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MMD > Archives > July 2002 > 2002.07.28 > 05Prev  Next


Seek Duo-Art Components
By Thomas Henden

I have earlier successfully "upgraded" my Aeolian Weber piano, to
have Duo-Art functionality added, however some parts are missing to
make the conversion complete and correct.  Let me describe the
situation, then you'll now what I need, or suggest solutions which
I couldn't think of right now! :-)

First of all, the pump I got bought earlier, was of the wrong size,
17" instead of 15" which would have fit inside the piano, and since
we're moving to a new place, where an external pump cannot be hidden
in a neighbouring room or closet, I will need a 15" Duo-Art pump or
similar which fits into the lower right corner of the piano.  A
somewhat smaller pump than 15" would perhaps be even better, if the
motor or motor connection is missing, as a manually made replacement
may take some more space.  (I have no mechanical workshop to do major
construction)

It was some hassle to make a new holder for the electrical motor, so
I hope the smaller pump includes that one plus the 110V motor; I can
transform from 220 to 110V, no problem.

I may suggest a swap, if someone has the smaller pump, but needs the
larger one for their grand piano; be aware though, that the postage
might be prohibitive -- it was quite expensive to get the 17" pump sent
to Norway.  Probably a swap is best.  If you should happen to need a
larger pump, I believe it also would be good for orchestrions, however
I would rather see it go into a Duo-Art grand piano which is missing
the pump.  (My pump is in unrestored, good condition, no major leaks
but it will need restoration in the near future as it makes some
'puff-puff steam locomotive sounds' when it is running...  :-))

From Player Piano Company I earlier bought some pneumatics to operate
the left pedal.  However this neither looks good nor like the original
parts, and it makes some noise, so I'll need both the bellows that
operates the left and right pedal function, including the small
reservoir, from a Duo-Art piano.  Essentially that's all the small
bellows in the lower left corner of the Duo-Art piano.

I would, by the way, recommend against those pedal operating pneumatics
from Player Piano Company; unless you're going to make a nice loud
orchestrion, they make too much noise compared to older pneumatics
which have a small reservoir built in, which seem to dampen the noise.
Probably the PPCo pneumatics works better to operate a mandolin rail
which requires less force, so don't take my warning too seriously;
we do not want to put PPCo out of business either.  :-)

I will also need the small pneumatic which sits on the side of the
Duo-Art expression box, which operates when the piano is in non Duo-Art
mode, so that the level is on a medium level when playing standard
rolls.  This one's not important, and if someone has a 'gadget' or
solution which is better, like how to raise all the expression levels
to max when in non Duo-Art mode (using the pumping pedals instead of
the motor) then please tell me!  I don't want to play standard QRS
rolls at one monotonous level, then I want to use the pumping pedals
to give the rolls some expression.

I will additionally need the right cutout valve set (those who disconnect
the Duo-Art holes when in non-Duo-Art mode); my piano is a 85-note
piano, so it only need to cover one note, the highest one, which I now
have to tape over when I play Duo-Art rolls.

And, I had to refit and/or remake some of the rods and levers so they
would fit to the Duo-Art expression box.  The levers which earlier was
connected to the Themodist box adjusting treble and bass levels, are
now used to raise theme and background levels, they are connected to
the Duo-Art expression box somewhat awkwardly, so I'll need the
original rods and levers.

That reminds me: I have the Themodist box for someone who might want
to 'upgrade' their standard "expressionless" piano, to operate with
Themodist.  You'll need a tracker bar which the Themodist holes, and
connect these ones to the Themodist box, which connects to the pumping
system on the one side, and the two halves.  The Themodist box is in
partly restored condition, that is, is has new pneumatic clothing, but
the valves are unrestored (since I planned to replace it with the
Duo-Art expression box anyway).  It probably will need a complete
overhaul; I don't quite remember how well it functioned, but it worked.

Thomas Henden, Oslo, Norway


(Message sent Sat 27 Jul 2002, 22:36:28 GMT, from time zone GMT+0200.)

Key Words in Subject:  Components, Duo-Art, Seek

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