Freeport United Methodist Church

Freeport, NY

 

Midmer-Losh

Opus # ??

II/10

Stoplist

Exterior     Interior     Console     Organ

This Midmer-Losh pipe organ was in a serious state of disrepair when we were called in to restore it.  Well-meaning members of the church were attempting to fix problems with the organ that stemmed from the incompetent organ technician who used to "care" for the organ.  These church members knew the value of their organ and were trying to salvage it, fearing the cost of a restoration would scare the church into getting rid of the instrument.        The members trying to repair the organ, who did an admirable job, knew they needed help.  We were called in to inspect the organ and offer a proposal.  The chests required re-leathering, which would be an expensive and labor intensive process.  The pneumatic relay frame was no longer reliable and would need to be updated.  Most of the pipework was in good shape, and one of the chests were already converted to electro-mechanical action.        Since re-leathering would be an expensive option and typically needs to be done every 50 years, and since one of the chests were already converted to electro-mechanical action, we decided in agreement with the church that the best course of action would be to convert the other chest to an electro-mechanical action as well.  Unfortunately, when we started work on the organ, we found that their previous organ technician did not use best practices when he converted that chest to the new action.  To make sure it was done right, we constructed new Great and Swell electro-mechanical action chests with "Easy-Access bottom boards" while holding our price.  The pedal and offset chests were rebuilt and re-leathered.  The console to chamber wiring was updated and the addition of a Peterson solid state switching system would replace that old pneumatic relay frame.        This organ is now reliable so its beautiful sound can be heard consistently.  The members cared enough about their pipe  organ to see it through to a competent builder for restoration.  And this experience drives home this point, make sure to check references before trusting your organ restoration to just any firm.  We have a comprehensive reference list and we make it available to all prospective customers!