From c-pec@c-pec.com.au Sun Dec 02 16:08:08 2012
Subject:Re: Anything new on the horizon for organs?


--- In CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com, Walter Greenwood wrote:
" and whether cell phones should be confiscated at the door when entering church. Sheesh!"

Our church installed a phone-jammer.
If anyone's phone goes off during the service, he comes running out and jams it up their ar$e. :^]

I know it's not within everyone's skill-set, but with a small amount of effort, it's really quite cheap to build a set of midi pedals. There's a few different midi controllers available that are pretty easy to wire up. eg Basyn MIDI Kit for 13 pedals (this one's very simple to wire up.) Or a PEDSCAN controller from MIDI Hardware for up to 32 pedals. (This one needs a bit more work to wire up.)

The pedals can be easily stripped out of an old organ, (cheap on ebay). Wire the pedal switches to a controller, and away you go.
MIDI pedals for around $60!! (13 pedals)

I stripped the pedals out of 2 Kawai spinet organs, ($2 and $5 off ebay), cut and joined them to make a 25 pedal set. Cost me less than $100 all up.
I also wired up the expression pedals (long throw) from the organs. They already had 10kohm linear pots, so it was just a simple matter of wiring them to a TRS plug.

I'm currently fitting up a set of console pedals.

I realize the home-made thing isn't for everyone. But with a little bit of time and effort, it sure can make things affordable.