H. C. Bay players were indeed cheaply made.  I never figured out if
those valves were made of hard rubber, or early Bakelite.

We had a lot of problems with porous wood in those H. C. Bay player
units.  The pianos were indeed cheaply made, and many parts were not
carefully aligned.

I remember the late Larry Mangus of California.  We would be working
and he made up a song to the tune of Chopin's Military Polonaise:

  "H. C. Bay, the instrument divine to play!
   You're lucky if it lasts a day!"

We had great times rebuilding players when I was teaching Larry to
do player work.  He started working in Ohio for the Baldwin Piano Co.,
about 1956.

Bruce Clark
bac4@juno.com