The Black Beauty II console is truly stunning! It is one of two identical consoles built by Andy Struble in Michigan in the 90’s. After spending some time in a pizza establishment in Ohio, the second console has found itself in the Scarborough Collection in England. Black Beauty II was purchased by a man named Dale Zieger of Hart, Michigan. The console was empty but did have the stop tabs and keyboards.

Dale decided to use Hauptwerk but needed a relay. He decided to use the Opus Two relay system to run Hauptwerk, and use the Paramount 4/50 as the sound engine. His speaker system consisted of many Rodgers cabinets, Yamaha speakers with power amps, and an array of Conn Pipes.

Dale is an accomplished organist and for many years owned a piano & organ dealership and also worked on the organ development team at Conn Organs. After retiring Dale and his wife Gail purchased a small neighborhood theatre in Hart and for many years used Black Beauty II to accompany silent films in the theatre. It was a perfect fit.

It seems our instruments somehow become a part of our families. This indeed was true for Dale & Gail. Sadly, because of health issues he and Gail made the agonizing decision to put Black Beauty II up for sale.

Meanwhile Tim had been wanting, and actively looking for, a four manual theatre organ console for his music room. His friend Dave Waters saw the advertisement online and immediately gave Tim a call. The next day Tim drove the nine hour drive to meet the Zigers and to see and play it. After negotiating a price Tim purchased it.

A few weeks later Tim, along with his friend Nate Figlio (The Cowboy Organist) rented a truck and headed for Hart. It was a bit of a challenge, and a lot of work, dismantling that amount of organ. As it turned out Tim’s good friend and fellow organist Dave Wickerham helped with the project. It was loaded and they headed back to East Palmyra. The organ was unloaded and the process of reassembling it started.

Tim has started to make some upgrades. He purchased a new IMac computer, upgraded Hauptwerk to version 9, and obtained a custom made speaker system. He has purchased a Chickering grand piano with a player unit and will marry it to the organ as soon as the Opus Two relay is upgraded to the current version. Tim welcomes you to stop to see and play Black Beauty II if you’re ever in the area.

Write to Tim Schramm

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