Note: Not extant. Not playable. (in this location)
2024-11-23 - This entry represents the installation of a used organ from the church's previous edifice. According to the current (Nov. 2024) church website (https://www.fpc.lc/musicians/): "In the early 196O’s the congregation purchased a 6 acre plot of land on Boutz Road. An architect was selected to draw up plans for a new church on the site. The question arose over the matter of moving the organ to the new church or purchasing a new instrument. As fundraising began, it became apparent there would not be enough money in the immediate future to pay for a new instrument. The Building Committee realized that the old organ would not be able to provide enough sound to fill the new, larger sanctuary." "Mr. Chester Linscheid, a member of the Building Committee, was assigned the task of finding a solution. After a long search, he found a sympathetic ear in Mr. Smith A. Gauntt, an organ builder in Denver, Colorado. Mr. Gauntt had in his shop a large supply of used wind chests, pipes, electrical equipment, keyboards and other organ parts, which he had salvaged from used organs. Mr. Linsceid asked him to solve the problem." "As construction of the sanctuary was nearing completion in 1964, Mr. Gauntt first moved the organ from the old church to the new one, then proceeded to recondition and rebuild the instrument. He installed 19 ranks of pipes. He used the old three-manual keyboard and electrical contacts, but wrapped them in a new console shell. Very little new material was used. Some of the pipes in the restored instrument were taken from theater organs, including that from the Roxy Theater, which employs high wind pressure to drive the sound from organ chambers into the theater. Other pipes came from church organs that operate at a low wind pressure to produce sounds appropriate for worship. Mr. Gauntt nicked the mouth of the pipes from church organs so they could operate on high wind pressure. These pipes then produced a dull rather than a bright sound. The assortment of pipes did not produce ideal musical sounds, but costs were also a factor." "Maintaining the instrument became a task of increasing difficulty." -Jim Stettner
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