A quick response to Damon's question about reproduction nickelodeons.
I will address only the American makes.

First, I am prejudiced.  There are, in my opinion, maybe a dozen or so
restorers of nickelodeons that do make reproduction parts.  There are
fewer yet who build whole nickelodeons from the ground up.  Edgerton's
KT special is to my knowledge the only reproduction piano built in any
quantity from the ground up.  There were also Encore Banjos and
Wurlitzer Harps built from the ground up.

There are some restorers that start with a gutted coin piano and then
build all the parts to make a complete nickelodeon.  Many times a coin
piano can be found missing some key parts, and those parts must be made.
You name a part in a nickelodeon piano and chances are good that
someone has made a copy.

Making parts can be one of the more rewarding jobs of the restoration
process for some.  It is a challenge to replicate parts down the last
detail.  Some of the finest nickelodeons around today have replicated
parts in them.  It would take a person who has seen or worked on a lot
of pianos to spot the reproduction parts, and even then the experts have
been fooled.

In the Bowers book there is mention that some Cremona instruments had
Seeburg parts.  I personally do not think this is true.  The one
Cremona that I know with Seeburg parts of was at Svobada's Nickelodeon
Tavern.  (I know this has nothing to do with Damon's question, I just
threw it in to show that even the experts are fooled.)  It was later
found out that another restorer had put those parts in the piano in
the sixties.

Damon asked what kind of nickelodeons have been reproduced.  The
Seeburg H has been reproduced and most of those have original Seeburg
pianos, but everything else has been added.  The Seeburg G has been
copied.  The Coinola SO and CO have been reproduced.  The Seeburg L
had been reproduced.

Damon asked where do you get these parts and who sells them.  The few
restorers I know don't usually make parts for others.  These parts are
usually produced one-at-a-time as the need arises.

During the 1970's, and maybe today, there were companies that sold parts
to build your own nickelodeon.  Unfortunately many of these parts did
not sound quite like the original parts and, in my own opinion, many of
the home-made nickelodeons did not do justice to the original
nickelodeons produced in the "good old days".

As one restorer once said, "If you are going to make new parts or a new
nickelodeon you might as well make a good reproduction".  It may have
been these homemade nickelodeons that influenced one arthur to write not-
so-kindly about the "O" roll in a book.

Don Teach, Shreveport Music Co
1610 E. Bert Kouns, Shreveport,  LA  71105
dat-smc@juno.com

P.S. Yes, there are some misspelled words in the above.

 [ Don is teasing us, and told me beforehand so I wouldn't erase his
 [ jokes! ... I believe I recall Craig Brougher and other restorers
 [ admonishing us,  "Don't make a good reproduction of a _bad_
 [ orchestrion, either."  -- Robbie