The Consummate Practice Organ:

Estey's "Gibson" Model Studio Organ
Its History, Design, and Restoration

by

Rollin Smith

Reprinted from Vol. XIV, No. 2, Spring 1995 of the *ROS Bulletin*, journal of the Reed Organ Society, Inc., and used with permission of the editor. COPYRIGHTED with ALL OTHER RIGHTS RESERVED.

THE story of the Estey Organ Company's "Gibson" Model (later known as the Studio) Organ, America's most prestigious two-manual and pedal practice reed organ, is a triangle whose sides are the American Guild of Organists' search for a standard organ console design, the Estey Organ Company's manufacture of an organ built to that design, and Archer Gibson, the man for whom it was named. (Look here for an advertisement of this organ.)

From as early as 1867 Estey had built two-manual and pedal reed organs. Their first, the Double Bank Harmonic Organ, Style No. 37, contained five sets of reeds: 16' and 8' on the Great; 8' 4' on the Swell; and an octave and a half of 16' pedal reeds. A successful specification, it was still used in 1895 for the New Students' Pedal Organ, Style 340, and much later as the Model E, but with an extended pedal compass of what would continue to be their standard of thirty notes: C¹-F³. By 1903 three models were listed in the Estey catalog: the Styles K, G (the K with a pipe top), and the T which, to the Swell 8' and 4' added a divided celeste rank with a two-rank 2' Harp Æolienne in the two lower octaves, and a one-rank 8' Vox Jubilante from Middle C that celested with one of the 8' ranks. Often, the treble rank was a 16' Bourdon. Estey soon arrived at a specification it was to continue to use for the next forty years: the Style T with Great 16' 8' 8' 8' and Swell with 8' Salicional, Vox Celeste, Oboe, and 4' Flute; two sets of pedal reeds provided a loud and soft 16' pitch.

More organists than we will ever know improved and perfected their talent on the Style T. Many would agree that its mechanical action makes for a more secure technique than an organ with electric or electro­pneumatic action, its ten-rank specification makes for a greater tonal variety than many small (or small and unified) pipe organs, it takes up less space, and can be moved easily. About the only organist's complaint is that the design of the console is not comparable to that of a modern (i.e. twentieth-century American) pipe organ: the swell pedal is too far to the right, the distance between manuals is too wide, the pedalboard is too far forward towards the player, the manuals overhang too little, and, because the Great reeds are under the keyboards, the manuals are uncomfortably high_5 3/4 inches too high. These criticisms arise because the Style T is compared to consoles whose design conforms to a set of measurements arrived at over many years by the finest organists of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, measurements that were early codified into a standardized console design approved by the American Guild of Organists. Taking this design into consideration, Estey, by 1911, introduced a "New Two Manual Practice (Reed) Organ. On the Exact Lines and Measurements of a Pipe Organ." This was soon known as the "Gibson" Model and the reason why it was so-named combines all of the elements of its history.

The "Gibson" Model Studio Organ

The man for whom the "Gibson" Model organ was named was Archer Gibson (1875-1952), a Baltimore born and trained organist who moved to New York City in May 1901 to assume the position as organist of the Brick Church. Within a couple of years he was playing organs in the homes of the wealthiest families in the city and, from 1909, when he gave up church work, spent the rest of his life engaged in what he called "housework." The greatest names in industry and finance were his "patrons:" Rockefeller, Vanderbilt, Tiffany, Schwab, Frick, Blumenthal, Manville, and many others. He was the first organist to become a millionaire and his playing can be heard on his seventy-two Aeolian Duo-Art rolls and ten RCA phonograph records. Active in the American Guild of Organists all of his life, in 1902 he had passed the first Fellowship examination given by the Guild and the next year was elected to the national office of sub-warden.

Like many organists of his time he was not a little preoccupied with organ console design. Anyone who has played a pre-1900 organ, either reed or pipe, can appreciate the differences among their consoles and the amount of time required to become accustomed to playing on it, all questions of comfort and convenience aside. To eliminate these differences, the Guild encouraged organbuilders to provide consoles with standard dimensions. Archer Gibson was extensively involved in all of the Guild's committees working toward console reform and the minutes that survive mention him in connection with every meeting held.

The Royal College of Organists in London had arrived at a standard console design in 1881. At the third Convention of the Connecticut Music Teachers' Association held in 1892, a group of organists adopted a number of "resolutions in the direction of uniformity in the construction of church and concert organs" and, after the founding in 1896 of the American Guild of Organists, the formulation of a similar standard for American organ consoles was one of its priorities. All but a few of the dimensions were based on those of the Royal College of Organists and the Connecticut Music Teachers' Association's measurements. The first priority was the pedalboard and on April 20, 1903, the American Guild of Organists Pedalboard (a modification of the Willis concave, radiating board, with semi-circular sharp notes, as made by the Hutchings-Votey Company) was unanimously accepted. At the time, many of the important New York churches had Hutchings or Hutchings-Votey organs (the company was building all of the residence organs for the Aeolian Company), and it is not surprising that Gibson played a Hutchings organ at his church and another in the Fifth Avenue home of Emily Vanderbilt Sloan. As chairman of the Guild's Public Meetings Committee, Gibson called a General Meeting on January 2, 1905 to discuss the question of a uniform organ console. Pedal to Manual distances were decided at that meeting. The pedalboard was to be centered under the manuals (rather than the British preference for C under C), the front of the pedal's middle D# was to be between 8½ and 10½ inches back of a plumb-line from the front edge of the lowest manual. It was Archer Gibson who made the motion that the vertical distance should be 29½ inches between the playing surfaces of the lowest manual's natural keys and the middle natural pedal key. He attended the next General Meeting on January 1, 1906, at which various motions were adopted on the "Console of the Organ:" The stops of the Swell and Pedal divisions were to be on left side of the console, those of the Great and Choir on right. The swell pedal was to be over the space between middle E-flat and F-sharp. The size of the swell pedals was to be four inches wide by eleven inches long, with a slight curve upward at the toe. The cover for the surface of swell pedals were discussed: carpet, rubber, metal, and plain boxwood. Oddly, the plain wooden swell pedal, similar to those still built by the Austin Organ Company, was the one recommended. Nothing further was done with console design until 1917 when a joint committee of the AGO and the National Association of Organists was formed. Their recommendations were more specific concerning manual dimensions and may be studied on the accompanying chart.

This background has brought together Gibson and his association with the AGO's efforts to standardize console design. The third side of the triangle is Estey.

Archer Gibson was associated with the Estey Organ Company of Brattleboro, Vermont from the early 1900s and dedicated several of the company's pipe organs. He had an Estey two-manual and pedal reed organ in his New York apartments, at 412 Fifth Avenue until 1909 and at 527 West 110th Street from 1910 until 1918 when he moved into a duplex apartment at West 86th Street in which he installed an Aeolian pipe organ. Estey's new practice organ was undoubtedly designed at his recommendation and, because of his prestige in New York and his influence within the American Guild of Organists, the new model was named after him. He probably acquired an Estey Gibson Model sometime around 1911 when they were first marketed.

The amicable association between the Estey Company and Archer Gibson did not last very long after the Gibson Model was on the market. A passage from a letter of March 23, 1915 from John W. Crooks of the New York Estey office to Col. Jacob G. Estey in Brattleboro, indicates that relations were strained by 1915:

...Mr. Archer Gibson called yesterday afternoon, played the instrument [a pipe organ built for Mrs. Jackson Johnson of St. Louis, Missouri] and damned it as usual. I do not think his authority goes very far. He did, however, mention that if he assisted the Estey Company in any way he should send us a bill. I do not think there is any use bothering with him, as he will do us more harm than good.

It was around this time (at least by 1918, perhaps earlier) that the name of the "Gibson" Model was changed to the Studio Model. Even so, the side of each chest is rubber-stamped with "Gib. 1" as evidence of the organ's first appellation.

The Design

Estey described its "New Two Manual Practice (Reed) Organ. On the Exact Lines and Measurements of a Pipe Organ" as follows:

Quality of tone only has been considered in voicing this organ. Organists may submit their own specifications, not to exceed four stops on each manual and two in the pedal. The organ may be prepared for either Direct Electric Motor or Alternating Motor Blower. Cases only in Mission Oak. Arms removable permitting entrance through narrow doorways. This organ is no experiment as we have had the pleasure of building this particular model for a large number of well known organists, whose names and recommendations we will be pleased to send on request...This organ furnished (with or without blowing outfit) at special price to organists.¹

The practice organ was soon given a name: a catalog of Estey Organs for Church, Chapel, Lodge, and School, received by its addressee on Oct. 21, 1914, pictured and described the "Gibson" Model: "Available in Weathered oak only. A special organ for Professional Organists. Beautifully voiced_quantity being second consideration. We are prepared to build organists' specifications, limited to four sets in each manual, with two pedal sets. Write for circular giving full description."

(Click for full image of catalog page)

A later catalog (pp. 10-11), for which we have been unable to establish a date, described the "New Two-Manual Studio Organ" as

"A reed organ built on the exact principle and measurements of a pipe organ and approved of and recommended by members of the American Guild of Organists for the student organist.
Arranged for electric motor.

Note the Console. There is neither action nor wind chest under the keyboard; these are as in the pipe organ built in the body of the instrument back of the keys, thus insuring the player free movement of the limbs.

Cases Weathered Oak in stock. Other woods or finishes to order.

At an extra charge for actual time in designing, building, voicing and tuning, your own specification may be substituted for the sample specification shown with illustration, which, by the way, we consider the ideal arrangement of reeds, permitting the greatest possible combinations.²

The sets must be limited to four in each manual and two in the pedal. The couplers, being mechanical, cannot be increased without adding weight to the touch, and are therefore not advised.

The possibilities in reed voicing are limited, and in this sample specification we have given about all the known varieties in tone character. Sets of like quality can be substituted, but practically the only real difference must be in the strength of the sets. For example, Diapason 8 feet, with as pure and round a tone as possible to produce with a reed, might be substituted for Dulciana 8 feet in the Great Manual, but one would then have sacrificed the sole 8 feet stop for accompaniment in the Great. [A different example appeared in the May 1918 Catalog: "For example, a four-foot set might be substituted for, say, the eight-foot Melodia set in the Swell Manual, but we contend that one four-foot set is all that this organ requires to give it brilliancy."]

Made with ample bellows, now equipped with four lifters and handle for hand blowing (C# end). May be blown by Rimmer Blower³...[or] by electrically driven fan blower, when same may be placed in room adjoining. In which case four-inch wind trunking would be required from blower to organ.

The dimensions were 5'10" long x 5'9" high x 3'2½" deep; with Pedals, 4'6". With the keyboards and console arms removed the depth was reduced to 2'6½". It was a larger instrument than the Style T: 7½" deeper, 5"-9" higher, 2"-3" longer, 130 pounds heavier, and $355 higher in price. It was available with two case finishes, but apparently others were eventually available because our sampling has found them in Oak, Dark Oak, Walnut, and Mahogany.

Because of its refined voicing suitable for intimate practice in the home, a later catalog cautioned that "The Studio Model is not recommended for use in churches or other public places where volume is required. To meet that demand use Models T or G."

The physical design of the Gibson/Studio is its most distinguishing characteristic. In spite of Estey's claims that it was "built on the exact principle and measurements of a pipe organ and approved of and recommended by members of the American Guild of Organists" in actuality few measurements complied with the Guild's recommendations although it would have been an easy matter to do so. Below are given the dimensions formulated between 1903 and 1917, a comparison of those measurements with a 1925 Estey Style T and a Gibson Model, and, since the Estey organs fall between two AGO reports, those of 1933. A few of the measurements were changed by the 1961 committee in their Revised Report on Standardization of the Console. These are noted.

Comparison of the American Guild of Organists' Standard Organ
Console Measurements With Those of Two Estey Reed Organs

The first discrepancy is the compass of the pedalboard. In 1903 the Guild broke tradition with the Royal College of Organists and the Connecticut Music Teachers Association (who adopted America's first standardized console measurements in 1892) and established a 32-note range from C¹ to G³. This was to assist the playing of transcriptions since no organ music of any consequence went that high. The length of the playing surface of the sharps, set by the CMTA and adopted by the Guild, was reduced by Estey by an inch; the one inch height of the top of the pedal sharps was forward looking since the Guild adopted that in 1933. The Style T is one-eighth of an inch higher. The width of the playing surface and center to center distance of the pedal naturals was consistent.

Estey was less generous with the width of the expression pedals, and more so with their length and the distance between them. Unfortunately, for the Gibson Model they should have reversed the order of the pedals so that the Swell was above the middle E-F break, with the Great to its left. On the Style T the single expression pedal is too far to the right, but in a far better position than at the extreme right.

With the pedalboard's D# under the manual's C# the effect of a centered 32-note pedalboard is achieved. (The Style T harkens back to the RCO and CMTA regulation of C under C.) It is in this placement of the pedalboard well under the manuals, that the Gibson Model fulfills its purpose in providing the organist with a comfortable console. While the Guild specified 8½ inches⁴ (double what the RCO and the CMTA had provided), Estey provided less, but a still comfortable 7 5/8". During the discussions in 1905, Clarence Eddy, the great American organist, said that he had found that Hilborne Roosevelt's console distance of 7 7/8" comfortable, so Estey, differing a quarter of an inch, was in good company.

Estey's 30" distance between the playing surfaces of the Great keys and the Pedals is but a half-inch more than the AGO; the bench is 3/8" lower. Notice that on the Style T the Great manual is an uncomfortable 5 3/4" higher than standard_the player's greatest complaint.

Curiously, the relationship between the manuals is not at all standard. By 1917 the AGO had specified a four inch manual overhang and Estey, in both the Gibson and Style T, still clung to the 1892 measurement of 1½". Estey's surface distance between the manuals is a half-inch wider than the 2 3/8" recommended.

The Specification

In spite of Estey's offer to build to the buyer's specification, of seven organs located, we have found only three different examples of stop lists for the Gibson organs. The unavailability of others suggests that it was manufactured with only the two basic lists of stops and couplers. That in the 1914 catalog, No. 429,960 (the author's), and No. 439,607 (Jon Moyer), and Tom Masinter's,⁵ appear below as A. No. 400,000 (Scott L. Grazier), No. 402,453 (Robert B. Linnstaedt), and No. 434,513 (James M. Bratton), identified as B. The only variation is that Bratton's instrument has a Vox Jubilante in place of the Great Diapason, the Swell Salicional is labeled "Gemshorn," and a Full Organ mechanism was never present. The compass of each is the same as the Estey Styles T and G.: Manuals, 61 notes: C¹-C⁶ and Pedal, 30 notes: C¹ - F³. The pedalboard is radiating and concave.

The chief difference between the specification of the Gibson and the Style T is the 4' stop moved from the Swell to the Great (in place of that manual's loudest voice, the Trumpet). This makes room for another 8' stop on the Swell. Those experienced in playing the Style T long for a useful accompanimental stop on the Swell. The Salicional, located in the back chest of the organ is too soft and the Oboe (on the front chest) is too strident. The 4' Flute played an octave lower suffices, but either runs out at the bottom, or is inconvenient in the hands' relationship to the Great. Even with the Great separately enclosed, the same conditions prevail. The Gibson Model's Swell Melodia provides the missing voice and is about the finest voice on the organ. The 4' Violetta on the Great makes a complete 16' 8' 4' ensemble on that division and gives an added registrational variation of a 16' and 4' combination that can be played an octave higher to produce an 8' and 2' effect otherwise not possible without tying up both manuals.

By having the manuals under separate expression an infinitesimal degree of dynamic variation is possible between divisions. Solos are easily distinguished from accompaniments; intricate manual figurations can be separated from, say, the 4' pedal solo.

Between the two Gibson/Studio specifications the difference is the two Swell ranks that make up the Vox Celeste, and the inclusion of a sub-octave intra­manual coupler. The alternate specification B offers a four-foot string and celeste in place of the traditional eight-foot celeste. Jim Bratton's organ sacrificed the Great Diapason to another celeste, the Vox Jubilante, which undulated with the Dulciana. It is questionable what effect the lack of a strong unison rank would have in ensemble playing. It would have been preferable to have retained the Diapason and sacrificed the Dulciana for the Vox Jubilante, since, as in Robert Hope-Jones' tonal design, soft stops are not so important when the loud ones can be controlled by a swell box.

Just what place the 4' Vox Celeste (or Harp Æolienne) has in the practice and performance of organ music seems never to have entered into the Estey company's concept of tonal design. Unless every passage that requires the Vox Celeste is played an octave lower (not a good practice habit to develop since all pipe organs have the major celeste at 8' pitch) or the Sub-Octave Coupler must be drawn, in which case the effect is that of Vox Celeste 8' and 4' with heavier action added into the bargain. This registration requires the added motion of not only drawing the celeste, but the Sub-Octave Coupler, as well. The opulent effect of Strings 16' 8' and 4' is, of course, possible by drawing the 8' Melodia, 4' Salicional and Harp Æolienne, and the Sub-Octave Coupler. In Bratton's instrument, which came from the Masonic Temple in Salina, Kansas, the effect of the Swell coupled to the Great with its Vox Jubilante and Great Octave Coupler, must have been the closest thing in Kansas to the Wanamaker String Division!

No conclusion can be reached for the varied spelling of the Great 16' stop "Clarinet" or "Clarionet."

II.

This history was brought close to home in December of 1994 when, unexpectedly, I had the chance to buy a Gibson Studio Organ. I examined the organ the week before Christmas. The case was dark mahogany and the surface only slightly mottled, the underside of the folding keyboard cover retaining its beautiful glossy finish. The original ivory nameplate, tacked to the center of the vertical panel above the Swell manual, was missing, and one from a later pipe organ had been rudely nailed onto the board at the left. The reservoir had recently been recovered and there were no apparent wind leaks_at least, none that could be heard above the din of the original Kinetic blower behind the organ. One of the four Swell drawknobs had broken off, but it was lying on the key-cheek together with its Aeoline insert. The keyboards were snaggle-toothed beyond imagining: every scrap of bushing cloth had been worn away. The organ was dreadfully out-of-tune, not just a warm celeste, but serious quarter-tones were in evidence. However, everything appeared to be intact, all notes of all the stops played; five reeds buzzed, but, knowing that could be easily remedied, and the delight of compound expression provided by two enclosed divisions more than off-set any temporary mechanical deficiencies. The price was arrived at chiefly because of the instrument's extreme rarity, agreed upon, and I set out for Brooklyn, the proud owner of an instrument I had heard about thirty years ago from the composer, Philip James, but had never seen or heard: The Gibson Special.

The acquisition could not have come at a more inconvenient time. Our house had just been sold and we had three weeks to move into our new one in Westbury, Long Island. Moving day was set for January 4.

A Ryder fourteen-foot truck was reserved_the smallest Estey-sized vehicle equipped with a ramp for wheeling reed organs up and down. However, when we arrived to pick it up, we found the national office had mixed up the dealers and we had to drive fifty miles to another dealer to pick up the truck. The destination was only a bit beyond "Gibsonville" so fortunately, only an hour was lost, but the lesson was learned: always call the local dealership the day before you are to pick up the truck to make sure they have the reservation in their computer.

The organ, with a mover's dolly under each end, slid directly into the truck and arrived in Westbury the next day. We were able to position the truck across the frozen lawn at an angle from the driveway, and to move the eleven-hundred pound mahogany behemoth onto the ramp, over the lawn, across the wide terrace, and up into the adjoining sun porch.

Months later, after the exigencies of moving were behind us, the Gibson was examined. It was apparent that the instrument had been used for serious practice. Every element was consistently worn, even all the pedals showed the same wear. It had not been mistreated except for repair and attempted restorations. After the instrument had been opened and inspected, it became sadly apparent that it was in anything but the "excellent" condition in which it had ostensibly been sold.

I had discussed buying the organ with our Reed Organ Society president, James M. Bratton, who agreed that, though the price was high, they were so rare that, if I wanted a Gibson Studio Model, I should get it since I might never see another one. Edgar Boadway of the Boston Organ Club, consulted for a second opinion, concurred. In discussing what was to be an extensive restoration, we quickly reached a solution. Twenty years ago Jim Bratton had rescued Estey Studio organ No. 434,513 from the Masonic Temple in Salina, Kansas. The lodge members had built a calliope and, for parts, had raided their 1925 Estey Studio Organ, taking the Great keyboard, music rack, and bench. The manual trackers, tremolo, , and bottom front panel were also missing, (it had never had a full organ mechanism) but everything else was in absolutely mint condition_it had seldom been played. He had the organ in storage at the University of Denver, useless in its present condition, and had no plans for it. After numerous conversations in which my horror story continued to unravel, a scheme was outlined in which he would let me replace the worn-out items in my organ with those from his. The project took shape quickly and combined with a visit to New York. What parts he could not get in his luggage and boxes on the plane, he shipped.

The day after Easter, President Bratton arrived in Westbury to begin Project Gibson '95. Together we went through the organ, disassembled it, and replaced or renewed each part. Restoration was accomplished within two weeks of concentrated effort, during which time the fresh spring air was alive with the sounds of the vacuum cleaner and of twelve sets of reeds being tuned. Under Professor Bratton's meticulous care all twelve sets of reeds were removed from their cells, bathed in L & R Clock Cleaning Solution in a Quantrex Ultrasonic Cleaner, washed, dried in the oven or in the sun on newspaper-lined cookie sheets, reinserted in their cells, and tuned.

Before Jim's arrival the mold-filled interior had been cleaned, the keys removed and rebushed, all the worn or missing felt punchings for the action and couplers replaced.

The wind valve had been fixed at its highest setting, giving maximum volume together with maximum wear on the delicate reeds. Jim adjusted this as well as the one on my Style T. Every Style T owner should examine the organ's wind valve since it is possible the valves were set high if the organ were going into a church. The tone is more strident at the higher setting , but, when adjusted properly, the sound, while not as loud, is much more refined.

The most obvious discovery was that the broken stopknob was not the one that belonged to the organ. A knob from another organ had been laid on the jamb in the hope that the purchaser would assume it was the original. The Aeoline stop face belonged to neither the organ nor the stop knob_it was too wide to fit into the face of the knob, and besides, no Estey two-manual and pedal organ (including a Gibson) ever had an 8' Aeoline. Caveat emptor Estey! The Salicional knob and shank from Jim's organ replaced the missing one.

Upon removing the front of the organ it was discovered that the entire full organ mechanism was missing: all levers, rods, linkage, and tracers had been removed. This had occurred not too long ago, because the wood around the Full Organ Pedal was badly scuffed, betraying signs of constant use. This was insurmountable because the Masonic Temple organ never had this assembly.

The tremolo had been butchered in an amateur attempt (by a "professional") to restore it. The fan blades had been replaced by his business cards glued lengthwise from end to end on opposite sides of the rod. This contrivance was left until the end and reanimated with full organ mechanism the installation of proper cardboard blades.

The stickers from the keys to the chest were in a pitiful state of age, wear, and a variety of imaginative stop-gap repairs were in evidence. Many just fell out when the frame was removed. Many had been repaired with glue and wound with string; others had been replaced with new dowel stock. Many of the wooden nuts had to be replaced and I found that half-inch flat faucet washers⁶ with a 3/16" inside diameter fit perfectly, moved freely without touching those on either side, and stayed in place without having to be glued.

The connecting rod to the Swell swell was too short and the flap lifted only one-third of its opening. It was discovered that the Masonic Temple's swell rod did, indeed, raise the swell all the way. Yet the mystery remained since mine appeared original. Perhaps it was made to only open partially to give the effect of a secondary division.

The bottom back panel could not be removed. The original screw holes had been so loose, they had been filled with plastic wood. Unfortunately, the "restorer" had screwed the back on before the wood filler had set and the back was permanently welded to the frame. Again, this would have been discovered before purchase if I had examined the new bellows. It was necessary to drill around each screw to enlarge the hole so the back could be removed over the screws. The blocks behind were replaced so the back can now be removed when necessary.

The complete pedal sticker frame was stored away for a future restoration project and the brand new seventy-year-old one from the Masonic Temple, shipped in pieces, after being reassembled on the kitchen floor, slipped into place.

All the felt was worn from the pedal tracker levers and what ravaged leather remained on the underside of the pedal chest valves, had worn-out felt glued on top of it. The pedal action functioned by wood grinding on wood_and sounded like it.

The pedalboard was so worn that it looked as though the Demessieux Six Études and the Sowerby Pageant had been in the previous owner's daily practice schedule. Some natural keys were actually so worn down that it was impossible not to play two notes at once. The pedal fulcrum levers that run underneath the organ to connect the pedalboard with the vertical stickers in the back, had to be to cleaned, scraped, and bushed with three different thicknesses of felt, and, of course, bumper felt installed. This necessitated the complete dismantling of the case and removal of the reservoir to make these part accessible. It would have been expedient to interchange the pedalboards of the two instruments but Jim's frame was dark oak, and would not have matched my mahogany console. Instead, my pedal keys were replaced with those from his unused 1925 pedalboard.

The rubber covering the two expression pedals had been worn through, silent testimony to a hearty appreciation and enthusiastic employment of two expressive divisions. Before leaving Denver, Jim had polished and recovered with ribbed rubber the Swell and Great pedals from his organ; it must be said that those that came out of the Estey factory never looked so good.

The final touch was having the original nameplate duplicated by HESCO in Hagerstown, Maryland.⁷ This conscientious firm specializes in duplicating and re-engraving stopkeys, knobs, tablets and nameplates. I sent them a photocopy of an Estey nameplate (supplied by Ed Boadway and Alan Laufman) and for $36.37 HESCO provided a copy engraved in Old English that resembles perfectly the original 1 13/16" x 3 1/2" nameplate.

The restoration of this organ was not difficult, but time-consuming. It would have taken three times as long if I had not had the expert help of Jim Bratton and parts from his Opus 434,513. It certainly would not have been in such original condition without the new "old" parts. Only the Full Organ mechanism remains to be reconstructed, but we must wait until we can examine another example of the Gibson/Studio Organ in order to take measurements and build the parts. There is no substitute for experience gained by working alongside a professional artisan. The conscientious attention to every detail and the time consumed by perfecting the most minuscule repair are Jim Bratton's inherent qualities and with which few of us are blest. Thank God he is a friend because if had had to ask the cost of such a restoration I could never have afforded it.

The Gibson Model Studio Organ is the perfect practice instrument and the next best thing to playing on a Skinner console. It might have been described by Charles-Marie Widor (had he not written an endorsement of the Pédalier-Mustel first):

To have the combined volume and power of a Grand-Orgue in something so small is an extraordinary resource for those who do not have a cathedral at their disposal.

NOTES

1. The American Guild of Organists' 1991 Year Book, p.111.

2. A later catalog of Estey Duo-Manual Organs, reprinted in Whiting's, Estey Reed Organs on Parade, p.115, further notes that this specification gives "...the greatest possible variety in solo stops as well as in stops that may be used for accompaniments. However, sets of different character or pitch can be substituted or the proportionate strength of the sets altered to please the individual taste."

3. Rimmer Electrically Driven Blowing Machine

4. Caesar Franck's Cavaillé-Coll console at the Church of Sainte-Clotilde in Paris only had 13/16ths of an inch distance.

5. A photograph of this instrument appears in ROS Bulletin (August 1988) p.22.

6. No.PS2310, manufactured by PlumbShop, Novi, MI 48376-8032.

7. HESCO, Inc., 720 N. Mulberry Street, P.O.Box 386, Hagerstown, MD 21741-0386; Telephone (301) 739-5911.