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Rewiring Old A-S Keyboards

Building organ consoles for use with Hauptwerk, adding MIDI to existing consoles, obtaining parts, ...
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Spharticus

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Rewiring Old A-S Keyboards

PostTue Jul 05, 2022 7:59 am

Hello all - Thanks to a friend/local organbuilder I have come into possession of a three KB stack from Aeolian-Skinner Organ Co. (Opus 977, 1938) in Commerce, TX.

I've looked at the current wiring, and determined that salvaging is - to quote Scotty, Chief Engineer of the USS Enterprise - "possible, but not recommended". I can trace most wires out but when you take a closer look, the cloth coatings are disintergrating (sometimes on their own), and where the bundles are routed at the cheeks close to hinges many are broken just from the repeated movement.

Taking off the individual wood stripsthat hold the wire bundles and connections is quite easy considering so access isn't an issue.

I'm not ready to talk hardware, but i'd like recommendations on what to use for rewiring. I have *plenty* of network/cat5 cable which I could easily use. The console I have is high like an older dutch organ so I have plenty of room for the cables which would be thicker. I'm more talking about the ease of rewiring, being able to get into a rythym when connecting, as well as planning for eventual connection to a midi encoder.

The pistons are fascinating - there are round wire loops built into notches, and those loops expand when the piston is depressed. I've also not seen the PED to MAN before - those are two-piston where when one is pressed in the other pushes out equally.

Pic link attached (the labels are mine and removeable, was using for wire tracing) - thanks in advance.

https://imgur.com/a/e48KACu
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larason2

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Re: Rewiring Old A-S Keyboards

PostTue Jul 05, 2022 11:56 am

There’s many ways to go about this, and it depends on what hardware you’re planning on using. Personally I would go with the appliance ribbon cable, either 10 or 20 conductor. You can terminate those with standard plugs, and it interfaces easily with a large number of encoders. You can use small snips to separate the wires and strip with a standard small gauge wire stripper. It’s out of stock on Mouser, but here’s a link:

https://www.mouser.ca/ProductDetail/3M- ... cycode=CAD

But there are 100 other products that would work. The voltage for most encoders is minuscule.
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Spharticus

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Re: Rewiring Old A-S Keyboards

PostTue Jul 05, 2022 2:07 pm

Thanks. I have the advantage of starting from scratch so I can choose things that work together.

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