Opus 47

Restoration of 1798 David Tannenberg Organ
for Single Brothers' House, Old Salem, North Carolina

Complete restoration of organ built in 1798 for Single Brothers House by David Tannenberg of Lititz, Pennsylvania to reinstall existing original pipework and correct pitch.

Click on the thumbnails below to view full size pictures of the
restoration progress. Newest photos are at the bottom.

	Manual
8'	Gedackt
8'	Quintadena
8'	Viol di Gamba
4'	Principal
4'	Flauta

Manual key compass is 54 notes: C - f'''
Ebony naturals with ivory capped sharps
Mechanical key and stop action
Equal temperament
Wind pressure: 43mm
Total number of pipes: 258

The Principal 4' pipes in this organ were added to the 1800 Home Church organ during one of the "renovations" of that instrument. This included
the original 1798 facade pipes, and the organbuilder that did the work scribed the name of the new stop (Viola) into the upper lips of the
pipes. Tuning slots were also cut into the front of the facade pipes and the pipes were cut short. It was decided that since these are facade pipes, the
inscriptions had to be removed, along with the tuning slots soldered shut and the pipes lengthened. The repairs also would have to be disguised, so that the pipes have the "look" that they had before they were damaged. Christoph Metzler from Switzerland removed the dents from the pipes in 2003, and Robbie Lawson from Taylor and Boody removed the inscriptions from the upper lips and "disguised" the tuning slot repair, also done by Metzler. The metal that the pipes are made of was analyzed so we could accurately recreate the lead/tin alloy, which was done in our foundry. The metal was cast and the pipes were lengthened.
The extensions were also disguised as well.
Below are some before and after photos of the facade pipes, and some photos of the processes used to restore these pipes.

General Restoration of the Organ

While the main focus of this restoration of this particular instrument is to return all of the original pipes to the organ (they were found during our restoration of the 1800 Home Church Organ), there is also the task of fitting the original pipe shades to the organ. These pipe shades were not used in the 1964 restoration, but will be returned to the organ during this restoration. The shades did not fit the case as it was reconstructed in 1964, so it was decided that the stiles (vertical portions of the upper case) would be remade to fit the carvings. Another part of the restoration effort is remaking new stop knobs for the organ, based on two other David Tannenberg organs in Pennsylvania.
Below are some photos of the restoration.