Corrections needed

Whoa, Craig Brougher, you are putting words into my mouth that I never
said. (re:  12/28/97 MMD). Never at any point did I make any statement
about "model B's being poor reproducers".  To the contrary, I think
they are GREAT reproducing pianos.  I enjoy mine immensely, ball unit
valves and all .. especially when it's playing my favorite B-coded
rolls.  Ball unit valves are excellent performers, and nowhere have I
ever said that they were not.

I am puzzled at Craig's interpretation of my 1979 article entitled
"A New Valve for Reproducing Pianos".  Never, ever, did I write that I
had a "terrible time rebuilding...Ampico valves."  Also Craig goes on
with:  "He related the story of throwing away all the old original
Ampico valves, after not being able to get them to perform as intended
by the test roll."  and "...he admits that he couldn't get the original
ones to perform well."

Simply not true.  NEVER did I say or write anything of the kind.  In
reality, the piano in which those valves were installed had been
"gutted" of its original pneumatic mechanism before I got it.  I built
up the reproducing mechanism from parts rescued from other examples
which had been gutted, along with certain innovations of my own.  It
was a test bed of sorts, and a learning opportunity.  The piano is now
in Colorado, and still doing fine with the special set of valves that I
built for it.  I am surprised that Craig would condemn these valves
without ever having heard the results.

If anyone would like to see first hand what my 1979 valve article
really said, please e-mail a request and I'll be happy to e-mail back a
copy of the text.  I can also supply the diagrams in compressed
(zipped) format.

Craig also takes issue with restoration techniques in my book (now out
of print) on rebuilding the Ampico B.  At the same time that my book
was being written (1979) Craig Brougher wrote the following for
replacing pouches in B valves, which is a direct quote:  " ... I
definitely suggest a substitute.  Using polyurethane pre-formed pouches,
follow this procedure to the letter and you will get beautiful
results--..."   (AMICA Bulletin, Jan/Feb 1979).

In the same article, Craig also recommends removing and cleaning ball
bleeds in a sonic cleaning tank, the same procedure that I recommended
in my book.  As an alternative, he recommends buying new ball bleeds,
and I have no argument with that, as long as they are exactly
equivalent to the originals.

One final note -- Craig, if you are not too busy replacing rotten
polyurethane pouches, you can find the gluing line on a B valve simply
by getting rid of the old gasket and examining the bare wood on the
side of the valve that faces the stack.  Splitting valves apart does
not require sanding off all of the old shellac, although that can
certainly be done if one prefers.  Disassembling B valves, with or
without the old shellac intact, is not difficult.  I demonstrated the
technique in the first technical session ever held at an AMICA
convention in 1970.

Dave Saul