What a day!  Thanks to MMD a local collector was recently put in
touch with me.  Today was "the" day that I went out, not only to see
his collections but to get face-to-face with a large Gavioli fair
organ, the existence of which had been a complete surprise as nobody
I know was aware of it!

Now, here is the deal: this organ -- after apparently sitting for
20-some years -- needs some TLC.  For starters I was able to brush
off the keyframe and make that end of the mechanics smooth enough to
not be worried about ripping any books apart.  Supposedly, until rather
recently the organ is reported to have been playing considerably well.
The current winter condition so far hasn't helped...

Towards the end of the day, we have pretty much agreed that we will
bring this instrument back to its former glory -- bit by bit.  As a
starting point to that I have taken a rough "read" of one of the books
to determine the layout of the scale.  Back at home, I wanted to
compare the book to the standard Gavioli scales as available.

Not on MMD, but on iMOD, I've found Gavioli 89-key G1 to G4 scales, but
if anything it has only given me more questions then answers.  What I
have not found is the Gavioli 89-key VB (Violin-Baritone) scale; albeit
just from the area in which this scale seems to source from it seems
unlikely to match what I have found in this particular instrument.

One of the key differences I have found so far are separated dual keys
for snare drum as well as woodblock, each pair of which has a defunct
key between them (rather than a register key as I would have expected
from my experience with Dutch organs).  Adding the keyframe cancel
key at the very end of it, the scale counts to 92 keys (the organ
being described as a 89-key in whatever documentation came with it
"92-keyframecancel-2defunct=89").  Also, it seems to have separate
keys for bass drum, cymbal, bells and bandmaster.

If any one could provide me with whatever remaining 89- to 92-key
Gavioli scales that I have not yet found, please do so!  Much
appreciated!

Over the next months I will try to update you on the progress of this
project.  However, I'm known not to be all too reliable with posting
updates. :-P

If possible we would also want to trace potential roots of this
instrument as well as historical pictures of its "previous incarnations"
-- the organ was rebuilt in the 1970s after some apparent major damage
to it from an accident.  The organ is said to have been imported by its
then Dutch owner as he emigrated to Canada in the mid-1960s.

I will gladly look up any serial number on it, if someone would be kind
enough to only let me know where traditionally Gavioli imprinted these.
The current description is giving the year 1898 as manufacturing date;
alas, I don't trust anything without factual documentation.  ;-)

Any help anyone can give in this matter is welcomed!

Musically,
Ingmar Krause
Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
http://www.grindorgans.com/ 

 [ Some examples of early (G1) and 89-key Marenghi VB book music
 [ have the two wood block channels straddling a snare drum channel.
 [ Hans van Oost made a chart of 89-key Gavioli (& Marenghi VB) scales
 [ at http://www.mmdigest.com/Gallery/Tech/Scales/gaviolig.jpg (1.4 MB).
 [ At the top left is "Afwijkingen oude 87 en 89 (G1)" which I believe
 [ means "Deviations in old 87 and 89 (G1) instruments."  To the far
 [ right of "Afwijkingen" are symbols for percussion devices on channels
 [ that later were assigned to Piccolo f'''' and register control.
 [ -- Robbie