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MMD > Archives > June 2001 > 2001.06.30 > 11Prev  Next


Tuned Sleigh Bells
By Al Sefl

Danielle Squyres asked, "Does anyone know of any company that
currently makes and sells tuned sleigh bells?"

I know of no maker today who would be making them.  The individual
bells, called crotals, are not being cast today to my knowledge.
Crotals were cast in sizes, then, to get the tuning the slots were
either deepened or widened to bring them roughly to pitch.  Theatre
organs such as Wurlitzer did a half-job of tuning, with the best sets
being tuned by Deagan for organs like Kimball and Robert Morton.

Your best bet is to find a complete theatre organ set.  A Wurlitzer set
of 99 crotals for 25 notes in two octaves will not be cheap.  Currently
Ron Downer has a set of Wurlitzer Sleigh Bells that were retuned to be
more on pitch.  I paid a great amount for my set and have only been
offered one other set in some 35 years.

Time was when you could order the crotals individually from big
hardware catalogue stores like Baker Hamilton, who carried sizes from
OO to 25, then you could tune them yourself.  The last time I saw a
catalogue with crotals was in 1962 when I made up a set for a pizza
place organ.

Prices for a complete tuned set today would be $1,800 and up depending
on maker and tuning precision.  A set with action that has been tuned
could run $2,500, which is what I believe Ron is asking for his set.

Good luck,

Al Sefl


(Message sent Sat 30 Jun 2001, 07:43:28 GMT, from time zone GMT-0400.)

Key Words in Subject:  Bells, Sleigh, Tuned

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