Schober Organ Notes No. 101

I'm writing to let you and the Orphans know that I have put up a skeleton page (which I will flesh out over the next few weeks) with some pictures of my organ and a couple of WAV files of her singing. Hopefully I will also start detailing some of the technical info from the info you had sent me, and put that up on the page. My purpose, in the midst of all the MIDI-fying and Digitizing that everybody else is doing, even to the point of gutting their old Schobers to an empty shell and then refilling them with computer gear that perfectly imitates the Real Thing but just doesn't sound like a Schober anymore, is to make a sort of "Schober Retro-Technology Page" which asserts that the original analog circuitry still has its place, and can still sound good if we let it speak to us on its own terms. Not everyone will agree with me on this point, but some will still be interested in how things were done in Richard Dorf's day.

Maybe my page will inspire some other Orphans (with better sound recording equipment and better playing skills!) to record some sound files of THEIR organs and share them with the rest of us.

The URL is: http://www.tricountyi.net/~randerse/Schober.htm

I hope you enjoy my meager effort. --Rick Andersen, New Bloomfield, PA

The most useful feature was signal tracing. You plug the input to your amplifier into the tester, hook a lead to ground and touch points starting at the tone generators through the keyboards and the other circuitry until you find a point where the signal is not present.

Not all members purchased this tester but I find that lately several members needed the signal tracing feature. So I have built several signal tracers using only that part of the Schober Organ Tester circuitry necessary for this singular function. It uses a minimum of parts. Just a capacitor, a potentiometer, a jack and two wires, one with a probe attached, the other with an alligator clip. I build these into either an Altoid mint tin or a little electronics project box. I do dress them up with a nice knob on the potentiometer and a scale for "volume", but that is not necessary. Figure 1 shows the schematic. I have sent these testers to members and they have been able to locate their problems.

EMAIL MEMBERS: If you want the diagram which is published in the hard copy edition, please send me a SASE and an extra 39 Cent stamp. To my WINTER address, below. ak