The Wurlitzer 146A band organ at Casino Pier in Seaside Heights,
New Jersey, -- with the added option of bells manufactured by William
Kromer and restored by Bill Black in honor of Mike Kitner's passing
-- isn't in her best shape these days.
The organ's main and most well-known drawbacks are, first, it needs
to be sped up as it plays tunes way too sluggishly which makes them far
from their normal tempo as well as mundane to listen too.
Second, due to the extensive lack of maintenance ever since Dr. Floyd
Moreland stopped caring for the organ and carousel, the organ is bound
now to ciphers and being out of tune.
This could be partly due to the organ's tracker bars not having been
blown out in a long time, as most band organs are not well cared for
nor maintained at public areas because it can be costly and time-
consuming to maintain and refurbish these very amazing pieces of
history.
Anyway, the future of this particular organ is uncertain because more
people seem to care much more about the physical carousel itself than
the band organ.
I now work for Casino Pier and have just now wrote my first letter
to them on how I can do a few repairs and tweaks to get the old girl
sounding like new.
Andrew Lardieri
Voorhees, New Jersey
|