The Bruder up at Coney Island went through the B.A.B. conversion and
ended up sounding rather nice, though there are a few things which
I believe B.A.B. messed up.

Apparently the Bruder was "chopped" a bit in that some (or a lot) of the
forte pipes were removed and the trumpets were replaced by saxophones
(possibly from a Gavioli).  I have many tapes of that organ and
although it plays perfectly, there is no forte and I can hardly hear
what was the trumpet section.

Jerry Doring's organ is supposedly the organ that accompanied the Coney
Island Bruder at one time.  It's virtually identical but a bit smaller
and has all of the original forte pipes.  BUT, B.A.B. took out the
trumpets and added brass oboes which are some of the strangest pipes
I've ever heard in a band-organ.

I'm beginning to see now why the collectors try to restore a B.A.B.
converted organ to its original state.  The B.A.B. music was some pretty
good stuff, and their use of the pressure system was a wise move, but
the pipes they meddled with were their biggest mistake.

I have a picture of an early 165 Wurlitzer which is actually one of
the imported Bruders.  It's facade is adorned with oil paintings as
well as marble slabs (yeesh, I hope they're not genuine marble slabs!).
Who here has seen band-organs with marble on them?  Anyone?

Oh hey -- does anyone out there have the 165 metal spools? I think they
were called "chucks." I wonder how much they go for these days.

Marc Elbasani