Burlington, Washington
Burlington Lutheran Church
BALCOM & VAUGHAN PIPE ORGANS, Opus 749, 1966
Balcom and Vaughan Pipe Organs, Inc., Opus 749A, 1992 - Tonal Changes & Additions
Balcom and Vaughan Pipe Organs, Inc., SC ___, 2007 - Solid State Conversion & Tonal Changes
GREAT (Expressive) SWELL (Expressive) PEDAL (Expressive)
8' Principal 8' Rohr Flote 16' Gedeckt
8' Gedeckt 8' Dolce 16' Lieblich Gedeckt
8' Dolce 8' Dolce Celeste 8' Principal
4' Octave 4' Principal 8' Gedeckt
4' Rohr Flote 4' Gedeckt 4' Octave
2-2/3' Quinte 2' Octave 4' Rohr Flote
2' Octave Flote 1-1/3' Quinte Mixture
1-3/5' Terz 1' Sifflote blank
Mixture blank 8' Fagott
8' Fagott 8' Fagott 4' Fagott
Chimes Tremulant
Swell to Swell 16'
Swell to Swell 4'
STOP / RANK / PIPE ANALYSIS
16' Gedeckt (Ped) 12 Extension of the 8' Gedeckt.
16' Lieblich Gedeckt (Ped) -- Same as the 16' Gedeckt, but with
notes 1-12 on 'soft wind.'
8' Principal (Gt/Ped) 61
8' Gedeckt (Gt/Ped) 61
8' Rohr Flote (Sw) -- 1-12 from the 8' Gedeckt. 13-61 from
the 4' Rohr Flote.
8' Dolce (Gt/Sw) 61
8' Dolce Celeste (Sw) 49 Tenor C.
4' Octave (Gt/Ped) 61
4' Principal (Sw) -- Same as the 4' Octave.
4' Gedeckt (Sw) 12 Extension of the 8' Gedeckt.
4' Rohr Flote (Gt/Ped) 61
2-2/3' Quinte (Gt) 61 Added in 1992.
2' Octave (Sw) 12 Extension of the 4' Octave.
2' Octave Flote (Gt) 12 Extension of the 8' Gedeckt.
1-3/5' Terz (Gt) 61 Added in 1992.
1-1/3' Quinte (Sw) -- From the 2-2/3' Quinte. Top 8ve repeats.
1' Sifflote (Sw) -- From the 8' Gedeckt. Top 8ve repeats.
Mixture (Gt) 208 II-IV ranks. Enlarged 1992 from II.
Mixture (Ped) -- From the 4' Octave unit. 12-15.
8' Fagott (Gt/Sw/Ped) 61
4' Fagott (Ped) -- From the 8' Fagott.
Tremulant Affects the entire organ.
Chimes (21) Compass: A 22 – f 42. Maas.
PIPE SUMMARY
Principal Gedeckt Dolce Dolce Cel. Octave
61 pipes 97 pipes 61 pipes 49 pipes 73 pipes
Rohr Flote Quinte Terz Mixture Fagott
61 pipes 61 pipes 61 pipes 208 pipes 61 pipes
COUPLERS FINGER PISTONS
Swell to Pedal 8 General 1 – 10
Great to Pedal 8 Swell 1 – 6
Sw. to Ped. (rev)
Swell to Great 16,8,4 Great 1 – 6
Gt. to Ped. (rev)
Pedal 1 – 6
TOE STUDS To Set
General 1 - 10 Cancel
MEMORY (Rotary Dial) PEDAL MOVEMENTS
Single Memory, 8-levels 1 - 8 Expression (bal.)
Crescendo (bal.)
ACTION: E-P unit VOICES: 10 STOPS: 29 RANKS: 13 PIPES: 793
(inc. chimes)
NOTES
The organ as originally built was 8 independent voices and 9 ranks arranged over 28 speaking
stops with 616 pipes. The chimes were prepared-for in the console, and added later. The cost
of the organ was $10,685.00, and with 4.2% sales tax of $448.76 the total came to $11,133.76.
Balcom and Vaughan allowed a $2,500.00 credit on the M.P. Moller 'Portable' taken in trade
for a final net cost of $8,644.76.
Stop switching was via stop slides behind the keys, thus eliminating the need for a remote
relay. But this meant a large bundle of cables had to be led from the console to the chamber
junction.
In 1992, Balcom and Vaughan was contracted to enlarge the organ. All changes were to the Great.
An independent 2-2/3' Nasat was installed on a new 2-rank chest along with a new 1-3/5' Terz.
The original Great II Mixture was enlarged to II-IV ranks.
In 2007, Balcom and Vaughan converted the console and relay to solid state. A new Peterson
combination action was installed inside the console along with a new power supply for the organ.
The old stop slides were removed from the key frames and Peterson key contacts were retro-fitted
to the keys. The chamber had a new Peterson solid state relay and coupler driver installed.
Several tonal changes were made at this time as well.
The Swell 4' Gemshorn Oktav (Dolce) was eliminated and replaced with the 4' Octave, but called
Principal. The Swell 4' Fagott was replaced with an 8' Fagott. And while the 4' Fagott extension
pipes are present, they are not being used. The 8' Dolce was eliminated from the Pedal. The Pedal
2' Rohr Floete was re-pitched as a 4' Rohr Floete, thus eliminating any 2' Pedal register. And
the Pedal II Mixture – which had been a direct borrow from the Great – was re-pitched as a II-
rank Mixture pitched at 12-15 and taken entirely from the 4' Octave. The nomenclature of the
stops was changed slightly from the original.
The manuals began to suffer from problems with the tracker-touch key springs, which would eject
spontaneously. Christmas eve 2011, two springs ejected at the beginning of the service, rendering
the organ unusable for Christmas. The springs were temporarily fixed after the turn of the new
year by Puget Sound Pipe Organs. But in April 2012, two replacement used manuals were installed
which did not make use of the problematic tracker-touch key spring system. The Peterson key
contacts were retro-fitted into the replacement manuals and adjusted for firing point and repe-
tition. The replacement manuals also had a larger complement of pistons, which may be added to
the combination action when/if the church desires.
At the same time, a parishioner who was an electrician had to replace the contactor switch in the
chamber for the blower – which would chatter noisily when the organ was shut-off.
In July 2012, Puget Sound Pipe Organs removed all the pipework with assistance from parishioners,
and washed all the pipework. Extensive repairs had to be made to the pipes due to damage from the
coke tin slide tuners. Tapered pipes had fared particularly poorly. The felted caps of the 8'
Gedeckt and 4' Rohr Flote were shimmed, and the felt edges inside the caps were trimmed to meet
and butt-together, rather than to overlap – thus causing a slight leak.
The pipework was essentially never truly voiced, and a tonal regulation and finishing was never
done to set volume relationships between the various ranks. This was accomplished early in 2013
by Puget Sound Pipe Organs with all ranks being (re)voiced in their shop prior to on-site tonal
regulation and finishing.
The original wind pressure was 2-1/2” (65mm), and has since been raised to 3".
Sources: Balcom and Vaughan opus list and files; extant organ; JRS.
[Received from James R. Stettner 2013-07-26.]