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Restoration of the Emmett 89-keyless Gavioli

Installation of pipes

Before fitting pipes, the main chest push-rods with their mushroom heads were installed. Dust was blown out on the wind, using these push-rods, before each pipe rank was fitted.

The eight trombones were the first, suitably fixed at the top to prevent excess movement. Their convoluted shapes make them impossible to remove after the other pipes are installed, so needed to be thoroughly tested and regulated first.

Next came the counter-melody trumpets on their membrane register block (re-positioned from the front row to the rear).

Following these were the saxophone reeds and flue helpers on their straight-through block, mounted where the trumpets had been before. I fitted the helpers with their mouths facing the back, to prevent their speech being restricted just behind the violin mounting block.

Now, turning my attention to the rear of the organ, behind the divider frame - the three ranks of clarinet mixture (melody) in the center and the three ranks each of accompaniment and bass.

Then, in the front again came the three ranks of violins, installed on their tiered blocks on top of their membrane register block; and lastly the three ranks of piccolos, mounted each side of the violins.

I found that in use, the violin register was so slow to operate, the first few notes of each violin phrase was lost. This must have been the reason the register cancel tube had been disconnected, most probably by Carl Frei. I made a considerable improvement by drilling a hole in the membrane cover, and fitting a leather pouch actuated by the register action. When the register is "off" (membranes pressurised) the pouch covers the hole and allows the membranes to stop the sound. When this pressure drops with register "on" the pouch releases the pressure quickly instead of forcing it to retreat all the way back to the chest pallet.

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