuits on that model (both are bucket brigade devices) detract from the sound quality.
The pipes placed way up high on the wall, all but impossible to access -- that's the kind of thing I have faced here. Even a simple routine tuning is hazardous and scary. I can't do very good work when I'm at the top of a wobbly 20' extension ladder and my legs feel like rubber! If I had to remove all these pipes for repair, then put them back on the chest afterward, I'd need a very large and stable platform on a scaffold, which of course adds to the cost and difficulty of the job. Actually, in your pic there I see the pipes are not that far above the top of a door frame, so maybe they're not 20' off the floor (unless that's in a balcony). But I have seen some installed at ridiculous heights.
And the climate here has NOT been kind to the pipes. At 30 years of age, many of the stopped pipes won't stay tuned overnight, as the stoppers and caps have become loose as the felt dries up and shrinks away. This trouble is exacerbated when the pipes are installed high up in the room where the summer heat and humidity are so punishing, and where the scorching dry heat from the furnace in the winter gets concentrated. As a consequence, many if not most of the pipe combinations from the 80's in my area are in need of extensive and costly repair that churches are loathe to pay for these days.
Sometimes I just wish new organs weren't so far out of reach of the average church. I'd tell a lot of my customers that they really need to start all over with a different organ. It's disturbing to see how dealers and salespeople misled churches and sold them stuff that was overpriced and doomed to failure and obsolescence in 20 years.
That console appears to be a stock model 650 or 705. I have one exactly like it sitting in the shop. I'm sure a few pipes make a difference on that one, as the electronic stops are highly unified and, for some reason, not as good-sounding as some other Rodgers analogs of the same era. Maybe the peculiar chorus and "fake" celeste circuits on that model (both are bucket brigade devices) detract from the sound quality.
The pipes placed way up high on the wall, all but impossible to access -- that's the kind of thing I have faced here. Even a simple routine tuning is hazardous and scary. I can't do very good work when I'm at the top of a wobbly 20' extension ladder and my legs feel like rubber! If I had to remove all these pipes for repair, then put them back on the chest afterward, I'd need a very large and stable platform on a scaffold, which of course adds to the cost and difficulty of the job. Actually, in your pic there I see the pipes are not that far above the top of a door frame, so maybe they're not 20' off the floor (unless that's in a balcony). But I have seen some installed at ridiculous heights.
And the climate here has NOT been kind to the pipes. At 30 years of age, many of the stopped pipes won't stay tuned overnight, as the stoppers and caps have become loose as the felt dries up and shrinks away. This trouble is exacerbated when the pipes are installed high up in the room where the summer heat and humidity are so punishing, and where the scorching dry heat from the furnace in the winter gets concentrated. As a consequence, many if not most of the pipe combinations from the 80's in my area are in need of extensive and costly repair that churches are loathe to pay for these days.
Sometimes I just wish new organs weren't so far out of reach of the average church. I'd tell a lot of my customers that they really need to start all over with a different organ. It's disturbing to see how dealers and salespeople misled churches and sold them stuff that was overpriced and doomed to failure and obsolescence in 20 years.
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