I offer for sale from time to time recut rolls for nickelodeon pianos.
It is hard to find 18 collectors to buy a large group of rolls.  I have
to have 18 copies of a single roll recut at a time.

On rare roll types such as the Wurlitzer APP five tune changer rolls
I had to have 100 different rolls recut just to get the manufacturer
of my rolls to recut them.  That is 100 different rolls with 18 copies
of each roll totaling 1800 rolls.  That is a lot of rolls to sell
at one time.  With my APP roll project I was lucky in that I knew many
collectors with machines that would need the rolls.   It was still an
up hill battle to sell all the rolls.   The rolls did finally sell and
I vowed never to do it again.

Recently I got the wild hair to recut Wurlitzer Pianino rolls.
Same problem as before in that in order to get the rolls recut I have
to have enough people wanting the rolls to get the manufacturer to
change out his machinery to the Wurlitzer Pianino format.  I did get
a deal in that now I only have to have 50 different rolls recut with
the same 18 copies of each roll by offering to pay more money so that
I don't have to have 100 different rolls recut.

My problem this time is that there are fewer Wurlitzer Pianinos known
than other types of nickelodeons.   My list shows somewhere around
25 known Violin-Flute Pianinos known and I don't know how many plain
models of pianinos are out there.  Someday the original rolls for these
machines will just decompose into non playable rolls.   I posted a plea
for anyone interested in Pianino rolls on the MMD with only one
response.  Now some people wonder why recut rolls are so hard to find.
Try finding buyers.

I would suspect that the recutters of other types of piano rolls are
facing the same problem.  I saw one roll producer recut some super
nickelodeon rolls, only to sell a few copies of each roll.   He is now
out of the nickelodeon roll business.

It cost lots of money to set up to recut rolls today.  You have to scan
the rolls if you are using a computer.  You have to correct the roll
scans and then you have to correct the roll.  (No, not all original
rolls are perfect -- even three original AMPICO rolls will be different
from each other.)  You have to have boxes made, cores made, spool ends,
end tabs, hope the perforator does its job, and sell the rolls.  And by
the way, did I mention it takes a lot of time just to watch the
perforator cut the roll.

Don Teach - Shreveport Music Co.
Shreveport, Louisiana