Repairs, Maintenance, Advice

Also see our restoration section.

Repairs

Of course, it can be that your instrument is already in good condition, having been restored several years ago, but perhaps now requires attention in certain specific areas, such as its keyframe or action. In such instances we are happy to repair or restore individual components. We have worked on projects with a number of enthusiasts who have done much of the preparation and cleaning work themselves, thereby saving the client a considerable amount of money, and having the additional satisfaction of seeing their own work in the completed job as well. We are able to supply new organ parts to order.

Maintenance

Russell Wattam tuning BD GavioliRussell Wattam busy tuning Brian Dunford’s 89 key Gavioli during routine maintenance. (Click on photo to enlarge).

Once an organ is restored, it should be periodically checked over and adjusted, and like other musical instruments, carefully tuned.  A significant part of our activity, we have made annual trips to service certain organs for more years than we care to remember!  Sometimes repairs need to be carried out on-site as well.  We regularly carry out this work in the UK, Europe, the United States and Japan.  We are often able to accommodate several client visits in one trip, making the cost to each customer as reasonable as possible.

.Advice

To prospective purchasers we offer helpful and constructive advice on buying a mechanical organ. We can even help to put together complete collections. We also conduct appraisals and valuations of individual instruments or complete collections at reasonable rates. This service is also available for probate, insurance and estate valuations and other requirements.

Mortier 948 92 key Mortier organ No. 948 is now located in “Kuju Sayaka”, a resort hotel in Japan. This instrument was previously an attraction at Turner’s Musical Merry-go-Round, Northampton, England, and before that, formed part of the Prinsen collection in Belgium. (Click on image to enlarge).

This restoration involved the making of new swell shutters, and the replacement of missing pipework and percussions with authentic looking and sounding new ones.

New organs

Our experience in the restoration of old instruments puts us in an enviable position for building new instruments based more or less on historic examples. Whilst our heavy restoration programme has never allowed extensive building of new organs, we would be interested to quote for instruments of all sizes, including ones more than 112 keys. We will be pleased to discuss your requirements.

We like and enjoy all types of mechanical organ; all have their own special character, rendering them easily identifiable. We have worked on most makes of French fair organs, from early trumpet barrel organs through to 110 key Gavioli. We also have experience of Ruth, Gebr. Bruder, Wilhelm Bruder Söhne, Gebr. Wellershaus, Bacigalupo, Imhof & Mukle, Welte and other German products, and we have also worked on many Belgian instruments including those by Mortier, Bursens, van Steenput, Pierre Eich and Gebr. Decap. Our experience in this particular area even takes us through to the more recent instruments incorporating electronic sound sources as well as traditional pipes.

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