The Fritts shop is currently reconstructing an organ built in 1819 by Philip Bachman, son-in-law of David Tannenberg, America’s first native-trained organbuilder.  Tannenberg and Bachman worked together in Lititz, PA from 1793 until 1800 when Bachman began to work independently as an instrument maker.  He built 10 organs as well as other stringed keyboard instruments between 1802 and 1821.

The organ was originally built for Friedens Lutheran Church in Myerstown, PA.  It was sold to St. John’s English Lutheran Church in Tacoma, WA in 1908 and was used there until 1933.

Most of the organ was discarded at that time with the original upper case front and façade pipes being retained as a front for the pipe chamber of an electric-action organ.  Fortunately several other important parts of the organ were also preserved including the upper section (made of cherry) of the detached console with the original ivory keyboard and Bachman’s nameplate.  The original stop rods are preserved but the stop knobs and labels have been changed.  Four wooden stop trees from the console and the original bottom board of the windchest pallet box are also extant.  The latter is a particularly fortuitous artifact as it shows the spacing of the original windchest channels and the order of those channels on the windchest.  A total of 82 metal pipes are also preserved including all 29 of the original façade pipes.  The organ originally had just over 500 pipes.  The Tacoma church closed in 2004 and the Bachman organ parts were removed to storage at the Fritts organ shop.  The organ has been thoroughly researched and plans for the reconstruction carefully developed from the existing parts and historical information.

The organ appears to have much in common with the 1802 Tannenberg organ at Hebron Lutheran Church in Madison, VA, which is one of the best-preserved Tannenberg organs. Bachman installed the Madison organ and was intimately familiar with the organ.  The façade proportions and layouts of the two organs are very nearly identical as are the windchest layouts.  Since Bachman inherited Tannenberg's organbuilding papers, the organ was probably built from Tannenberg's Madison drawings.  The Madison Tannenberg therefore provides a valuable model for the missing parts of the Bachman organ.

Insofar as possible, all of the original pieces of the Bachman organ will be restored and used in the reconstructed instrument including the gilded pipe shades.  The organ likely did not originally have pedals although a pedal keyboard and one stop of pipes were added to the organ at some point – possibly late in the 19th century or perhaps when the organ was originally installed in Tacoma.  The organ will be reconstructed with a 27-note pedal and Subbass 16’ and will also have a Manual to Pedal coupler.  These additions do not affect the original portion of the organ related to the single keyboard, which can be authentically represented by playing on the manual alone.

The organ represents a unique portion of American organbuilding and is the sole remaining example of Bachman’s organbuilding.  The preserved parts constitute the oldest extant organ artifacts in the State of Washington.  The restored and reconstructed organ will represent the tonal and physical characteristics of an early 19th century American-built organ as accurately as possible.