Mason Hamlin

Having the reed cells put back together in the restoration

This lovely old Mason Hamlin reed organ was found in an antique shop in small town Illinois by a customer who wanted an acoustic organ to practice on.

Above is the keyboard before any work.  Below are views of the action before work.

The variety of pallet sticks indicate that someone previously replaced several of them.  They may have been eaten by rats which is common.  Just pray that the sticks are the only thing they chew up.  At right below is the double stack of reed ranks.  Each little hole has a reed that slides into the bottom of the slot.

Below notice that the white strips in the holes are actually the bottom feet of the divider walls which had broken off and come unglued from the soundboard below.  There were so many of these that were broken or unglued that the reed cell board had to be removed. 

Below is the reed cell board that had to be removed from the soundboard or reed pan top.  There were over 100 pieces of wood that had to be glued back to it to get it back to the condition you see below.

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