c. 2020 - Organ facade visible at front right (Church website/Paul R. Marchesano)
2024-05-05 - Organ facade at front of chancel (Larry Pickering/Paul R. Marchesano)
2024-05-05 - Console with clear glass lid (Larry Pickering/Paul R. Marchesano)
2024-06-26 - The organ was no longer needed and was given to the McKean Family of Piedmont, CA. It was removed and stored in the basement of their family home until 1989, at which time they donated it to First Congregational Church located at 1912 Central Ave., in Alameda, Ca. It was moved at that time to the church and was completely restored by Glen Rucker and Larry Pickering, Restoration Specialists of Wichita, KS. Over a period of 18 months, we restored carefully each piece of the organ and installed it in the church's Sanctuary. Coincidentally, the church originally had a 1903 Whalley & Spencer pipe organ in the Sanctuary, that had been removed in 1968 (except for its pipe facade) and replaced with a large Baldwin drawknob organ). Since the 1905 organ had no 8' Principal in the Pedal division, we used the church's existing pipe facade Principal (restored, refinished and revoiced) and added it to operate in the Pedal division. We also restored an 8' Cornopean (from the church's previous Whalley organ) and added it the Swell division, augmenting the rather small scale 8' Hautbois, leaving the organ at 19 total ranks on 2 manuals/Pedal. Currently, the organ is mechanical action with the exception of the 2 added ranks which are on EP chests. The pipe facade was refinished by the Schoenstein Company in SF, using clear Lacquer with Gold dust mixed in , then a clear Lacquer to top coat to retain their sheen and reduce oxidation in the future. Restoration and Installation was completed in late 1990, and the organ was Dedicated in Concert by Organist Ronald McKean in the Spring of 1991. Email from Larry Pickering, 2024-04-18 -Paul R. Marchesano
2024-07-07 - The organ has a unique folding lid for the console, which has 6 original glass panels which always show the beautiful and original Ivory manuals, even if the lid is closed. All Ivory is still in fantastic condition. [see photos] Email correspondence from Larry Pickering, 2 July 2024 -Paul R. Marchesano
2024-07-07 - The Church musician had certain requests they required of us on this project, which we tried to fulfill within the best of our abilities without damaging the integrity of the 1905 Instrument. I will speak about those additions below... The original stoplist of the 1905 organ consisted of 17 ranks, 2 manuals and 30 note Pedal board. To that specification, we used the church's existing 1903 Whalley & Spencer 8' Open Diapason facade pipes, to add as a Pedal Diapason, speaking at 8' and 4' pitches. Scaling was quite adequate and with minor touchup to voicing, it provides a full and rich voice in the Pedal division. To the Swell division, we added a vintage Cornopean which we sourced from Manuel Rosales. This Cornopean had been removed from a Kimball organ from the First Presbyterian Church in Oakland, CA. Rosales was building a new organ for them at that time. Again, with minimal revoicing, the Cornopean added a nicely robust sound that fit the style and sound of our organ quite well. The Cornopean speaks at 8' & 4' pitches in the Swell. So now, the Whalley & Spencer organ stands at 19 ranks, which is all the room allowed in the organ loft! The organ has a unique folding lid for the console, which has 6 original glass panels which always show the beautiful and original Ivory manuals, even if the lid is closed. All Ivory is still in fantastic condition. The Church had requested a set of Deagan Chimes (an earlier donation to the Baldwin organ) be installed to play from the pipe organ, which we did. They play from the Great manual. The Church's musician required a multiple memory combination action be installed with the installation. We did not want to drill holes for thumb pistons, thus ruining the aesthetics of the beautiful console. After much consideration and discussion with the organist and Pastor about another option I finally came up with a workable solution. The original organ bench is enclosed on 3 sides, thus blocking the view in the room of the performers feet, Pedal board, Swell Pedal, etc. I installed the combination action (multiple memory) using Burnished Bronze toe studs (by Harris) which matched the console finish nicely. Peterson Electro-Musical Products designed for us a one-of-a-kind system to operate the original slider chests to operate with the combination action. Because of the 3-sided solid wood bench supports you can only see the toe studs if you are standing next to the bench! The system works quite well with only minimal changes to the console. As the original 1903 organ's winding system had been discarded many years prior, we provided a new wind system for our installation. The organ has a very smooth and rich sound overall, but has plenty of power when needed to accompany a full congregation in this very live room. Email correspondence from Larry Pickering, 2 July 2024 -Paul R. Marchesano
Source: Email from Larry Pickering, 2024-07-02
GREAT Melodia 8, Open Diapason 8, Dulciana 8, Octave 4, Harmonic Flute 4, Chimes, Cornopean 4 (electropneumatic action), Cornopean 8 (electropneumatic action)
SWELL Bourdon 16, Open Diapason 8, Stopped Diapason 8, Salicional 8, Voix Celestes 8, Flute 4, Aeoline 8, Fugara 4, Oboe 8, Flautino 2, Tremolo
PEDAL Lieblich Bourdon 16, Bourdon 16, Diapason 4 (electropneumatic action), Diapason 8 (electropneumatic action)
SWELL to GREAT 8, SWELL to PEDAL 8, GREAT to PEDAL 8
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