WurliTzer Opus 501

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January 23, 2012

FINALLY! After an almost 5 month delay, we're working on Opus 501 again. The biggest challenge now is trying to remember exactly what we were doing last September when the "fit hit the shan." And that was a whole mess o' "fit" and a VERY big shan (more like a 10HP Kinetic blower with 21" static)!

Happy New Year, by the way. Here's hoping that 2012 is better than 2011.

November 2011

Another month without progress due to family matters. It's unlikely that we'll make any further progress for the remainder of 2011.

September/October 2011

The beginning of September brought another big step toward getting Opus 501 playing again, but then everything went downhill in a hand-basket after that! Terry Nace delivered our Artisan Micro-Midi relay (shown below) on September 2nd. As usual, Terry did a great job with everything involved!

After the relay was installed we started to connect the cables from the Main Chamber chests to the driver boards, but we didn't get very far before all progress on the organ came to a sudden stop. On September 7th Tropical Storm Lee came through central Pennsylvania and dumped 12-15 inches of rain in this area in a very short period of time. Luckily our house was spared from flooding, but unfortunately Larry's parents' house wasn't and several weeks were spent trying to recover from that disaster. Then several days after the storm Barry became involved in family matters that are still continuing and take precedence over the organ. As if that weren't enough, we were also the co-chairs of the Susquehanna Valley Theatre Organ Society's concert on October 9th featuring Ken Double and Skip Stine at the Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center in York, PA. The concert was a great success and Ken and Skip were at their best as usual, but the concert just added another item to an already busy schedule that prevented us from working on the organ. We were fortunate that Ken was able to visit the house after the concert to see our project, and he gave us some very useful suggestions regarding the organ's specifications. One of these days the dust will settle and we'll get back to the project, but as it stands now we will unfortunately not have the Main Chamber of Opus 501 playing by the end of the year as we hoped. :(

August 2011

A major accomplishment! The Marimba/Harp, Toy Counter, and three String offset chests and pipes (pictured below) are now installed in the Main Chamber. This might not seem like such a major accomplishment unless you know where they are located in the chamber and also realize that the Marimba/Harp is a very large, heavy, cumbersome tuned percussion instrument and the Toy Counter is actually mounted on top of both halves of the Marimba/Harp. Everything is located on a platform that's 13 feet above the chamber floor, and the entire Marimba/Harp and Toy Counter assembly is 8 feet 8 inches high, leaving only about 43 inches between the top of the Toy Counter instruments and the ceiling of the 23.5 foot high chamber! The three String offset chests are mounted on the floor in back of the Marimba/Harp/Toy Counter assembly. We dreaded this part of the installation for a long time but it had to be completed so that we can continue with the installation of the rest of the Main Chamber.

The entire installation of the Marimba/Harp and Toy Counter was completed by the two of us over a three day period. The Marimba/Harp was lifted piece-by-piece and assembled on the platform, and the Toy Counter wind box was placed on top of the Marimba/Harp and then each instrument/effect for the Toy Counter was installed and wired. The last things to be installed on the platform were the three String offset chests and pipes. The next step will be the installation of the Chrysoglott on a similar platform on the opposite end of the chamber, and then we'll finally be able to start installing the pipes on the chests in the Main Chamber. HURRAY!

July 2011

Summer is here, and progress on the organ has unfortunately slowed down in order to take advantage of the nice weather and the necessary (but not welcome) yard work that goes along with it. We have worked on some of the wind lines, but that's about all. The installation of the Artisan circuit boards in the WurliTzer console gave it MIDI capabilities, and we're now able to make some noise with it as a Virtual Theatre Pipe Organ (VTPO) using the Hauptwerk program and the Paramount Organ Works model 310 digital voices. This, of course, is only a temporary fix that will be used only until the real pipes are playing.

We recently returned from the 2011 ATOS Convention in Providence, Rhode Island. The Eastern Massachusetts Chapter of ATOS (EMCATOS) put on a near-flawless Convention that featured six WurliTzer organs played by eleven excellent theatre organists. We had a great time and got to visit with friends from around the country and around the world. Congratulations to EMCATOS for an excellent Convention!!!

One of those artists was ATOS President and CEO Ken Double who, along with Skip Stine on the trumpet, will be featured in a concert presented by the Susquehanna Valley Theatre Organ Society (SVTOS) on October 9, 2011. Please join us for what promises to be an exciting musical event.

May 2011

We have a console with a working combination action!!!! Terry Nace was here at the end of April to install the Artisan circuit boards in the console (pictured below) and as you can see he did an outstanding job mounting and wiring the entire system. The combination action controls the 220 stops and 49 pistons on the console and gives us 99 levels of memory (we hope that'll be enough - LOL).

We now have a functioning console and blower, but unfortunately nothing in between that makes music, but as always we're working to remedy that situation. We ordered the remaining parts for the Artisan relay system and Terry will mount and wire them so that they can be installed on the outside wall of the chamber in the basement. Along with many other miscellaneous smaller tasks necessary to complete the organ, we're currently installing the sheet metal and PVC piping that will supply wind to the chambers, and we finally installed the new marimba/harp mallets that Ken Crome made for us almost a year ago (time flies when you're rebuilding a WurliTzer :). After the harp is regulated it'll be ready to be put in place in the Main chamber. Unfortunately that "place" is on a platform 12 feet above the floor of the chamber, so we'll find out who are true friends are when we put out the call for help with that task.

April 2011

A lot of progress was made on the console and blower since the last update. The wiring of all three keyboards was completed, including the first and second touch contacts on the Great and Accompaniment manuals, as well as all of the console pistons. We took another small step backward and removed all 220 of the Syndyne stop action magnets (SAMs) from the stop rails, and then removed all of the stop tablets from the SAMs so that we could glue the stop tabs to the SAMs using burnt shellac. This was necessary because some of the stops were moving sideways on the SAMs. This process took about a week to complete, but now all of the stop tabs are held firmly in place. We also adjusted all of the keyboard contacts (first and second touch) and replaced a number of the original second touch springs with new springs since the old ones had lost their tension even though the keyboards haven't been used since they were adjusted about a year ago. The new crescendo pedal was installed after the pedal opening on the kickboard was enlarged, and new console label plates were installed on the stop rails (pictured below). Work continues on the Artisan combination action.

The new 10 horsepower 3-phase AC motor was recently delivered and was laser-aligned to the shaft on the Kinetic blower. The connections to the Line Reactor and Variable Frequency Drive were completed and the blower was started for the first time! Final adjustments are still being made to the blower. The pictures below show the Line Reactor (left) and Variable Frequency Drive, and the new motor attached to the Kinetic blower (which we've affectionately named Mariah ).

February 2011

February 27, 2011 was the 89th anniversary of the grand opening of Buffalo's Lafayette Theatre and, of course, also the anniversary of the world premier of WurliTzer Opus 501 with C. Sharpe Minor at the console. See our 1922-1962 History" page for a complete description of that gala event.

We're working on a number of projects, and as usual there have been setbacks but we continue to make progress. In the January update (below) we mentioned that the original 10 horsepower DC blower motor was at Keener Electric Motors, a local motor shop, for an evaluation that showed that two bearings and two coils need to be replaced. After exploring our options we decided to replace the old motor with a new 3-phase 10 horsepower AC motor that will be controlled by a Line Reactor (a heavy duty surge suppressor) and a Variable Frequency Drive that will act as both the motor starter and a 3-phase generator. Jack Hardman has some excellent information about Variable Frequency Drives on his website, as well as information and pictures of his magnificent 4/38 WurliTzer. Having to purchase this new equipment was unexpected but it will actually cost about $1000 less than rebuilding the old motor, and we won't have to deal with DC current or use the old starter that looks like it came from Frankenstein's laboratory. Keener Motors is also re-balancing the blower fans and when we get them back the installation of the Kinetic blower will start in earnest.

We're also completing the wiring of the console in preparation for the installation of the Artisan combination action system. In addition to the wiring, we're installing a Crescendo pedal (the organ never had one) and new console label plates that were made for us by Hesco. Terry Nace is currently working on the console mounting boards for the combination action and the wiring harness for the Syndyne stop action magnets. Terry provided the picture below of the mounted circuit boards that will be installed in the console.

January 2011

We've been working on a number of projects. The Chrysoglott actions are finished and we're cleaning the bars and the resonators prior to reassembling the unit. The action had previously been modified to add butterfly valves to the resonators so that the action could also act as a Vibraharp, but the valves had been removed and the motor assembly to rotate them was missing when we purchased the organ. We are reinstalling the butterfly valves and will replace the missing motor so that the Chrysoglott will also function as a Vibraharp. We are also getting ready to start the installation of the blower and the area in the basement where the blower will be installed has been cleaned and the floor was painted. The 10 horsepower DC blower motor is being inspected and repaired (if necessary) at a local shop where they'll also check the balance of the fan blades. The restoration of the Kinetic blower is finished and it is ready to be put in place. Terry Nace, our local Artisan representative, was here to take measurements of the inside of the console so that the mounting boards can be made that will hold the Artisan capture action for the console. The picture below shows Terry and Barry taking the console measurements. There is still some work that needs to be done on the console prior to installing the boards, including finishing the wiring for the keyboards, pistons, and toe studs; adding the crescendo pedal (this organ never had one); and installing the console name plates which were recently ordered from Hesco.

The picture below shows Larry (left) and Barry standing at the rebuilt toy counter that's sitting on one of the halves of the rebuilt marimba/harp. Many thanks to Al Fenner (Larry's brother) for supplying the picture.

WANTED: If you are the owner of "The WurliTzer Pipe Organ: An Illustrated History" with "Opus 501" printed on the cover, we would gladly purchase a new copy of the book for you if you would kindly consider trading your copy to us. We didn't yet own Opus 501 when the book was published and consequently didn't request that edition. Just go to the "Contact Us" section of this website and send us an email. We would REALLY appreciate it!

Gee Dad, It's A WurliTzer!