Pipe organs at First-Plymouth Church, UCC

The Kimball Organ

Brief History

It is apparent from correspondence between First Plymouth and the Kimball Co. in late 1931 and early 1932 that the organ chambers as built (see the East & West Chancel organ chambers for the Lied Organ) had no provision for heat. To keep a tolerable pitch, the church was heating the chambers electrically, seven days a week. Concerned about the high cost of this approach, the church asked the Kimball Co. for their opinion. They indicated that turning the electric heaters on for two - three hours before using the organ would be sufficient for the pipework to be in tune at the time of use. They also indicated that another low cost alternative would be to place steam radiators, deriving their steam from the office steam pipes, in the chambers. In either case, they indicated that the wide temperature variations would cause no harm to the organ over time, another concern of the church. While exploring these chambers recently, the page maintainer observed a small steam radiator in each chamber, so this approach is evidently what was chosen at some point in time.

It is interesting to note that the Echo division was placed in a chamber in the ceiling of the church nave. This vault evidently had no provision for heat, relying instead on the principal that hot air rises.

Over time, this inadequate climate control began to take a toll on the organ. Service records on this instrument indicate that by 1950, several sets of pipes needed to be revoiced and reconditioned, plus other related mechanical repairs. This same contract also called for the removal of the 8' Tuba Mirabilis pipes and replacement with a new 4' Clarion in the Solo division. It will be noticed in the stop list that this divison already had a 4' Clarion; chances are that along with the Tuba Mirabilis, it was non-functional by this time, so to conserve money just the 4' Clarion was replaced. This service and reconditioning work was performed by the Reuter Organ Co. of Lawrence, Kansas.

By the mid 1950's, the organist's column in The First Plymouth Hearld (the church's weekly bulletin) occasionally addressed what appears to have been an oft recurring question, "Why do I play so loud"? The main reason was that by this time, 25% - 30% of the organ was unusable because of irreparable deterioration of the pipes, chests, ductwork, expression mechanisms and so forth. Also, more than a third of the remaining usable organ could not be kept in even tolerable tune and was thus useless also. What remained was mostly the "loud stops". The organist also explained that the placement of the pipework was such that the sound of the organ reached the congregation before the choir at the front of the apse and again what remained usable was the "loud stops" in the chambers that opened east and west.