45th St. (Paramount, Guild 45th) Theatre - 2/6 Kimball
Stoplist for 1924 2/8 Kimball opus #6757, courtesy Jim Stettner
Observations from an inspection by Jim Stettner in 2006
Windchests
Seattle, Washington
2115 N. 45th St.
Organ installation timeframes:
1st instrument: 1921-1924
2nd instrument: 1924-1930
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Console of the 1921 Kimball as installed at St. John's Catholic Church
The 45th Street (Paramount) Theatre had two theatre pipe organs:
A 2/6 Kimball (opus #6657) with tubular pneumatic action installed in 1921. At this time, the theatre was called "The Paramount" - pre-dating the much larger downtown Paramount by seven years.
A 2/6 Kimball (opus #6757) installed in 1924. A $2,000 credit was given for the 1921 instrument as a trade-in. According to the Junchen opus lists, two ranks were later added making the instrument a 2/8.
The 1921 instrument was moved in 1924 to the Georgetown Mission Theatre. In 1930-31, it was moved to St. John's Catholic Church in the Ballard/Phinney Ridge neighborhood of Seattle. It is still there although very little of the original instrument is left.
The St. John's instrument was enlarged by Balcom & Vaughan in 1973. According to Jim Stettner, "...several new ranks were added, but some original were retained. The Great 8' Melodia had bored stoppers inserted to become a make-shift Rohr Flute. The Muted Viol was retained as the Dulciana. On the Swell, the Stopped Diapason and Oboe were retained, and the Great 8' Open Diapason became a 4' Principal. The Pedal Bourdon was also retained." The console was also replaced at this time. Disposition of the original 1921 console is unknown.
in 1999, Jim Stettner started another rebuild of the instrument. According to Jim, "the Melodia and Open Diapason were replaced. The Muted Viol was retained, but cut-down, de-bearded and revoiced as a 4' Spitz Principal for the Swell. This was replaced by Frans Bosman [Mozier, Oregon] who performed other tonal work and constructed several offset chests for the project. The Stopped Diapason was replaced by a 16'/8' Bennett set of pipes to provide for a 2nd 16' Pedal register. The original Oboe and Pedal Bourdon were retained. The original Kimball manual chest was given to Carl Dodrill of Mercer Island."
The 1973 Balcom & Vaughan console was replaced with a modified three-manual Aeolian from the Church of the Ascension Episcopal in Magnolia obtained by Clint Meadway. The console was originally built as a two-manual for the Henry K. Rhodes residence in Tacoma in 1923 (Aeolian opus #1518).
During an inspection in December 1999, the Pedal Bourdon was the only recognizable Kimball item left in the chambers.
According to Jim Stettner, the 1921 instrument may have been a 2/7, "...because there were two primaries on the main chest - one controlling 3 Great stops (Open Diapason, Melodia, and Muted Viol) and one controlling 3 Swell stops (Stopped Diapason, Salicional, Oboe)...PLUS the independent 16' Pedal Bourdon. Additionally, the Swell division was later augmented by two stops. The primary channels of the Swell were drilled-into and tubed to an added, 49-note chest upon which was added an 8' (tc) Voix Celeste. The bass of the main chest was tubed directly to the 2nd, elevated, added chest and a 2nd set of 49 tubes went from the Voix Celeste chest to the elevated chest....upon which was added a Vox Humana."
"One other mystery remains. While the name "Paramount Theatre Seattle Wash" was written in the standard Kimball blank ink on the bottom boards of the chest. . .the opus number stencilled onto the toe and rackboards was opus 6613!"
In 1924 another Kimball instrument was installed at a cost of $8,250, less a $2,000 trade in. A 2-rank addition was later installed by Kimball. This organ was moved in June 1932 to the Fisher-Kalfus Funeral Home (now Hoffner, Fisher & Harvey) in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle by Paul O'Neil.
According to Jim Stettner, "In 1959, G. Harold Keefer of Vancouver, B.C. removed the original 8' Kinura and its chest and replaced it with a TC 8' string (49 pipes) on a new top-note magnet chest. It is about the same scale as the original Kimball Violin, but only about 50% as loud. The pipes are Austin pipes from the 1911 Austin, Op. 354, at First Church of Christ, Scientist in Seattle where he had just finished a rebuild and enlargement."
In 2008, Dave Luttinen of Mountlake Terrace acquired the organ, sans blower which remains in the funeral home. The organ is currently stored and not yet installed.
W.W. Kimball Co.
Chicago
Opus 6757 1924
"Original Specifications"
Accompaniment (expressive)
16' Bourdon [TC]
8' Diapason
8' Violin
8' Claribel Flute
8' Vox Humana
8' Clarinet
8' Kinura
4' Octave
4' Violin
4' Wald Flute
4' Vox Humana
2' Piccolo
4' Xylophone
2' Glockenspiel
Snare Drum Roll
Snare Drum Tap
Chinese Block Tap
Tom Tom
Castanet
Tambourine
Accom 2nd T.
8' Diapason
Chimes
Snare Drum Roll
Chinese Block Roll
Triangle
2' Glockenspiel (in slot to right of Main Tremulant tablet]
Solo (expressive)
16' Contra Viole [TC]
16' Bourdon [TC]
16' Vox Humana [TC]
8' Diapason
8' Violin
8' Orch Oboe [synthetic]
8' Claribel Flute
8' Vox Humana
8' Clarinet
8' Kinura
4' Violin
4' Wald Flute
2 2/3' Nazard
2' Piccolo
1 3/5' Tierce
4' Xylophone
2' Orch Bells
Pedal (expressive)
32' Acoustic Bass
16' Contre Bass
8' Diapason
8' Violin
8' Flute
4' Violin
Piano Loud
Piano Soft
Bass Drum
Snare Drum
Cymbal
Pedal 2nd T.
Bass Drum 2nd T.
Tympani 2nd T.
Triangle 2nd T.
Pipe Summary
Diapason....................................73 pipes
Violin......................................73 pipes
Claribel Flute.............................101 pipes
Vox Humana..................................73 pipes
Clarinet....................................61 pipes
Kinura......................................61 pipes
Tremulants
Main
??? The tablet beside the Main trem. tablet is a 2' Glockenspiel.
Believed to be non-original.
Finger Pistons
Solo & Pedal...............[with 2nd T.]...............C, 1 - 6
Accom & Pedal...........[with 2nd T.]...............C, 1 - 6
?..................................[Gen. Cancel?].......Unlabeled
Toe Studs
Pedal....................................................1 - 4
?.................................................Label Missing
Triangle
Bass Drum & Cymbal
Bird Call............................................a single label
Bird Call............................................for both studs
Foot Levers
Sforzando................................................reversible
Chimes Soft.........................................hitch-down
Chimes Sostenuto
Grand Crash
Pedal Movements
Expression..............................................balanced
Crescendo..............................................balanced
Notes
A plaque on the wall of the chamber reads:
KIMBALL
PIPE ORGAN
Installed, JUNE, 1932
-------------------- BY --------------------
PAUL O'NEIL
Pitch = A-440 - Temp. 70*
NOTES
The organ was moved in 1932 to Fisher-Kalfus Funeral Home (now Hoffner, Fisher &
Harvey ) in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle by Paul O'Neil without tonal changes.
In the 1950's, G. Harold Keefer of Vancouver, B.C. removed the Kinura and its chest
and replaced it with a used string from the 1911 Austin organ at First Church of
Christ, Scientist in Seattle which he had just rebuilt and enlarged. The original
Kimball chime action is still present at the funeral home, but the 5 tubes are gone
and another 21-note set of chimes has been installed.
The main 3-rank windchest holds (in order):
The Vox Humana and Clarinet are both on their own chests, as is the added TC string as described above. The 16' octave of the Claribel Flute is on its own chest, as are notes 13 - 18. The 2' extension is on a small chest attached to the front of the 3-rank chest. And 1-12 of the 8' Open Diapason are also on their own offset chest.
Pipework
For the most part, the pipework looks to be in good condition. Clearly, the stoppers of the 16' and 8' octaves of the Claribel Flute will need to be releathered. The resonators of the first 4 or 5 pipes of one end of the diatonic Clarinet are leaning towards the middle- over the smaller pipes. But they don't look severely bent and can likely be gently straightened. The strings all look great. The Diapason looks fine. One pipe from the 2' Piccolo extension is missing from the small, offset chest. And the 4' extension of the Vox Humana wasn't playing. . .and in truth, I forgot the check and see if there truly were 73 pipes, or if the 4' VH just plays for 49 notes, or if the top octave is missing.
Console
The console appears to be either cherry or walnut veneer. It is in need of refinishing, but definitely able to be restored/refinished. All of the stop switching pneumatics are inside the console. Several of the switches are leaking badly, and the Pedal 16' Contre Bass is permanently on. There are also numerous dead notes. I started to make a list of these - stop-by-stop - but it quickly became evident that this would be a lengthy list, so I abandoned it for the present. The pistons are also barely working...with the console combination action pneumatics clearly and audibly ruptured and leaking. All of the original toestuds and foot levers are still present. Two labels are missing.
Tremulant
There is only one Trem. at present - the Main. And it's working well. But the slot where the Tremulant tabs are has two tabs, and the label is missing. The second tab is a now a 2' Glockenspiel, but I wonder if that may have been a stop change?!?!? Would there have been a separate Vox Humana trem? For my tastes, that's what I'd put in there in a restoration. Because the 2' Glockenspiel appears in both the main stoprail and the Accom 2nd Touch rail.
Expression Shutters
The shutter frame contains 7 original fins with a pneumatic motor for each.
Stoptablets
There are a total of 61 stoptablets, of which 38 still govern speaking stops, the one tremulant, and the Accom 2nd Touch chimes.
Chimes
Interestingly, the present chimes are not original - I think. There is a 5-note original Kimball chimes action identical to the one in St. James Episcopal in Sedro Woolley (orig. the Dream Theatre organ) which played the 4 notes of the Westminster Chime and had a 5th "Bourdon" chime for tolling. The chimes that are playing are on a 21-note pneumatic action, and look as though they might have been intended for visual display as they alternate being chrome and bronze in color. Bass A (note 22) and e 41 are missing. This action also has many non-working notss due to ruptured primary and action pneumatics.
Regulators
There is only one regulator for the entire organ. It is roughly 30" x 48". It seems to be mostly airtight now. But it should be releathered before the organ is reinstalled anywhere - especially if in a public venue. The leather is original.
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