St. John Catholic Church
Delphos, OH
3/27 M.P. Möller
Opus 5542 - 1929

Photos of the Console

Click on the photo to see a larger image

This organ is currently using its second console. The first console was replaced in 1998 during the rebuilding of the instrument. Usually when a console is replaced the old console is carted away never to be seen again. Fortunately this is not the case with this instrument. The original console can be found at the Delphos Canal Museum just a few blocks from the church. The pictures which follow show both the old and new console.

On the left is the current console which sits in the choir loft in the back of the church. The facade of the left chamber is visible in the background. The photo on the right is of the original console in the Delphos Canal Museum. As can be seen, there are several similarities between the two consoles. Notable differences include the extra expression pedal on the old console for the Sanctuary Division and the extra toe studs above the pedal board on the new console.
Here's a different view of the console. The new console stays true to the original Möller console and uses stop tabs instead of stop knobs which are more commonly seen on classical pipe organ consoles. Austin was another builder who used stop tabs (and still does today!) for its classical organ consoles.
Indicator lights tell the organist the position of the expression shutters open or closed the expression shutters, and how far the crescendo pedal has been pressed. On the left the current console has a set of LED bar scales which convey this information, while on the right the original console has a series of indicator lights. Note the musical notation for very soft (pp) and very loud (ff).
M.P. Möller Pipe Organ Company was in business from 1875 until 1992 and was one of the most prolific organ builders, building over 10,000 instruments. Many of the company's shop buildings are still in place but are mostly empty. One building is occupied by organ supplier Eastern Organ Pipes. Lima Pipe Organ Company was founded in 1930 and serves the Ohio-Indiana-Michigan area. The company was started by a former employee of the defunct Page Organ Company and purchased its remaining assets when Page filed for bankruptcy.

Across the top of the existing console are the stop tabs for the organ. The tabs for the divisions are laid out similar to how they were on the original console with the exception of the Sanctuary Division (does not exist anymore) and the couplers (buttons on the keyboards on the old console). Tabs with black writing are flue and string pipes, tabs with red writing are reed pipes and black tabs are couplers which can either link ranks within a division or one division to another. The blank tabs are placeholders if the organ is expanded.
	Speaking of the Sanctuary Division, here are the stop tabs from the old console. The chamber was sealed during the renovation of the church but the pipes are still in place. The chimes were relocated to the Choir Division.

Down below on the new console are the toe studs and expression pedals. Studs marked "GEN" are general couplers and correspond to the same buttons under the keyboards. They allow the organist to preset registrations in advance and the select with a tap of the toe. "PED" couplers are specifically for the Pedal Division ranks. Note there are two divisional couplers (Great to Pedal and Swell to Pedal) as well as a toe stud for Sforzando. In the center photo, the left and center pedal operate the expression shutters for the respective chambers, and the right pedal is the crescendo. The further down any of the pedals are pressed, the louder the volume by either opening the shutters or, in the case of the crescendo, adding more ranks.

Need a boost?  The bench features a crank which can raise or lower the height, thus allowing the organist to be at the optimal height. This is very helpful for being efficient when navigating the pedal board.

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