Whilst I haven't direct experience of a Pell kit, I have worked on
a Pell organ that was built, I think, in the 1980s. It was built for
a carousel in the leisure area of a UK Safari Park. It was originally
book operated, but was converted to solenoids driven by Pell's own
"Harmonist 1" system in the early 1990s.
I worked on it about three years ago, after it had suffered a lot of
ill treatment by un-educated operators, and had been exposed to the
elements for some time. Despite this, and its 20 or so years of
operation, it still worked, apart from a few stuck solenoids, missing
valve leathers, and split drum pneumatics. It operates on average
8 hours a day for 9 months of the year.
Most of my work was on the wood work because the actual organ system
had stood up well, and the standards of workmanship were excellent.
I fitted all new valve leathers, and replaced the faulty pneumatics
(as well as replacing the badly rusted drums!), and it was soon doing
its job again. From what I have seen of the Alan Pell kit organs they
are built to the same high standards.
John Farmer, UK
www.musicanic.com
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