Comments on: Advice Wanted: Troubleshooting a Baldwin 45HP2 Vacuum Tube Organ

By: bob

bob — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 19:03:15 +0000

i have listend to your mp3 sound file and it sounds to me that you may
have a short circuit in a pre-amp vale

By: Keith Neufeld

Keith Neufeld — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 13:55:00 +0000

MO, I have no idea. I believe this organ used bare spring wire pressed against button contacts, so you’re talking about something I haven’t seen.

By: MO Harris

MO Harris — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 23:19:59 +0000

Please tell me about the footpedals and what is the “composite” that is under the pedals that presses the sensors. Where do I purchase it, etc.?

By: Earl Haug

Earl Haug — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 16:19:34 +0000

In view of the large number of pins and contacts in any organ, my favorite method after a move is to unplug and re-plug all tubes, plugs, etc. I also mark all audio level controls with their current position and then exercise them. Should this not solve the problem I again unplug items and gently clean them with a toothbrush sprayed with de-natured alcohol. If noise is unaffected by the expression pedal, I concentrate on the power amp section. A signal tracer placed across the gain control will help confirm where the noise originates.

By: JayDee

JayDee — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:29:27 +0000

I have no experience with this organ, although I believe it was one of the early solid state versions that Baldwin produced. I believe the transposer had something to do with electronically changing the key. You might want to jump into thiis organ forum. There seems to be a good discusson of the C-601 taking place. Good luck!!
http://organforum.com/forums/thread/54879.aspx

By: Lou Ann Laurance

Lou Ann Laurance — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:50:09 +0000

We have a Baldwin Electronic model 5A and very interested in trying to find out where the kinks are.It is in working condition but does have some notes that do not play and one that sticks until disconnected..
From reading other comments I think the first job is cleaning it thoroughly,tube by tube..is that correct?
Am searching for the manual and schematic..where??
Many thanks
Lou Ann

By: Jon Peterson

Jon Peterson — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 23:53:33 +0000

This has made such interesting reading. I am purchasing a Baldwin 3-Manual Drawstop C-601 Classical Analog Organ (serial no. F-1071-B). I understand the organ was working recently andwas moved to a shop where it has not been touched. Before I start it up, should I follow some of the recommendations stated above. Would you give me some advise of how you would recommend prepping the unit for power up.

I understand the unit does not have a “transposer”. Will this cause the unit not to work? I’m curious as to the function of this “transposer”.

Also, I wondered if this organ has a reputation of having quality sound?

By: dwheel

dwheel — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:42:37 +0000

That does help. When pressed in the ‘down’ position the VibraHarp, Harpsicord, etc., play a continuous sound. When pressed “up’, they don’t. I’m currently cleaning all tubes in the Percussion section. (can’t hurt). I love problem solving!

By: Keith Neufeld

Keith Neufeld — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:34:26 +0000

I have two guesses about the percussion keys, based on what I have on my (working) Hammond and on a Crumar clone of the Hammond.

The first is harmonic percussion, which adds some harmonic overtones to the beginning of the note when you press the key. It adds the higher-pitched sounds into the note for just the very beginning, making kind of a “plink” sound at the beginning of the note. It sounds vaguely like a mallet striking a xylophone or marimba, and can be used to accentuate a staccato effect.

The second is noise-based percussion on the Hammond clone, which does much the same as above but adds a bit of noise instead of overtones related to the key being pressed. It sounds more like a “ksh” sound, and I think it’s supposed to emulate the key click of a Hammond key closing the contacts. I don’t have much use for it myself.

On both the Hammond and the Crumar, the percussion effect is controlled by one or two toggle switches that turn percussion on and off for the entire manual (or both manuals?). (I think the Hammond has two different percussion switches for different sets of overtones.) They certainly wouldn’t (shouldn’t) be making a noise continuously when switched on.

I hope that gives you some ideas about what to expect from the percussion; and congratulations on getting so far with the repairs already!

By: dwheel

dwheel — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:01:41 +0000

thank you for taking the time to help me. I’ll get the schematic out and see what I find. I’m sure this might be a few days.