Our work is complete

As of March 15th all of our work is complete at the Basilica and the organ is playing like new again. Tonal finishing is left to be done but will be done after the organist has had a chance to go over the instrument and formulate some ideas about the type of tonal work and voicing which needs to be done. Thanks to everyone who has followed our work so closely on this blog. Check back often for the start of the next job.

Here is a closeup of the old chest cables connected to the junction board. The cables have a brass cotter pin on each wire which plugs into a brass 'ferrule' on the junction board. The corresponding wire which goes to the solid state relays is soldered to the back side of the same ferrule.

Here is the Swell junction board after all the chest cables have been plugged in. There is a board like this in each of the 4 divisions of the organ. They each have a large cable which then connects to the solid state relay panels in the basement. There is one wire for each pipe in the organ.

Here's a close up view of the console showing the sweeping curves of the terraced stop jambs. Also shown is the detail in the case of the console. Mike Ziemba of the Wicks company really did an excellent job with this console.

Here's the new console in concert position in front of the main altar. It was delivered last Friday from the Wicks company along with the new electrical system which we are now installing. We are hoping to hear the first sounds from the organ before the end of this week.

Sorry for the delay in posting. We have been busy running wires and installing the new relays which arrived last Friday. The new 4 manual console was also delivered on Friday and I will get some pictures of it posted soon. We hope to have the organ making some noise by the end of this week.

This is what 2000 feet of multi-conductor cable looks like when formed into one 100' long cable. There is a junction board on one end which will be installed in place of the old relay in the Great chamber. The other end of the cable is being fed down through an unused 10" metal wind line to the basement where the new relay system will be installed. The decision was made to remote all 4 relays (Great, Swell, Solo, & Choir) to improve access to the relays for service and in the chambers for tuning. The Great and Swell relays will be in the basement and the Choir and Solo relays will be installed in the old combination action cabinets beneath the choir stalls.

This is the new IV Scharff mixture which is installed on the top of the central organ case. It plays on 8" of windpressure!

Here's another view of the console being disassembled. That other organ in the back ground is the digital organ that is being used as a stand in for the pipe organ during the restoration project.

Here is the console in the process of being disemboweled. We have now also removed all of the old electrical system in preparation for the new equipment which is set to arrive next week.

The shiny pipes on the light colored rack board in this picture are the new 4' Octave in the choir. These pipes and their new topboard occupy the space where the Unda Maris used to be.

This is the Choir chamber. The new III mixture is on the right. The Unda Maris is on a new chest at the rear.

Where's Waldo?

Somewhere in the picture is dad. See if you can find him. Today we finished lifting and installing all the new windchests into the Swell, Choir, and to the top of central organ case. Now we will begin connecting wind lines to these chests and gutting the old relay cabinets in preparation for the new equipment.

Here is an overhead shot of the swell chamber main chests with the mixture chest elevated in the background. We cut out the end of the walkway and moved the ladder to make it easier to access these pipes for tuning. The wooden wall behind the mixture chest is the swell shades in the closed position.

Here I am assembling the pipe racks which will hold up the pipes of the 16' Contra Trumpet in the Swell chamber.

Here is an overhead view of the chest for the lowest notes of the new 16' Contra Trumpet which is being installed in the swell. The 3 largest pipes are on the chest at the left. The large gray pipes in the background are the largest pipes of the 16' Flute Conique. The chest between the flute pipes and the trumpet pipes is for the bottom of the diapason and the top of the pedal bourdon. These chests have been relocated from elsewhere in the chamber to improve access.

This is the new junction board for the Great division. The board on the floor is where the old wiring from the windchests will connect. All the rolls of cable (1,900 feet in all) will be formed into a large cable which will run down to the basement of the church where the new relays will be located. The existing relays, which are located in the chamber, make it impossible to access several ranks of the pedal division for tuning and service. The relays of the other 3 divisions are also being remoted to the basement to improve access.

The truck from Wicks arrived yesterday morning with all the new windchests and pipes. Here is all the stuff laid out in the walkway behind the main altar.

Here's a picture of the 32' Contra Bombarde located in the Great chamber. These gigantic pipes stand 32' tall and are 16" or so in diameter at the top. Believe it or not, there were installed, as an addition, after the main part of the Great was installed. There were threaded into the chamber through a 16" x 24" opening located in the plaster casework near the floor of the chamber.

We are now finished with all we can do until the next shipment arrives from Wicks. This is going to be tomorrow (Feb 13) and will contain all the new pipes and chests as well as a few parts of the new electrical system. The console is not yet complete at Wicks and we are hoping that it will be delivered the last week of February in order for us to make our March 14th completion date.

Here is Arden cleaning up plaster debris near the pedal 16' Principal in the Great chamber. See the previous post for a before picture of the pipes in this area.