Decommissioning Moller Opus 5968

[RayAz1]

Howdy folks! After almost two decades of working on Hammonds and Leslies, an opportunity has fallen into my lap to rescue an unwanted cemetery chapel organ. Moller Opus 5968 was installed in the chapel in 1931, it’s a two manual console with 44 registers, including a vibraharp. The organ is intact other than a dozen or so small flue pipes that have been badly bent. It does not play but the blower still fires right up, definitely has some air leaks and ciphering going on.

While I have read extensively on pipe organ construction over the years, I don’t have a lot of specific knowledge of what technologies Moller were employing in this period. I was provided a great scan of the original drawings by one of the admins of the Moller facebook page, which has been a huge help already in navigating and identifying components. If any of you have any tips or info on working with a Moller of this vintage, I would be much obliged!

[myorgan]

If any of you have any tips or info on working with a Moller of this vintage, I would be much obliged!

My best advice is to DOCUMENT EVERYTHING! It will help when the organ is re-assembled. Personally, I take photos of everything–even the smallest minutiae. It is a quick way to document, and provides pictures of how it was originally connected. Some of us work better from photos.

Have you verified how many actual ranks are on the pipe chests? In general, each row (or section) of pipes on the chest is a rank. Often a pipe organ is unified, or significant duplexing takes place to get those 44 tabs on the organ. In general, a rank is 61 pipes (except for the pedal), but often it is extended to 73 or 85 pipes to be duplexed in the upper (or lower) octaves.

Best of luck with your endeavor. Thank you for attempting to rescue an example of an older organ.

Michael

P.S. Another piece of advice is to unscrew or unsolder wired connections rather than cut them. It will make it MUCH easier to reassemble.

[RayAz1]

There is definitely some unification/duplexing happening. There is a large windchest (marked swell-great on the drawings) that contains the 8' Melodia, Dulciana, Salicional, and Oboe ranks. The 16' Pedal Bourdon is split up between four different chests, one of them being a unit chest that also contains the 8' Open Diapason. Lastly there are 9 large metal flue pipes on two small chests, which i presume are a low extension for the Open Diapason/ 16' Lieblich Gedeckt. I think that's 6 ranks, plus the chimes and vibraharp. Let me know if my figuring is wrong lol!

[gtc]

Agree with the above about documenting everything. You can't take too many photos. Having a scan of the original drawings is a gift.

Here's a video of Moller Opus 5905 (1931) which may be of interest to you:

And, as it happens, I just posted a Moller company promo video here:

https://organforum.com/forums/forum/...deo#post808962

[RayAz1]

Thanks guys. Gtc, those videos are great! That’s a much bigger organ than I’m dealing with but it sure sounds great.
I have been and plan on taking a lot of pictures. I’m also going to do my best to remove wiring harnesses and the various wind conduits intact, but I think inevitably at least a bit of cutting is going to happen.
I’m also leaning towards eliminating the pneumatics in the console and those operating things like the swell shades. for future flexibility I am likely going to implement some kind of MIDI/arduino control system. But nothing is set in stone yet!

[aeolian pat]

The problem with Mollers is the way they assembled their chests. This is probably the number one reason mollers are removed .Repairing them is not fun. however having them on a work table outside of the chamber is the best way. You will need some kraft paper probably. The problem with mollers was their manor of cutting corners. This is most apparent in the angle of the languid. Some times pneumatic swell shade operators can be faster and more subtle than the new electric units. You can see in the video what many refer to as a Dinosaur walking to the tar pits.

[RayAz1]

What do you mean exactly by “the way they assembled their chests”? Is it that the joinery prevents or complicates opening them in situ? I can definitely see that this organ would be extremely difficult to work on where it sits now. The pedal bourdon unit chests are impossible to access without removing almost all the other pipes. Luckily I will have all this out “on a bench” to work on much more easily!

[aeolian pat]

Moller designed their their chest for rapid assembly in the factory. Some things you may wish to get at for repair may not be easily accessible in situ. They made their pipe work in lots and stored them. A designer would specify a stop and then the factory would grab it from stock. No real scaling for the room was available. A 4 foot chimney Flute might also be a 4 flute d' amor(e).The were a union shop which limited how labor could be assigned . Wood workers didn't help in the metal shop etc. In the small shops that came in the post WW 2 years each organ was truly individually made. This was not possible at Moller. Moller lacked the ability to change. They had been putting out factory organs at the cost of individual instruments and probably never smelled the nearing tar. Governments in Canada and Europe often subsidized their organ industry.In the US builders have to compete against Cassavant et al, who get govenrnment supprt. Inflation also decimated the large shops of Moller and Skinner. A problem with large organs (not always profitable) using to much of the shop helped the demise of Moller and Skinner. (Schlicker fell after financing dried up because of 9/11.)

[aeolian pat]

Sorry for the errors cannot fight the server today. I hope you have a great time working on your instrument. It will be a wonderful experience. You won't see beautiful clear wood like that in any lumber yard in your lifetime.
Regards
Pat

[RayAz1]

I really appreciate the info. I can see how assembly-line efficiency led to corner-cutting on the instruments. Funny you mention the clear lumber, I first found the organ listed as "old growth lumber" to be salvaged! As soon as I saw the pictures and realized what it was, I knew I couldn't let it hit the scrap heap. Thanks for the well wishes!

[aeolian pat]

The server has settled down. The fist problem will be replacing the primaries. The second will be in refitting a duplex chest which has many little dowels called shifters, they act as one way air valves.(Typed too soon the server is trying to get me again.) Feeding hole A or B. the shifters are mounted in the chest between two pieces of Kraft paper.Have a good time gluing the paper back.
The shifters could bind in their slot, so the story goes that Moller reps would supply a rubber hammer to the organist to bang on a bottom board to free the stuck shifter. An anecdote I know of included a Milwaukee builder who was call to repair a Moller chest. It seem the organist, who was a very small elderly lady, hit the bottom board so hard that she broke it to pieces.
Regards
Pat

[RayAz1]

Oh boy, that sounds like fun lol. If I convert to a computer control system, I’m thinking i could rework the chests to do away with the shifters? And program the duplexing into the system?

[ChristopherDB113]

I'd like to see some photos of the organ as it is currently installed.

[RayAz1]

Not much to see from the outside except for the console. Even the swell shades are hidden from view by fixed curtains. There are some nice photos of the hall and console on the organ database entry. I’ll post some pipe chamber shots below.

[RayAz1]

[RayAz1]

Here’s the vibraharp

[johnroper100]

Might you be able to share the plans of the instrument that you obtained?

[RayAz1]

Might you be able to share the plans of the instrument that you obtained?

Here you go! I had to upload as jpeg because the pdf was too big. If you'd like the pdf, dm me and ill send it over.

[RayAz1]

They made their pipe work in lots and stored them. A designer would specify a stop and then the factory would grab it from stock. No real scaling for the room was available. A 4 foot chimney Flute might also be a 4 flute d' amor(e).

After getting deeper into the pipe chamber I see what you mean by this now. There are clearly a lot of shared notes on this organ. I have identified 7 ranks, and all the stops/ registers are derived from these-
Oboe- 73 notes
Salicional- 73 notes
Dulciana- 73 notes
Melodia 73 notes
Open Diapason
Flute d'Amour
Bourdon 39 notes
I don't have a count on the Open Diapason or Flute d'Amour yet, likely either 61 or 73 notes for each

[aeolian pat]

Nice spec for a home organ. just need string and flute Celeste an independent nazard and tierce and maybe a 4/2 foot soft string. A really tight box with good shades will make it wonderful.
A 4 foot harmonic flute would fill in for an octave.
pat

[RayAz1]

I'm thinking along very similar lines, although I may end up trying to add a couple theatre ranks! There are two large shades installed on this organ, hopefully I can get them out in one piece.