Scot Huntington on March 19th, 2023:
The organ was originally installed in St. John's Lutheran Church in Sinking Spring, Penn. as a tracker. The organ was chambered behind a decorative grill. The organ became available in 2010 when it was replaced by a larger 2-manual Casavant pneumatic organ in 2011. The organ was installed in Brecksville by the Holtkamp Organ Co. without tonal alteration. The organ has a favorable position in a rear gallery, but the church website states keeping the organ as a mechanical-action instrument "would compromise their aesthetic values", so the decision was made to electrify the organ with pneumatic pulldown machines. The original balanced keyboards were repurposed after being fitted with electric key contacts. The original stop action utilized Schlicker's revolutionary vacuum motors, but as the diaphrams were starting to fail the units were replaced with traditional stop motors and the bare-bones tripper-style mechanical combination action was replaced with a solid-state multi-level system. The original console with its hitchdown coupler toe pedals was retained visually intact, and made moveable. The new facade at Brecksville is a 3-section pipe fence utilizing basses from the Ped. Gemshorn and Gr. Principal basses.