From John Smith, UK

Greetings to all my fellow amateur organ building friends.

Time flies by, but it is I think about five years since my Busker organ
was born, and yes, I did take it straight away to a rally and people
wanted plans to build it.  When I explained that I was no draftsman the
reply was, "We only need the basic dimensions for the pipes, bellows
paper feed, etc., and we will be more than grateful".  So grateful and
determined was one guy that he thrust money into my hand and said that
was for his set of plans and if they never materialized it was mine to
keep just for trying.  How could I refuse.

I made a second Busker to video the process and incorporate some small
amendments, including making it 1/2" bigger.  My school boy attempts at
drawings were a bit sad but a friend came to the rescue and said he
would turn my sketches into beautiful computer drawn plans, which he
did.  With the aid of these he turned up a few weeks later with a
working organ, complete with music.  Okay, he had made a few changes:
a few plumbing fittings, thin brass crankshaft and a wooden version of
my punching machine.  Considering what few tools he had to use I was
very impressed.

Many of you have seen Peter in the Busker video.  Without Peter's help
the plans would perhaps never have been done.  Thank you, Peter!  By
the way, Peter always describes me as "his friend who _can_ make a silk
purse out of a sow's ear," which I find very reassuring.  The word
"plans" is used in the same way as I would say "Hoover" my carpet with
the Dirt Devil.  It's also quicker to type and easier to speeel oops
spell, than carpenter's sketches.

With three organs working, one built by a complete novice, I was happy
to issue some drawings.  Shortly after this a fairly local man came to
me and purchased a set of plans, and bought me the finished organ (with
music) a few weeks later -- absolutely incredible, far better than
anything I could ever make.  He had made some quite drastic changes to
the layout, but all the basic workings were as per the drawings.

The guy had recently been divorced and his wife had disposed of all
his power tools except the lathe, which meant the organ had been built
in a bed-sit using basic tools buying all new materials, including
every piece of wood, brass fittings, mouldings, and model makers ply,
total cost about GBP 150.  A very happy man whose dream had come true.
I was then even more sure that my plans were a good thing, I also now
knew just what it would cost to make.

As time went on I did get a lot of calls from builders with queries;
sales exceeded all expectations, and as I got more copies made I
incorporated extra information to make the plans better.  This process
has continued, until now I really only get calls from happy builders.
I have to mention that for a long time I have only sold plans after
quizzing people about their previous projects and often advise them
not to bother if I don't think they are up to it.

After about two  years my followers were asking for a new organ
project, which resulted in a bigger version: the "Senior 20".  This
time I produced all the material myself as a follow-on project.  This
design, unlike the first, was born as a project for others to make,
so there was a bit more space and easier-to-follow dimensions.

However, it was a model engineer who first criticised these plans as
not being proper drawings.  I explained that they were never meant to
be engineer's plans but more like carpenters drawings, which is what I
now tell everyone.  I was very pleased when the gentleman's wife phoned
up three weeks later for some music for this "beautiful" organ her
husband had just finished.

From my mail and phone calls I know that I have made a lot of people
happy, which is my main incentive for keeping going.  The accountant,
who I have to employ to keep the tax man happy, tells me every year
that I am working for peanuts, but I do not consider myself to be
working at all, just pursuing the best hobby I have ever had, dealing
with absolutely super people and making lots of new friends.

I, like many others, as it turns out, wanted to know about organs from
the earliest age.  It took me nearly 60 years to finally get there.
(It would have been easier if I had set out to make an atom bomb?!)

When I find something good I like to share it; doing this with my
acquired knowledge of organs has made my life complete.  If only
I could have been given half of my original set of busker drawings,
or just seen the video when I was 15 years old, my life would not have
been the same.

Finally I would like to thank my many customers around the world for
their support in making home organ building a reality.  Anyone really
bitten by the bug will soon be able to obtain my latest set of
carpenters sketches for building what will probably be my last
published design.  The "Universal 26", so called, is a very
versatile design with options to make it anything from a 20-pipe
standard roll player, up to a 26-note chamber or fair organ with 70
pipes plus glockenspiel.

There are six pipe types shown to choose from and I have also included
my methods for making interesting pneumatically operated animations.  A
drawing by an ex-professional wood carver for the conductor (Senior 20
style) and a paper on pipe theory by a retired physicist and organ
enthusiast, should make this pack well worth putting on your bookshelf.

Like the "Senior 20", the "Universal 26" is an organ that many have
asked me for and are quite ready to build.  It is based on my two
previous 26-note organs.  The materials and methods used may be seen
as controversial but are well proven.

The prototype was taken to many rallies last year with an amazing
response.  Truly an outstanding "silk purse" of an organ, no sows ears
needed, just a couple of sheep skins.  I have slaved away all through
the winter to prepare the builders pack, and the first organs are well
under way.

My only other ambition now is to see someone else selling organ plans
for the home builder, hopefully more professionally produced , maybe
even proper engineering drawings, just as long as the layman can
understand and afford them.

John Smith
Flitwick, England, UK