I am not a technician but I have owned various pneumatic players
since 1970, some better than others, and this includes standard
88-note as well as reproducing pianos.  A little over a year ago,
I bought a Mason & Hamlin Ampico A that needs quite a bit of work
and an electronic system would be a quick, fast, fix but I have never
been impressed by most of the electronic players that I have heard.  In
all fairness, I have never heard any of the Stahnke systems in person.
I still prefer a well restored pneumatic system to an electronic one.

Music libraries for pneumatic instruments, especially reproducing
pianos, can be very expensive and difficult to build, especially if the
primary source is eBay.  Currently, it is possible to build a nice
library of popular music for the Ampico due to the efforts of David
Saul for his permanent catalog and the limited short runs by Keystone
and other piano roll producers.  Unfortunately, with short runs, you
have to grab fast as a popular song can sell out very quickly and then
'good luck' if later, you really want that recording.  eBay is always
kind of a crap shoot and it can be very expensive to get a copy of
a roll that is not currently available as a recut.  With original
rolls, condition can be an issue.  With all of these systems, you are
limited to a pre-WW2 library.

The situation with Duo Art and Welte is not as good as that for the
Ampico.  Even the recuts for the Duo-Art many times have issues as
the recutters are not using original Duo-Art equipment for the recuts
and as a result, sometimes, the snake bites, etc., are not quite right.
To my knowledge, nobody is producing any kind of a permanent catalog of
recuts for either of these systems.  My Steinway likes original rolls
better than recuts but I try to buy recuts because of the old paper
issue.  If you have an Art Echo, Angelus, Apollo, or Solo Carola, good
luck!  You are really limited and stuck in terms of building good music
libraries.

A bigger problem than the music library is the cost of a quality
restoration with any of these instruments.  The days are over when all
that one of these instruments needs is to new hosing or "it has a small
leak in the bellows".  Finding a quality, affordable restorer who
really knows and understands these systems is an issue.  Many of these
instruments, even those that were very expensive when new, now require
refinishing, new pin blocks, sounding board work, new strings, hammers,
action work, and of course rebuilding of the pneumatic system.

There are a lot of very fine supposedly restored instruments out there
that do not even begin to play correctly.  You can buy a new electronic
system, in a cheap piano, for less than what a full restoration will
cost.  If someone is installing the equipment, they are dealing with
new parts.  When rebuilding existing parts, time has exposed Achilles
heel issues and or damage caused by previous rebuilding attempts.
I have a feeling that it is far easier to install an electronic system
in a piano, and is a lot faster process, than it is to properly rebuild
and reinstall a pneumatic system.

The upside of a pneumatic system in a reproducing piano is that if
properly restored, the piano will perform for 30 years if the piano has
reasonable care and is maintained.  Computers are not known for having
a long life.  Systems and formats are and will continue to change.
While the electronic systems may be more conducive to modern musical
tastes, any kind of serious longevity is not guaranteed.  When these
instruments start to fail as many of the earlier Pianocorders are now,
what is an owner going to do about parts and service other than replace
the whole system and start a new library?

The good news about the electronic systems is that a lot of activity
is going on with roll scanning which will be responsible for saving
music libraries for future generations.  Unfortunately, 88-note
players, even ones that were expensive in their time, are heading to
the dump in record quantities which means that fewer new rolls will be
made.

Unfortunately, many of the arrangers who really knew how to arrange
(and code for reproducing pianos) to compensate for the limitations of
the instruments are no longer around so some of this has become a lost
art.  In all fairness, a lot of modern music does not lend itself well
to solo piano of any kind.  In fact, some of it cannot even be put on
sheet music -- another major change!

I agree with the comment posted about electronic systems sounding like
dinner music.  An Ampico, Duo Art, or Welte was never designed to be
a dinner music instrument.  A well rebuilt instrument has a dynamic
range that cannot be matched by most of the new systems.  The classical
pieces can be spectacular on pneumatic instruments.  They were never
designed to be something that guests would be able to talk over.

Unfortunately, I have heard several electronic instruments that sound
very weak, like a pneumatic system getting ready to die.  A well rebuilt
reproducing piano, can roar, whisper, weep, sparkle and produce results
that will amaze nonbelievers.

I will admit that I am biased.  Maybe this is an old fashioned view,
but good music -- whether classical, standard, or pop -- will stand the
test of time.  A lot in the Ampico, Duo-Art, and Welte library has met
this test as well as the instruments into which these systems were
installed in the first place.  I am not sure that any of the new Asian
pianos with computerized mechanics will do the same.

Randy Hammond