I felt like I needed to make a comment on Andrew Lardieri's article
about the Best Sounding Artizan Band Organ.  I own several crank organs
of different sizes and frequently entertain with them.  When I built my
31/86 organ I purchased music from England.

I was very disappointed with the overall sound of the organ, so much so
that I considered not using it in my entertainment shows.  I listened
to other 31-note organs that I loved the sound.  I thought that perhaps
I had used the wrong mix of pipes.

Then I purchased music scanned from original Wurlitzer rolls, and the
organ came alive with wonderful sounds.  I now use it whenever I can
and play it frequently for folks when they come to visit.

The arrangements made a huge difference in how the organ presents
itself.  Perhaps the organs that you heard that you didn't like might
have a more pleasant presence if the rolls were from a different
arranger.

Roger Wiegand mentioned about tempo.  Here again, tempo can make
a huge difference in how an organ presents itself.  One of my smaller
organs tends to play everything too fast.  The pipes sound good, the
arrangement is good, but it is hard to slow it down to a more pleasant
tempo without distorting the arrangement.  I have rolls for that organ
that were punched here in America as well as rolls punched in Europe,
and they all seem to dash though the songs.

The choice of type and number of pipes can also affect the way the
instrument sounds.

Just a few observations from my limited experience.

Al Good
Waynesboro, Pennsylvania