10-21-12
Ed and Ken are slated to start in a few days for what is purported to be THE FINAL PUSH to completion. I just reviewed my costs since purchase, and I am a tick under $50K to date since summer of 1987. The last three years have been lingering death with Mr. No Show, and the prior 22 years were no better. Years and years just waiting on people. And none of that was free.
Anyway, here we are poised for an actual diligent, professional, dedicated (am I just delusional here?) grind to completion.
Stay tuned.

10-27-12
The boys have indeed commenced work. Ed is wiring up the boards, and has found numerous faulty valves and wiring. Ole Bob was SO far off base here with his assertions that all valves were now in order, etc. Ed is oiling several pivot points on the old plastic bushing valves. Some are responding. We have converted all wiring to 50-pin phone-type connectors. Ed is retaining one punch block for connections, and all the rest are hard-wired to the chests. Ken is repairing a couple of large Faggott pipes.

11-11-12
Ed has spent 4 days this week alone here and he and Ken were here all day yesterday, and will be returning Monday (Veteran’s Day) to continue.
Ed has rewired all the chests, putting 25-pair phone company connectors on them. He took the Rohr Flute and Krumhorn and corrected many bad wiring situations and valves
Ed took the front half of the right side chest: the Principals, Gemshorn, Larigot, and Schweigel home and reqired them.
Ken yesterday made up a rack for the 8’ Faggott to stabilize them, cut some winding through the center of the Celeste chest to simplify plumbing, and made up some pipe “shoelaces” for the tall Gemshorns at the left.
Ed has completed the wiring at the back of the console and gotten rid of a MASS of previous wiring attempts. I made some “spreader” strips for him, and they are wired and installed. These strips have dozens of small holes to allow wire to be laced to them and made neat and organized.
We found some dead notes yesterday, which turned out to be a combination of sticking valves, mostly the plastic bushing around the pivot pin, some bad contacts in some switches (the draw knobs or “stops”), and a missing contact block in the upper keyboard. That block had been bought and set in, but never wired. There were also some broken ground points. The major contact points in the console are comprised of two rows of wire “fingers”, about the size of pencil lead, which are touched by a double-layer phosphored bronze contact bar, on which a continuous ground bar (about the size of welding rod) is connected, and to which are soldered individual grounding wires from each key. A few of these soldered points were broken.
So now we have the morass of wiring incompleteness removed, including the old 100-pin connector blocks, all of the organ pipe wires now terminated into the many 25-pin pigtails, and the right side chests about to be put back together.

There is no substitute for just showing up.
Ken and Ed suggest I remote-locate the blower. Of course it WAS before Organ Bob got involved. We will see on Monday if it is possible to revisit that through the wall ducting as before.
I told them there are two kinds of experiences when paying people to do work. One is the horrible, rip your guts feeling of being mistreated and not getting performance, and the other is the brilliant and happy experience of having the honor and privilege of GIVING money to those who do great work and make you happy. Ed and Ken are the latter.

11-14-12
The Organ Boys were here almost every day for the last week, and Ed was here several days per week prior to that. Most of the wiring, save for a few dead notes (wires not connected or bad valves), is done. We went to the 25-pair phone company connectors. Ed has removed all of Organ Bob’s unorganized wiring on the rear of the console, corrected numerous wind leaks, cleaned dozens of valve pads, etc. As of today, the right side organ (the 4’ pipes) has the Rohr Flue in place and playing, Most of the Faggott 8’ works, and the 16’ Bourdon play except for three dead notes. We have yet to get the tall Gemshorn happening, although they are in and tied up. We are now considering mounting the blower UNDER the floor. I will investigate that tomorrow on my own with John and Kelly helping me as needed. This will require a larger floor access to be cut, and possibly a box or “tub” built into the underfloor dirt.

11-16-12
We opened the floor, enlarged the opening to 25 x 32 by heading out a floor joist, lowered the dirt about 4”, put in some pea gravel, leveled it, and set the blower down in place. The floor pieces are back in, and are covered by the console in any event. I also put in the AC plug in the wall behind the console, so we will have power for both the blower and power supply right there.
The next question now is do we run the 6” main line into the bottom of the center regulator, or up the front as is now done? Going in from directly under it would be easier in many respects, but whatever is needed we’ll do. So I’m just waiting on the boys to return.

Ed just called, and is coming in the morning (Saturday).
HOORAY!

11-17-12
Ed did a little wiring this morning, and we discussed the underfloor blower. We need about 4’ of 6” hose to complete the winding run to the regulators. That stuff is about $10/LF plus shipping.
YIKES!
He is ordering it Monday from Organ Supply. So perhaps I will see him after Thanksgiving.
I will just take the existing inlet hose and turn it straight down into the floor, and build about 9” out on the front of the right chest. That will put me even with the left side chests.
The interior of the console is a fright of wiring. There are bare wires running here and there, and a not-milspec layout of stuff. We are slowly getting this Gordian knot under control. Will this play for Christmas? Maybe. It can play right now on 2+ ranks.

12-7-12
Ed and Ken showed up Tuesday (12/4/12) and did some work for a few hours in the morning. The hose is connected, the blower functioning under the floor (QUIET!), and the Rohr Flute, and 8’ Faggott are playing. I have not attempted to make “music” on this as yet. Perhaps tomorrow.
A half dozen Krumhorns have some boot issues, and Ken is addressing those at his place.
The boys are not scheduled yet for their next return date. But this is looking so much better. It is delicious to be dealing with sane, reliable, qualified professionals. They also happen to be real nice guys as well.

12-18-12
They came last week on Wednesday, and got the best RUNNING!!!!! After 25 years of TRYING, it now has played. I, of course, cannot play even a full chord with pedal yet on it. I need to get some sheet music on the Widor and Bach pieces (my ENTIRE prior repertoire), and see what happens. But I know several people who can, and I am starting the calls inviting them to come on over. Meanwhile, there are naturally some bugs yet to be cured, such as dead notes, murmurs, ciphers, etc. But the thing PLAYS!
IT’S ALIVE!
I am now directing my efforts toward the casework, what little of it there will be. I am constructing two pedestals for the JBL LSR-28-P monitor rear speakers in the living room, and those pedestals will be approximately 13” square by about 30” tall.
I will apply liberal crown and other mouldings to this casework. This will give a hint of formality to the structure at the front of the organ. The right half, in front of the 4’ ranks, will have a 9” shelf at the bottom of the front chests about 28” off the floor.
From that right side a small 9” square tunnel 17” long will hide the wiring from the organ to the console.
I have to do s little wiring accommodation from under the console to the wall plug, as the console right now drags on that cord from the underfloor blower. A little floor opening and drilling will hopefully handle this issue.
We are going to make the front panels from Poplar. Not only is it a nice wood, but it is correct to the original organ construction. I’m going to finish it in a dark Cherry color.

The techs will undoubtedly being making more trips here, as the final gremlins give way to their efforts.

12-22-12
Ken and Ed returned two days ago and finished up their work. There remains for me to do some under-the-pipes clean up, dig out the rear channel wires, and do some rat-proofing to any floor penetrations, etc.
There are still some ciphers and a few non-working notes. I will test drive it for a while and call them back when it is cost-effective for them to spend some time here again.
So a quarter of a century, literally 25 years, has elapsed in the process of getting this running again.
WOW!

Like my hot rods, this custom piece is going to require a little more tweaking before it is finally ready to be played reliably. But what a delight to have no more messes as in pipes in closets, on the dining room table, on top of the armoire and etagiere, jumbles of wires and cutoffs piled behind the console etc.
It all looks so neat and easy once it is done.
GOOD.
So a HUGE thank-you to Ed and Ken for making good on their professionalism and promise with their performance. They got it done in 2 months! They are not only good at what they do, they are superbly pleasant folks.
This last lap was a pleasure.
So I will now, after Christmas, put out the invites to a half-dozen organists to come and she this thing down.

12-24-12
I got a call yesterday from Ed Burnside who said he had printed up the sheet music to my two pieces I used to play, and asked if he could pop them in the mail? I said no, I’ll be right over.
I went to his place in Venice, and saw his CONSIDERABLE pipe organ install. WOW! He has about 15 ranks, including some open 16’ Bourdons and reeds.
He built a second story just for the organ. Very clever install, thoughtful, accessible, and massively engineered. WOW! What a job that was.
As for mine, it has dropped a few more notes (I might have pulled a couple of ciphering pipes). I am pathetic at reading music after 50 years!! So I am back to the old monkey-do-it-a-thousand times thing.
Whatever.
Just fun to take up the challenge.

12-25-12
My right shoulder blade area starts cramping after about 10-15 minutes of piecing together chord structures. I am occasionally working the bass (pedal) line with my left hand to “read” it. I am SO pathetic. But hey, it gets a TINY bit better each day, as it did almost 50 years ago.
I am learning a little differently this time, picking up on melody notes in the chords, as a way of bringing the notes together.
Man, this is SLOW work.

12-29-12
I spoke with Jeannine, my sister, and she suggested some technical things for my practicing.
Will do.
JJ and Kelly and I have been hitting it hard on the casework. Of course it is a design-as-we-go type of thing. I am going to switch the corner blocks (about 20 or so to KOA wood, as I have some lengths which are just sitting around. This is HUGELY expensive wood, so it might as well get used.
We have already cut some of the blocks in Poplar, of course. No worries.
I am going to extend the casework around the south side above and to the right of the console.
This should be fun.
It is a bit frustrating as this is another LONG holiday weekend (actually to mid-week 1/2/13) with nothing open and no possibility to make big progress over the next 4 days.

8:22 PM
I have spent ALL day working on laying out all the corner blocks, sizing them, and mocking up as possible all interfaces. I am about to make the master cut list. That south wall is now planned as mirrors with wood trim around (LOTS of wood trim). I really had no clue that this layout would take ALL day.

12-31-12
I spent all Sunday working as I did Saturday, fabricating blocks, etc.
JJ came this morning, and we decided to give the Koa veneer a shot. So he took all the plywood panels, the Koa (which he will lay up to approximately 4” wide by about 2.5” thick, and slice to about ¼”), and I kept all the blocks here for now.
We’ll cut the faces of the Poplar blocks about ¼” to provide for the Koa slices once JJ brings the material back.

1-3-13
I found a company in Pacoima today, took the glued-up Koa there, and for $25 Tony sliced it up into a lot of ¼” material on a bandsaw. This is a wonderful shop, nice people. This is definitely a future asset.
I laid out most of it, and JJ will come back tomorrow with some final joined slices, and we’ll mark the final cuts for the 4 big blocks. Most pieces are cut and mated (but not glued). We’ll get to doing that tomorrow.
I am delighted so far that my meticulous approach is paying off. All current pieces are marked, paired, and ready for gluing and trimming.
We are having a custom stain made to bring the Poplar as close to the Koa color as possible.

1-4-13
JJ commenced staining the plywood this morning at his house. I continued with finishing up the cutting of the Koa pieces, and then trimmed all the block faces about ¼” to receive the Koa and maintain the same depth and look overall.
I managed only one tiny little blade nick on my thumb through this whole series of cuts over several days.
We have material left over!
I will continue with glue-up tomorrow, hopefully finishing up the remaining pieces.

1-6-13
Today, Sunday, will likely see me finish gluing up the remaining blocks. JJ has finished the plywood panels, and suggests letting them set for a few more days if possible to let them harden up.
We also could just install them, and once the blocks are stained and cleared just start installing them. We are working on a stain match for the Koa, and so far the Red Oak is a little too red. I need to find some Walnut or the like and give that a shot.

1-6-13
10:13 PM
I did all but one side of one of the blocks. I also sanded all surfaces as possible and got the pieces about 90% ready for staining. So JJ should have a full box of blocks to stain tomorrow.
Randy dropped by, and was a welcome set of hands for some of the blocks which took 4 clamps!

I will call Ed Burnside tomorrow and see if he can come out before I get the faces permanently on.

1-8-13
Ed is off to Visalia until Saturday. They MIGHT come by Saturday on their way back if it occurs early enough.
Ed says he has been trying the Widor 6th Symphony, and is mightily challenged! I feel good about both aspects.

Meanwhile, I am continuing on the façade. We have the panels back in place, and I’ve decided to use Velcro on nearly all panels. This will alleviate issues for maintenance later. JJ is going ahead with Red Oak on the blocks, and we’ll just live with it.
I priced some additional Koa to cover the beam wrap above the organ. A MERE $150!!
This is for a piece 6” by 2” by 39”.
That/s $42/board foot.
I will see just what we can literally glue together here first.
I might consider getting a little bit of Australian Lace Wood at under half the cost.

So JJ should be finished with the blocks tomorrow, bring them over, and we can spray the clear on them here in the garage.
GOTTA COVER THE CAR!!!!
The panels came out a nearly purple deep brown. The grain looks great. Very dark and rich-looking.
I will postpone getting the remainder of the trim wood until I deposit a check from a newly-starting remodel job.
We’ll install the blocks on the panels, and then remove the screws from all panels and reset them with Velcro.
The trim can go on at any point in that process, probably after setting on the Velcro.
I priced the mirrors on the south wall at $381 from Crone Glass. That, too, will have to wait for the dough.
And I need another sheet of Poplar plywood for the right side counter in front of the 4’ ranks, and the west side return on the wall panel to the right of the console.

1-10-13
We got most of everything coated, save one more coat of clear on the Koa pieces. They look absolutely ELECTRIC! Holy cow! The stuff is just on fire!
That final coat (#3) on the Koa will be done inside the living room on the dining room table, to avoid dust, increase heat, reduce drying time, etc.
I’ll tape (and/or hold in place) the blocks, and pin nail them from the back side. We’ll also glue them.
I have received my first job draw, so will order the glass tomorrow.
I cannot install the crown and some other pieces until the glass and the remainder of the plywood panels are in place. I’ll get that last sheet of plywood tomorrow, get it cut, and JJ will stain and clear coat it.
Nest week, JJ will stain the mouldings at full length prior to any cuts, and we’ll have them completely prefinished before cutting and setting them.
We have work to do on this Halpert kitchen job, so we will not be able to spend full days on the organ right now.
And the 16’ Bourdon came back to life on its own. It must be something in the console.
I found my tuning forks today while searching for Los Angeles Master Chorale pirate recording I made. So I can tune a few oddball pipes.

1-13-13
ORGAN
I removed the (4) H-99 ceiling lights over the console which were now in the way of the mouldings. I plugged them up, and will do final drywall repair soon. It was quite a tedious deal to do this.
I added some length to the power supply and console lighting cords, and mounted the back on the console. I had to cut out the lower corner to clear the mass of wiring there. I laced them tightly, and it is a minimal intrusion out the back.
I also cut the floor to permit the blower power to not interfere with the console, and moved the console to within 8” of the wall. I also mounted a power strip on the back side at the rear left corner, and have all AC for the organ running into that easy to find master shutoff. I need to extend the blower power line and the AC strip feed as well. Right now those two circuits are on extension cords. I’ll get some longer pigtails tomorrow.
I will also order the mirrors tomorrow, to allow the consequent placement of mouldings and blocks.
JJ came yesterday and we cut the wall panel and the right side shelf panel, and he stained them. He will clear coat them tomorrow at his house.
I’ll also order the ouldings, or just buy them outright, at Superior MOulding tomorrow. JJ can then get on with staining them and clear-coating them to a gloss finish.
We have the Halpert job to do, so some of the above may have to wait a day or two here and there.
So a LOT got done with the organ, and it plays nicely.
Finally, Nini is going to come Wednesday for my first organ lesson.

1-15-13
Ran to Superior Moulding late this afternoon and loaded up a couple of hundred feet of mouldings. With luck, JJ will have time to prep and stain some of them tomorrow.
I also ordered all but one mirror from Crone, I will wait until I install the others before measuring for the final piece in the middle.

1-16-13
Jeannine came this morning, and was pleased with my dedication and correct approach to technique. She noticed I am carrying my little finger on each hand high (tension), and that is my challenge for now. She noted this is common.
She emphasized legato on my scales, changed ALL my fingering around (I had NO idea), and promised to find me some scale books. She’s returning next week. She also gave me a few tidbits on music structure, as in the relationship of firths and # of sharps and flats. Quite interesting.
Oh boy.
JJ and Kelly recoated the Koa, but it again has a lot of debris in the clear. There is probably nothing else to do about it except spray it, which JJ says he will do.
JJ took the mouldings home and is staining them, as well as getting some clear coat on the two plywood panels.
The glass at Crone should be done tomorrow.
I’ll need to have the right side plywood panel in place to install the right side mirror.
But otherwise I can do the other 3 pieces for now.
As noted, I’ll order the middle mirror once the others are up.
I’d guess we’ll have it all up within a week.
BUT, I’ll have to remove ALL the large pipes on the left side of the organ to get access to the up high mirrors and crown, as well as some of the 4’ stuff to do the south side mirrors.
Whatever.

1-17-13
As it was quite windy today, JJ was unable to finish clear-coating the two panels. This in turn makes me unable to pick up the mirrors from Crone (they are ready). So it now looks like Monday or Tuesday before I can install mirrors.
I did a little practicing today. I have a LONG way to go!

1-22-13
I picked up the long mouldings from JJ today, and stashed them under the KK on the rack. JJ will bring the two plywood panels tomorrow, and once up, I can get the mirrors from Crone, perhaps even later tomorrow.
We have yet to do the final dust-free clear coat on the Koa.

1-23-13
I ended going and getting the panels from JJ today, and installed them immediately. Then Kelly and I ran over to Crone for the mirrors. Crone’s worker was WAY in a hurry, and broke one of the big pieces. Nevertheless, I got two pieces up, and will take a third narrow strip back to be slightly trimmed tomorrow when I get the other big piece.
I trimmed the right side toe board to clear the corner moulding that will cover the mirror junction there.

We had to pull about 30 pipes out of the right side for access. I had Kelly make two 8” legs to hold up the 55 x 33 piece behind the 4’ pipes at the south, and just stuck them in place with mirror mastic. I also pulled off an electrical box cover to gain the critical ¼” needed to get the mirror in. I trimmed that down, cleaned up three mirror panels, reinstalled the plate, and reset the pipes.
Tomorrow will see the other south wall mirror go in, and THEN I will make a template for the remaining center piece above the console.
If JJ has luck painting a multitude of doors for our Halpert job, then we can finish the Koa clear-coating and get on with installing all the trim.
Projects sure take up less room once they are assembled. We will have to pull all the big pipes on the left out to set the crown, but that’s just the name of the game.

1-28-13
I spent ALL yesterday, until past 10 PM, gluing in all the blocks and trim I could. I SHOULD have just pulled the pin nailer in and made it SO much simpler. Whatever, today the three of us continued. I found we were missing about 5 junction blocks, and I thought I was short one length of trim, I went out and bought another, only to find the missing stick here.
So all the trim is in, JJ made great progress on veneering the new blocks, and tomorrow will see him and Kelly start the clear-coating on those last pieces. Nonetheless, I sized and installed all the base pieces in between those blocks, save one piece on the south wall. All the mirrors are in and cleaned. We now have only to pull a LOT of pipes out, set up some sort of ladder or scaffold, and get the beam saddle and the long pieces of crown in place.
I also put the broken off rear corner trims back on the console, and got the wire cover chase trimmed out as well.
It really looks good!
Ralph saw it last night, and his comment was that it looked Baroque.
PERFECT!

2-7-13
I had a cipher in the pedal. Turns out one of the pedal contacts had slipped down slightly, and would JUST touch the contacts. So that is good now. And I’ve done a little more practicing.
I have put the word out to my sister to line up some organists to have perhaps a little in-house festival some Saturday or whatever.
I am going to contact Steve Park, Frankie Norbert, Bill Beck, etc., and see if we can get something happening, along with a few friends to observe the fun.

I got an email from Glen Darcey at Village Church in Burbank, noting he had read my website and had similar experiences with Un-Organized Bob. Glen wondered if I had contact info for UB.

3-2-13
11:18 PM
Well, I think I can say it’s DONE!
REALLY!
I pulled out all the 8’ and 16’ pipes on the left (about 200 or so), built a scaffold, and made perhaps 30 trips up and down the scaffold measuring, cutting, setting, etc. Vince, John and I were VERY busy most of the day. I took Vince home about 7:15 PM and came back to finish it off myself.

It came out great, looks delicious, and finishes off the area nicely.
There are a few goofy notes here and there, and Ed and Ken will drop by in a few weeks when their schedule eases and take a peek.
They have been paid in full, and this project is now stamped DONE.

3-15-13
I got Mark Anderson out here to refinish the wood floors in two rooms, and he has one coat on the living room floor now.
He will return in the AM to do another coat.
The room is getting better.
Next will be some painting. For now, the organ functions, the surround sound system works without hum, due to putting ground isolators on the two rear speakers.
I’d like to try some echo effects on the organ using live sound. Anyway, some painting, moulding tune ups, and we’ll be pretty much done in there.

3-18-13
So the room is really done, save a repaint, and the whole thing looks great.

4-3-13
Had Easter family dinner here, and Jeannine was the surprised guest organist after the meal. This was fun!
The organ guys are coming tomorrow for a checkup and spot tuning. There are some issues to handle.

10:16 PM
The boys came yesterday and did some repairs and tuning.
I don’t know exactly which pipes/notes still need work.

4-13-13
I have jumped on the instrument a half dozen times since the boys were here, practicing. I am getting better. In about a year I predict I will actually play some music. Meanwhile, I am diligent in my practices, and enjoying the technical improvements.

5-13-13
I have a couple of organists committed to coming to my 69th birthday party, being held Saturday June 15th. So a few REAL organists will be attending, and will play some things.
GREAT!