What is a tone cabinet?
Tone cabinets were designed as an accessory for certain models of organs. They typically provide tremolo effects and amplification. In some cases, the amplifier and effects are included inside the organ itself, so a tone cabinet is not necessary. The Model 30 and 31, for instance, are almost the same type of organ, except that the 31 requires an external tone cabinet and the 30 does not.
In Electronic Organs, Robert Eby suggests some guidelines for mounting tone cabinets. First, the tone cabinet should be located near the organ console, so that the organist doesn’t perceive a noticeable amount of delay between pressing a note and hearing it through the speaker. Eby advises that “tone cabinets sound best when they are elevated,” and suggests mounting the cabinet seven feet from the floor and at least 15 inches away from a wall. In a church installation, Eby suggests using two tone cabinets, one positioned on either side of the organist.
The tone cabinets below are ones that we have scanned drawings for, but there may be more models. In Electronic Organs, Robert Eby identifies a few early tone cabinets that we may find more information on as we continue working through the archive.
Model 40 tone cabinet, for Series 20 organs
Model 42 tone cabinet, for Series 20 organs
Model 60 and 62 tone cabinets
Model 75 tone cabinets, for Series 50 organs
Model 80 tone cabinet, for the Model 14 organ
Model 310 tone cabinet