Packard American Organ

This was my first organ which I bought from a school friend after helping him to restore it.  American organs are often confused with harmoniums.  Both use metal reeds to produce the sound.  Harmoniums work like pipe organs.  Air is sucked into the bellows, passes through a reservoir and then to the individual reeds.  American organs work the opposite way round; they suck air in through the reeds into a reservoir which is kept empty by the bellows.  This is supposed to result in a more mellow sound.

This particular organ had a single manual (keyboard) and, like most such instruments, the keyboard was split so that the treble stops only worked on the upper portion and the bass stops on the lower.  This can give unexpected results when the the bass or treble part strays across the boundary.