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Organ Serial Numbers



Of the 653 pump organs companies that were in business in this country, most of them (though not all) placed their organs' serial numbers in one of two areas, and both of them are found on the organ's back frame work, or paneling.




Organ Serial Numbers



These serial numbers were generally stenciled on with paint, but some were stamped into the wood. Othercompanies would place an official looking company label on top of the organ's sound board (Estey almost alwaysdid), which is easily seen once you remove the back panel (of course, you might have to remove an inch of dust tofind it).


You should be looking for a five or six digit number. Four digit numbers (or less) were almost always construction numbers, which were used by factory workers to determine which parts went with which model organ.


Its mechanism works cleverly, as the Reed pump organ uses a pressure system, which involves passing air via two pedals through the vibrating metal part of the Organ connected to the keys, known as the Reed. This mechanism causes Reed to make a distinct sound that is different for all keys.


By the 1900s, manual Pump organs became very popular as almost every home would have one (usually in their sitting rooms). Further down the century, companies pay famous composers like Alain, Karg-Elert, Widor, and others to write songs for their products. Also, clever features such as the one-note chord became part of the design. This feature enables inexperienced users to learn as the keys stay down to track how you play.


Later on, during World War 2, an electric-powered organ was invented. It led to the slow dismissal of the pump organ among customers due to the electric-powered versions being the far more convenient alternative.


Apart from the brand, you can also identify your antique Pump Organ from its serial number. The best you can get out of such a clue is the age of the pump organ, and thus its possible pricing. How do you find it? You can find the serial number of your pump organ on the back paneling or the framework. There should be at least 5 (up to six) numbers stamped or stenciled on the Organ.


Given that the number of pump organs with serial numbers was 521,000 from 1850 to 1910, each unit represents a position made from first to the 521,000th unit. You can trace the position of your pump organ if its serial falls within the set of manufactured units from specific periods from the late 1800s to 1950.


From around the time of its invention, the pump organ strictly produces piano sounds via a pressure system or suction system that works from the pump action of the two pedals below or a crank system. Later on, companies looking to beat their competitors added several features. Such as a baseline control system that allows you to determine the quality of sound or setting your keys should be. You can access this feature by pulling dials above the keys or via extra pedals.


For antique Pump organs to cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, it has to be in mint condition. With minimal or no damage. Although, this may not be entirely realistic as the oldest pump organ is bound to have some issues such as cracks, rusty parts, termite infestation, or even discoloration. Thankfully, some collectors consider restored pieces to have the same value as pieces in mint condition. So paying for them will most likely be an issue.


Another way to assess the value of your Pump Organ is to rate its rarity; for you to do that, you have to find out specific facts about it. Such as, how many of its styles or design out of the above 500,000 units created are in circulation? For instance, pump organs made of oak or walnut are pretty standard. But any Pump Organ made of veneer or veneer rose would be rare. Such pump organs would be costly in the antique market.


Pump organs consist of excellent features, such as a fine quality wooden cabinet and intricate patterns. All of which can make the room or immediate environment much more appealing. Especially if the pump organ is Victorian, families tend to keep them in their sitting rooms. So, collectors could be buying antique Pump Organ bars of beauty instead of age or rarity.


It is a fully restored oak pump organ with a large, well-designed cabinet. You can also notice its impressive style on the pedals, covered with a red carpet. And the sides of the pump organ have wooden geometric patterns. The Markings above the keyboard say its manufacturer is Estey Organ Co.


It is an Armstrong unit that consists of a Walnut wooden build with several intricate floral and geometric patterns (also present on the foot pedals). The clues on the pump organ unit say it is from 1896. The team is running fine with the keys, pump, and knobs or stop levers.


Sometimes you might not have much luck selling your pump organ, which can be frustrating. However, instead of dumping it in the trash or abandoning it in your garage to house pests and rodents, you can simply donate it because many organizations see the antique Pump Organ as valuable. Such as the local church or school (for their music department).


An alternative action is to disassemble the pump organ and use its part carefully. For instance, you can take out the cabinet section and convert it into a box or a wall cabinet. You could also take out various mechanical parts of the Organ and then sell them on eBay or Esty to collectors that need specific details to complete the full restoration of your pump organs.


Opus # -- Opus usually refers to the sequential numbering of musical compositions. In Theatre Pipe Organ terminology, it is the serial number of the instrument. The Wurlitzer company, for example, assigned a sequential Opus # to each instrument it built as it left the factory.


Second only to Vox inpopularity during the 1960s, Italian manufacturerFarfisa is probably the only other really well-known purveyor of Combo Organs. While the Voxes (Voxen?) were the most often seen organ with popularbands (Animals, DC-5, Paul Revere, Monkees, etc, etc, etc), There were probablyat least as many, if not more, Farfisas cranking out the same music in garagesand dance halls.


"...Farfisa organs were basedon transistor accordions. The Farfisa company was a merger, and theywere highly known for their production of accordions in Italy. In 1962they produced the first transistor accordion. A few years later, after thesuccess of the Vox Continental, Farfisa realized that portable organs werein high demand. so they took their accordion technology and made it intoa combo organ. Thus the Farfisa Combo Compact was introduced in 1964."


Thanks to Micke Lindgren for the followinginformation (quotes are in italics): The Farfisa company was founded in1948 by the Scandalli (Silvio Scandalli) and Soprani (Settimio & Paolo)families. The managers of the company were Gianfelice Fugazzaand Bio Boccosi. "Mr.Fugazzaand a team of Farfisa techs brought out the Cordovox acc-organ in 1962, andpresumably shortly thereafter (maybe in '63) they began the production of thecompact combo organ." "Farfisa had three plants; the 1stof these was located in Castelfidardo producing Settimio & Paolo Sopraniaccordions and guitars, the 2nd was in Camerano producing "Scandalli,Farfisa and Cordovox accordions, pianos and reed-organs and the 3rd- the mainplant- in Aspio Terme producing Farfisa electronic organs, amplifiers,effects."


"...of the three FARFISA plants, only two builtaccordions (and reed/chord organs): the one in Castelfidardo producing "Settimio& Soprani Accordions" and guitars, and the one in Camerano (this wasthe famous Scandalli factory) producing Scandalli* Accordions, pianos, andreed/chord organs (under both the Farfisa and Scandalli brands).


The third plant, the main one, was located in AspioTerme and it was in this factory that the Farfisa electronic organs (incl. theTransicord accordion-organ), amplifiers and effects were manufactured. Thestreet on which this plant was located went under the name "ViaFarfisa".


Brand/Business Relations: Many organs have characteristics similar to the Farfisa line. Some maybe due to actual business relationships between the companies, some may be justdue to similar ideas being traded about in the Italian musical instrumentindustry at the time. Here are a few I foundinteresting:


Background: Despite successful initial resuscitation, septic shock frequently evolves into multiple system organ failure (MSOF) and death. Since blood lactate levels can reflect the degree of cellular derangements, we examined the relation between serial blood lactate levels and the development of MSOF, or mortality, in patients with septic shock.


Patients and methods: In 87 patients with a first episode of septic shock, we measured initial lactate (at onset of septic shock), final lactate (before recovery or death), "lactime" (time during which blood lactate was > 2.0 mmol/L, and the area under the curve (AUC) for abnormal values (above 2.0 mmol/L). These measurements were correlated with survival and organ failure and scored for four systems (ie, respiratory, renal, hepatic, and coagulation), adding to a maximal score of 8.


Conclusions: In patients with septic shock, serial determinations of blood lactate levels are good predictors of the development of MSOF an death. In this respect, the duration of lactic acidosis is more important than the initial lactate value. Although a number of factors may contribute to hyperlactatemia, these observations are compatible with a direct role of prolonged tissue hypoxia in the development of complications following septic shock.


The Hammond organ is an electric organ, invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert[1] and first manufactured in 1935.[2] Various models were produced, which originally used tonewheels to generate sound via additive synthesis, where component waveform ratios are mixed by sliding switches called drawbars and imitate the pipe organ's registers. Around 2 million Hammond organs have been manufactured, and it has been described as one of the most successful organs ever.[3] The organ is commonly used with, and associated with, the Leslie Speaker. 2ff7e9595c


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