c. 1890 Doherty Chapel Organ
History of the Organ
I purchased this organ in May 2020. I had planned to buy a digital piano, but was not impressed with the high cost and poor sound quality of used DPs, not to mention the fact that they are disposable electronics that can be difficult or impossible to repair beyond a decade or two. I wanted an acoustic piano, but couldn't justify the weight, size and cost for a decent piano at this time.
I first learned to play keyboard on a Thomas reed organ (with 12 stops) when I was around 5 or 6 years old. Since then I've had a life-long fascination with reed organs, though my interaction with them was limited until this year. This Doherty organ caught my eye and I went to take a look, not intending to buy it. The previous owner of this organ had inherited the organ from a relative in Vancouver about 25-30 years ago. They expected a piano, and were disappointed to discover it was an organ when they arrived with their transport trailer. They brought it back to Calgary anyway, where there organ resided in their basement with little use for three decades.
When considering purchasing this organ I came across this video of a performance by Rodney Jantzi on the same model of organ. Rodney's video was a factor that inspired me to get this organ.
The serial number suggests this organ was manufactured around 1890 by Doherty Piano & Organ Co. at Clinton, Ontario. The warranty card, which is typically dated, was missing from inside the organ, so I am not able to determine the exact year with certainty. I was not able to determine from the previous owners when the organ had been transported to Vancouver. From the limited info available, it appears Calgary was the closest Doherty dealer to Vancouver. It's possible the organ was originally purchased in Calgary and transported to Vancouver sometime in it's lifetime.
I discovered a website that mentions the First United Church in Salmon Arm, BC had purchased a Doherty brand of organ in 1890:
"[In 1890] the school teacher, Miss F. Goodridge, had been collecting funds to purchase an organ and had succeeded in raising $65.00. The organ chosen was one of Doherty’s best chapel organs, which cost in the factory in the East $65.00, so now they had sufficient funds to pay the $16.00 freight charges and soon had their first musical instrument for church services."
https://firstunitedsalmonarm.ca/about-us/history/church-history/
I contacted the church to see if they might have the serial number for that Doherty on record, out of curiousity if it matched mine, but I haven't received a response. This case style of organ seems to have been somewhat popular at the time, so I'm guessing it's a low probability it is the exact organ from this church.
An inflation calculator online suggests the organ was purchased for $1,800 in 2020$ with delivery charges of $450 for a total cost of $2,250 in today's dollars. Of course the organ is now worth little, considering its age, the need for ongoing maintenance, and low demand for organs in general in today's marketplace. Repairing, restoring and maintaining this organ will be a labour of love, as the work won't pay for itself if the organ is ever sold in the future. By comparison, a digital piano also cannot be resold for the initial cost that goes into it or for any repairs invested in it. I'd rather invest in this organ!
Review of the Organ Condition
My knowledge of how reed organs actually work was close to zero before I bought this organ. I've been on a steep and fascinating learning curve since then! Note that I may not use the correct terminology. Feel free to correct me in the comments.
Bellows
When I first played the organ in May 2020 the bellows would hold a single note at middle C with only one stop open for about 5 seconds, which is poor. At a minimum, an organ should ideally hold a note for at least 20 to 30 seconds. Some people have reported as much as 40 to 50 seconds after a restoration. It's been reported that the Waring book about the Estey company mentions 20 seconds with the Melodia stop open as a standard used for a final quality control check before an organ left a factory. However, despite the aging and leaking wind system, the organ is quite playable as is. It just requires more pumping to keep up with than a newly restored organ would. It is possible to play with dynamic expression with this organ, though it becomes trickier with more stops open. As a bonus, I get more exercise with a moderately leaky organ! Even so, I don't feel out of breath at all, even after playing for an hour straight. I would guess that an organ with less than 3 seconds holding power would become unplayable. So 5 seconds is on the edge and doesn't leave much contingency for new leaks developing. So I'm assuming I'll need to overhaul my organ sometime in the next few years.
The organ appears to have been maintained up until a few decades ago. My best guess when comparing with other organs is it was last overhauled sometime between the 1950s and 1970s. The bellows cloth feels intact with no large holes. The outer leather exhauster valve flaps that I can feel through the opening for the treadles appear in good condition, but are curling at the edges, exposing the ports below. I'm guessing the curled leather to be the main source of air leak. I plan to research options to add a conditioner to the leather to see if that reduces the curling.
I used two different size flexible hoses taped to a funnel on the end of the vacuum to access small and narrow spaces to extensively vacuum out the internals of the organ (complete as of June 28, 2020).
After cleaning out the organ, the bellows now hold air for about 8 to 9 seconds, playing middle C with the same single stop open. I'm not sure why it changed like this. My current theory is that the change in humidity in the house from winter to summer was a contributing factor. It will be interesting to see if the air test time reduces again in winter.
Reeds
About a half dozen reeds were not sounding. I removed the silent reeds and blew on them until the obstructions were cleared (holding them up to a bright light to check that the obstruction was cleared before replacing them). All the reeds are now working (as of June 28, 2020). I haven't cleaned them other than blowing on them, for now. I later learned of a technique to run a razor blade tip along the edge of the reed tongue to gently clean them and scrape off corrosion that can contribute to jamming the reeds.**
For now I'm using a large nail and needle nose pliers to remove and replace the reeds.
Two reeds in the Diapason bass were reversed (D#1 and E1). I had to remove the mounting support for the Diapason swell shade to remove and switch these reeds. It was a bit awkward working behind the sub bass box, but feasible. The needle nose pliers were essential to manipulate the reeds behind the sub bass. The rivets on the key scale reeds have a maltese cross pattern stamped on the rivet tops.
** I learned this tip from Casey Pratt, who has many decades of experience restoring reed organs, via the "Reed Organ Tech" Facebook group. This group, plus the forums at organforums.com, have provided a wealth of information to accelerate my learning curve about these organs. I extensively searched the archives at these sites and posted questions when I could not find answers in the archives. Thank you to all who have generously offered their time to give advice and answer questions and for volunteering to manage these sites.
Treble Reed Example
Stamped on reed: PAT’D OCT.18.1886
Bass Reed Example
Diapason E1 Bass Reed
The following winter (March 2021) I discovered two of the sub bass reeds were rattling. I feared the reed tongues might have cracked due to fatigue, causing the tongue to hit the reed frame. The reeds were very firmly in place, but I eventually managed to remove them using a homemade reed puller (screw in a block of wood). I found the reeds were in good condition with no evidence of cracks. The reed tongue was clearly hitting the frame when in place in the reed cell, but did not hit the frame after it was removed.
My theory is the sub bass reed cell block had slightly shrunk due to the dry winter air, slightly squeezing the reed frames, causing the tongue to hit the frame. I very gently cleaned the reeds and removed a thin film of gunk/corrosion along the sides of the frame and tongue with fine steel wool. After the reeds were replaced, they worked perfectly with no further issues.
Wood Case
The wood case is in relatively good condition for its age. The trip from humid Vancouver to dry Calgary is the likely cause of two large cracks in the wood case.
I am not yet sure if the wood burl patterns are created by actual burl veneers or an inked pattern that was sometimes used (which I learned from Rodney Jantzi).
The wood finish is clearly faded, which can be seen at the transition above and below the keyboard cover. The wood inside the cover has a depth that looks nice. Perhaps someday the exterior could be refinished.
Keys
Other than one key that was initially sticking, but has now loosened up, the keys are in adequate working order to play the organ without hindrance. Close inspection reveals a wood cylinder piece [name?] on the rods (pitmans) is split for this particular key. It may have been initially catching on the adjacent wood cylinders before rotating a bit to clear the other adjacent wood cylinders.
The next winter multiple sharps started to stick. I learned that the wood had shrunk slightly due to the dry, indoor winter air, causing the guide pins to bind on the inside of the key. This was resolved by tapping a metal rod lightly with a hammer to slightly adjust the guide pins back to prevent them from binding. I used a cloth on the end of the metal rod to protect the pin from being scratched, which could have cause the key to bind for other reasons.
Key Weight (Touchweight)
The key weight ranges from around 60 to 80 grams, averaging close to 70 g overall. I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but it doesn't seem to affect my amateur playing very adversely. I'm reading that upright pianos are typically adjusted to around 50 g.
Stops
The bass coupler stop is very stiff to operate, it feels like the stop knob might bust due to the force required if I use it too much. When I removed the front grill, I found the coupler rack assemblies lifted and dropped freely, suggesting the stiffness is somewhere in the stop mechanism. Since the stop retracts freely, this suggests to me that the restriction is in the vertical wood dowel/shaft that activates the coupler. To be researched further and addressed in the future.
The organ appears to have been well used and cared for. The stop faces are mostly worn off, though still legible due to the relief imprinted on them. I'm not sure yet if I'll restore the stop faces or not, for now I will leave them as is. The wear adds an interesting element of history, as it shows which stops were most popular to use by past players.
Recently (August 2020), the stop action has been coming a bit loose, resulting in the bass coupler not quite fully engaging. I will need to tighten up the screws holding the action in place.
Safety Valve (Relief Valve)
The springs on the safety valve were loose. I adjusted them to hold a slight tension. I have no idea what the correct tension is. The spring tension must be enough to adequately seal the reservoir. When the reservoir is near to completely exhausted, the safety valve is pushed open by a dowel inside the reservoir.
Here was the original condition of the safety valve before I adjusted the springs:
Springs for Dulciana Borrowed Stops
At first I thought the Dulciana stop linkages were busted, as pulling these stops had no resistance and didn't seem to do anything. Looking inside the organ, I discovered these are called "soft stops" or "borrowed stops". They open the Diapason stop by about 20-25%. However, the stop would not hold the Diapason open, so it didn't function correctly.
I found spring tensioners lying loose inside the organ, similar to the springs holding the safety valve closed. One was on the bottom base panel, under the bellows, behind the treadles. The other was laying on top of the keys, inside the stop guide box. Initially I had no idea where they were supposed to go. Then I had a light bulb moment when wondering about the purpose of the grooves in the wood arms that operate the Diapason from the Dulciana stop. I set the springs back in place on the wood arms. They now add some resistance to pulling the stop and remain in place to hold the Diapson stop open.
The borrowed stop does not quite work correctly yet, as due to compression of some felt, it does not quite open the Diapason enough to sound the Diapason reeds. This is minor, I will address it later by replacing the compressed felt (or temporarily gluing on some cloth to thicken the compressed portion). I need a proper glue first.
The borrowed stop does not quite work correctly yet, as due to compression of some felt, it does not quite open the Diapason enough to sound the Diapason reeds. This is minor, I will address it later by replacing the compressed felt (or temporarily gluing on some cloth to thicken the compressed portion). I need a proper glue first.
Glue
I'm in process of researching which glue would be best to use for minor work on the organ. Given that I don't plan to completely overhaul it at this time, I will likely use Titebond glue for now. If I eventually get into a major overhaul I'd like to try working with fish glue, which was recommended on reed organ discussion groups. Hide glue (hot glue) may be ideal for fastening some components, to be confirmed.
Cloth Grill Covers (Silks?)
The current cloth has some tears and is faded. I plan to replace it once I find the right glue. I'm currently torn about what colour to use. There is evidence of red cloth being used in the past, replaced with the current beige cloth. I have seen other organs of this model online with both red cloth and a beige cloth similar to this one.
On one hand, the red cloth gives the organ a classic Victorian reed organ look. But on the other hand, the beige cloth is more subtle, bringing the attention to the nice woodwork on the organ first. A bright red cloth tends to draw the eye there first, and woodwork second.
Back Panel of the Organ
An interesting feature of this organ is the back panel is finished with stain and scrollwork, due to the organ being a chapel model that would not likely be up against a wall, like a parlour organ would usually be. The rear scroll work would release more sound into a chapel as well. I'm tempted to leave the organ perpendicular to the wall, but it does protrude into the small parlour space that I currently have.
Organ Specs and Details
Tuning
The tuning of the notes varies from the lowest frequency just before the reed goes silent to the highest frequency at full suction volume through the reed. The following frequencies were recorded:
- Principal 4' A3: 458 - 455.5
- Diapason 8' A4: 457.1 - 454.6 Hz
- Celeste 8' A4: 460 - 457.5
The Celeste is tuned about 2 Hz sharp of the principal to create the tremolo effect, which is about 7.5 cents.
Comparing the notes with the middle C Principal reed, most notes seem to be within 2 to 3 cents. Some notes are 4 to 5 cents out maximum. The few reeds I pulled showed evidence of past tunings due to extensive file marks.
I later found another organ of this case style on Youtube, listed as c.1891 with A459 tuning, which suggests this was likely close to the original frequency it was tuned to.
List of stops
Diapason Bass [8’]
Principal Bass [4’]
Sub Bass [16’ for lower octave C1 to C2]
Bass Coupler [adds lower octave “ghost” keys]
Principal Forte [opens front swell shade]
Dulciana Bass [Borrowed stop, opens Diapason Bass by 25%]
Vox Humana [adds vibrato to any other stop that is pulled. Usually the center stop]
Dulciana Treble [Borrowed stop, opens Diapason Treble by 25%]
Diapason Forte [opens rear swell shade]
Treble Coupler [adds higher octave “ghost” keys]
Vox Celeste [8’, tuned a bit lower than the other reeds to create a warm, tremolo sound]
Principal Treble [4’]
Diapason Treble [8’]
Knee Levers:
Right hand side: Knee Swell [noted as labelled]
Left hand side: Grand Organ [noted as labelled]
Layout of Organ Stops and their Functions:
* Organ dimensions: 49” high, 24” wide, 48” long * Serial number: 11967 * Total Number of Reeds: 165 * Estimated year of manufacture: 1890 * Style No. 105 [based on warranty card from organ with identical case design: Serial No. 15060, Oct 1892] * Penciled writing on the underside of the barrel key slip: "11967" and "18", each at different locations. * Numbers stamped into the backs of the two lowest keys: 811 [some kind of factory part number] * No date or tuner's signature found on the back of the keys. There may yet be something hiding in there, I haven't taken the keys out yet. * Number stamped on wood base below Vox Humana Fan: 90 [possibly a serial number for a component that was built by a supplier at a separate factory]
The only surviving Doherty catalog that I can find on the internet is the 1901 catalog on the Antique Piano Shop website. In comparison with the 1901 chapel model action style series, my 1890 organ has the equivalent number of reeds sets as the Style 32 (5 reed sets plus sub bass), although my organ has 13 stops instead of 15 stops listed for the 1901 Style 32. This is because my organ has only one pair of "soft/borrowed" stops compared with two pairs listed for the Style 32.
Bravo on the detailed restoration blog. Mine was an 1874 George Woods - I envy you having that Doherty! Tom M.
ReplyDeleteThe bass and treble coupler division is at A3 flat/A3, which does not match the bass/treble reed set division at B3/C3.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting read. Most encouraging to know that this handsome and well-made instrument is in such good hands.
ReplyDelete