well - over the course of a couple days, I've swung from a clobber together usb keyboards approach to the full out midification approach - looking at the video series from Hauptwerkhardware.com I'm starting to believe that rewiring the manuals on an existing old organ wouldn't be too difficult--
Essentially it all comes down to carefully removing the unnecessary circuitry -- which appeals to me -- I want the functionality of midi and a software interface - I do not want the old nasa style circuitry of 20+year old electronic organs --
The video series from Hauptwerhardware.com shows the process of removing everythigng except the manuals, pedalboard, stops and expression pedal-- new wiring is directly connected to each component and run back to a midi controller board -- in someways an older organ - pre pcb is easier --
I have an idea for a possible donor organ...
In the meantime, our Baldwin is going to stay put -- it's nice to have an instrument for the girls to play while they are home --
I'll see if my donor organ project comes together and if so, possibly down the road the Baldwin could be midified as well....
considerations for midifying an organ -
midi control board like this:
http://www.dtsmidisystems.com/midiencoders.html
or this: