Organ servicing always comprises the tuning and maintenance of the organ. Part 1: Tuning An organ should be tuned "as little as possible" and "as much as necessary". For this reason, we do not recommend an overall tuning every year. For high-quality organs, the overall tuning can be limited to once every four or five years. In the in-between years, a partial tuning will suffice. Of course, these time frames will be set individually for each organ and also in compliance with the requirements of the parish. Overall Tuning Partial Tuning • control and/or correction of the tempering • intonation balance of single pipes • tuning of all pipes that need to be tuned while maintaining their original tune colour • retuning of single pipes that are very much out of tune • tuning of all tongue registers Part 2: Maintenance The organ maintenance comprises the following tasks: • examine the wind supply: check the oil level and possibly refill special oil • check the secondary voltage of the rectifier • check and possibly adjust the wind pressure, check the wind-chest bellows springs • examine the instrument for traces of dirt, cement, humidity, signs of excessive draught and other damaging influences. The customer will be notified in writing of any damage noticed. • Remove loose dirt from under the pedal board and keyboards • check all technical functions and the pipe reaction • check and readjust the keyboard and register sections as well as the couplers • remedy small damage and failures at the pipes, wind chests, bellows, wind channels and felt covers • repair or exchange small parts, especially in the keyboard and register sections • remove small objects that might have fallen into the organ casing and the pipes If the repair of damage or failures involves major work considerably exceeding the regular time-frame, the customer will be informed, and a cost estimate will be elaborated. Example: removing a particular howling noise usually implies dismantling the pipe section concerned. Basic Outline of the Organ Servicing Contract An organ servicing contract for a particular organ will be based on a general agreement with the diocese or regional church of the customer. Legally, this will always keep you on the safe side!