Mason and Hamlin Child’s Reed Organ

This is a beautiful well preserved Mason and Hamlin ‘baby’ reed organ model 109 from 1880-1885. It has one rank of 49 reeds. The pitch is A455. The case needed structural repairs and waxing. Whilst in good condition for its years it was in need of a full re-build to bring it back to fully working condition.

The bellows was a tricky one to re-cover because of access reasons but I devised a method to cover the rectangular floating reservoir in a satisfactory manner. The bellows valves were replaced with pre-stretched CPL medium leather. The bellows gasket was originally a narrow strip of felt covered with leather so I replaced it as it was.

The upper action is a simple as it gets. Not mutes, stop action, couplers. Just a set of reeds with a swell. All pallet valves were re-covered in felt and leather. All guide pins polished. Reed cells were cleaned out and the reed pan lightly sanded and sealed. Reed bed felt was intact so just cleaned and left as was. Reeds were lightly cleaned in hot soapy water only.

The keys were particularly filthy as one would expect. All key wood was sanded, felt cleaned and tops polished. The organ was tuned to its original pitch of A455.

This organ was a joy to work on.