Harmoniums

[John Musselwhite]

I enjoyed Les' story about Beckwith...

At 07:46 AM 12/10/96 -0400, Les Smith wrote:

>but that's about it. One of the big problems with reed organs is that it's
>virtually impossible to find anyone to work on them anymore and parts are
>all but unobtainable.

One of the good things about them though is they are extremely simple and
with the help of a book or two from the Vestal Press and a little patience
they are not that difficult for a hobbyist-type to repair. I've worked on a
few but I usually just give customers Vestal's phone number and have them
order a book about harmonium repair. Most of the time it's merely a matter
of cleaning out the reeds and/or replacing bellows cloth which is something
almost anyone who can do simple crafts could address.

Parts aren't that much of a problem, really. Harmoniums aren't that complex
and don't have a lot of parts in them, and "common" parts such as stop knobs
and faces and bellows cloth etc. are available to us and we can order them
for our customers or fabricate particular parts if you have the facilities.

Repairing them doesn't pay like piano work because they aren't worth the
trouble, but for those who do have the spare time working on them can be a
lot more constructive than watching M*A*S*H reruns on TV. There are probably
lots of "little old ladies" out there who would love to play their cherished
heirlooms if they worked but as Les said, it can be virtually impossible to
find someone to work on them.  There are probably plenty of people with the
time to do this kind of work. Vestal can supply them with enough information
to tackle the jobs.

The Vestal Press, PO Box 97, Vestal, New York  13850-0097. Write to them and
request a free catalog. They were offering the following books on reed
organs although they may not all be in print right now:

     Restoring & Collecting Antique Reed Organs, by Horton Presley. ISBN
0-911572-56-2. The book goes over all aspects of restoration efforts,
including an entire chapter on bellows restoration. The appendix gives
several supply  sources.

     The American Reed Organ, by Robert F. Gellerman, 1973. Library of
Congress # 73-81768, ISBN 0-911572-09-0.  Second printing 1976. It contains
background, description, maintenance instructions and has a number of
pictures of organs by many manufacturers.

     Estey Reed Organs on Parade, by Robert Whiting. ISBN 0-911572-21-X.

     Harmonium: the History of the Reed Organ and its Makers, by Arthur
Ord-Hume.

Repairing harmoniums might not be a huge money-maker, but it's something to
do and there is a certain amount of satisfaction to it, especially when
those "little old ladies" dig out their ragged hymn books afterwards and
play it for the first time in years.   B-})

			John

John Musselwhite, RPT
Calgary, Alberta Canada
musselj@cadvision.com