Completed Organ Projects
St Peters UCC - Chicago Il. 3 Manual Allen Analog Custom 1969
Our first project completed in October of 2009. We diagnosed the organ as having many blown speakers and in bad need of re-voicing as an unqualified technician attempted to fix this instrument and failed. When we arrived the organist was only able to play on the Swell keyboard, anything else resulted in a lot of distortion. Throughout the year we replaced speakers, re-wired amplifiers, and re-voiced the instrument with great success.
First United Methodist Church - West Dundee. 2 Manual Allen MOS Organ
This poor church was with a dead organ for 3 years. A so called technician serviced the organ and could not figure out what was wrong with it. It took us ten minutes to figure out it was the clock board. With a donated part from S.B Smith/Rodgers Dealership this congregation has a working organ again.
The Congregational Church of Park Manor - Chicago Il. 2 Manual Allen MOS Organ 1970's
This is another congregation where we found blown speakers. The speakers were replace and the organ was re-voiced.
St Tribius Catholic Church - Chicago Il. 2-Manual Sauter Hybrid pipe organ 1970
Our first pipe organ project. Currently the reservoirs were re-leathered in July of 2010, and 2 wind chests were upgraded from electro-pneumatic action to electric action. The organ is slated to have the console rebuilt and the electrical system upgraded in the near future.
Tabor Lutheran Church - Chicago Il. - 3 Manual Moller Pipe Organ 1927
This organ had a problem of being repaired by another company and they failed to properly screw things back into place. The electro-pneumatic action combination action failed in the console. Further the console kept loosing pressure which caused the organ to just stop playing. At some point some technician decided to oil the trippers in the combination action system, this caused the trippers to catch dust, gum up and fail. We re-leathered the static reservoir and upped the pressure on the organ, cleaned the trippers and restored the console back to its old self.
First Baptist Congregational Church - Chicago Il. - 4 Manual Kimball Pipe Organ 1927 - 7 Divisions
Our biggest restoration project yet. We tuned the organ in full which consisted of 5000+ pipes, plus 2 real 32' ranks. Reservoirs are the first scope of the project. This will be an ongoing project for the next several years. Recently one of the towers collapsed through the roof, we participated with Bradford Organ Company in restoring this historic instrument. J.D.Michalec pipe organs fully removed 5000 pipes out of the organ to clean and make repairs, then reinstalled the organ. Additionally we stripped the facade pipes of the organ and managed to recover the original stencil design from 1871, and even replicated a pipe with stencil work so the church could see the original work.
United in Faith Church - Chicago Il. - 3 Manual Ahlborn Galanti Organ
An interesting instrument. This organ was installed and never properly voiced. For that matter it was over voiced. We spent several hours re-voicing the instrument, and contrasting the various ranks against each other. Finally the organ came to life and sounded like it should.
Calvary Lutheran Church - Chicago Il. - 2 Manual Century Pipe Organ
A nice small pipe organ, but it was not played for the past 10 years. The company that maintained it gave the church sticker shock, and they almost got rid of it. After we came along, we found that the valve caps on the electro-pnuematic valves shrunk and blew out when the organ was turned on. We replaced all the caps and armatures and the organ is now fully functional.
St. Pauls Episcopal Church - Munster In. - 2 Manual Wicks Pipe Organ
A small but very powerful organ, the problem was the trumpet was too powerful. The trumpet was removed and re-voiced, also pipes that collapsed were repaired.
Trinity Lutheran Church - Park Forest Il. - 2 Manual Allen ADC Organ
This church has a wonderful Allen, but the speakers were all disintegrated with age. We re-coned the speakers which is cheaper then installing new ones, and re-voiced the instrument.
St. Pauls Lutheran Church - Decatur Il - 3 Manual Berghaus Pipe Organ 1991
An organ moved on the fly and I mean fast. The congregation moved to a new building so the organ with all its grand case work, pipes, and console had to be moved as well. We didn't make the deadline as organs never move fast. But we did get the job done, with the exception the organ will have to be enlarged. Additional work included installing new slider motors, and numerous other modifications to make this organ work again. The job was headed by Schneider Pipe Organs out of Kenney, Il.
Removal
Reinstallation
Our Lady on the Mount Catholic Church - Chicago Il - 2 Manual Kilgen Pipe Organ
This organ was dead for years. Someone took apart the console, cut the power switch out, and buried the power wires to the console under the floor. It took 3 hours to track down the wires to bring the organ back to life. The organ played for the first time on Holy Week 2012. Future work includes a very big cleaning, and some rewiring.
Markham Lutheran Church - Markham Il - 2 Manual Allen MADC Organ (Refurbished)
This church had an old Allen Analog with princess pedals installed as their instrument. The aging organ needed to be replaced, and the church had the desire to have a real organ. We found an Allen MADC organ that was available. Again the organ itself had a bad potentiometer (electrical switch) that caused the organ to make loud static noises. The switch was cleaned, and the church then purchased the organ, and are very proud to be a customer of JD Michalec Pipe Organs.
Concordia Lutheran Church - Chicago Il - 3 Manual Moller
Another successful tripper system restoration. JD Michalec Pipe Organs donated over 20 hours of labor to help this congregation with their Rebuild The Steeple fundraising event. After some quick necessary repairs the organ was in concert for the event.
3 Manual E.M. Skinner Console 1927 Combination Action Restoration
One of our long term projects. For its historical significance we are restoring this organ over time to its original state. So far we have rebuilt reservoirs, and are in the process of restoring the electro-pneumatic combination action in the console. Lead tubing was re-sealed for individual pneumatic action.
St Paul Lutheran Church - Thornton IL - Refurbished Wicks/Walker OPUS 4822
This church was built in 2002 and never had an organ installed. We came a cross a church that was ready to get rid of their existing pipe organ. St Paul purchased the organ with plans and intent to enlarge it in the future. Organ played its first service Easter 2015.
Removal
St Johns Lutheran Church - Country Club Hills Il - 2 Manual Wicks Under Construction
Our newest project under construction, organ is a 2 manual Wicks Pipe Organ being converted to a 3 Manual Pipe/Digital Hybrid Organ. Watch for coming details and pictures of this instrument. Anticipated installation August of 2015.