I recently acquired a nice looking band organ but I have been unable
to determine who built it.  The case was replaced at some time but the
original pump and chest remain.  The vacuum action has Wurlitzer style
unit valves and the roll frame appears to be a Wurlitzer 150 device.

That is where things start to take on a different perspective.  Whoever
converted the roll player made a spacer to push a 125 style roll to
the right side of the carriage and a filler was screwed onto the
take-up spool so the roll stays to the right side.  The unused nipples
on the left side have no hoses connected.

The organ in its original configuration had 5 bass notes, 10
accompaniment notes, 16 melody notes and 15 reed pipes.  The five bass
notes fit the model 125 arrangement but the flute, string and trombone
all play at the same time.  There is a slider on the trombone access
that also turns on and off the fourth melody rank.

There are no mechanical stop actions.  The four sliders operate
manually only.  The ten accompaniment notes would equate to G, A, A#,
B, C, C#, D, E, F, F#.   The 16 melody notes equate to G, G#, A, A#,
B, C, C#, D, E, F, F#, G, A, A#, B, C.  The trumpet was re-arranged
with the two lowest notes for the 150 scale omitted (C & D) which
then fits the 13 notes of the 125 scale.

This means that the accompaniment has A# and C# not used in the 150,
but is missing the high G.  The melody has G#, and two A#'s, not used
in the 150, but is missing the highest three notes from the 150 scale.
The arrangement of the chest table under the 13 trumpets suggest that
originally it might have had a brass trumpet rank in a single row.

If anyone recognizes the original scale or wants to see some photos
of the pipes or chest, I will be happy to post them.

The drums operate like the later Wurlitzer organs.  The bass drum
has both pressure and vacuum hoses.  The vacuum pneumatic dumps the
pressure in the action pneumatic and two springs push the mallet into
the hammer.  The snare drum has two unit valves and works when the
valve chest applies vacuum to the 1/2" hose connection.  The trombone
slider has two smaller accesses that were plugged.  They are at each
end of the chest and from the shadow in the filler, might have been
tubed out to either side at one time.  If it was originally a barrel
organ, these might have lead to the bass drum and snare drum actions.

Any and all thoughts will be appreciated,

Bill Klinger
Flippin, Arkansas
http://klingerorgan.com/ 

 [ Front of Organ
 [ http://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/15/03/25/150325_152111_P3080158.JPG 

 [ Melody riser with bass and accompaniment pipes on either side
 [ http://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/15/03/25/150325_152111_P3110173.JPG