Hi All,  Glenn Amer's post led me to share a few thoughts about the
Marshall and Wendell top loader Ampico we recently acquired.  This
piano, which is barely larger than a spinet, is among the most powerful
upright player pianos I've ever owned.

Our instrument was rebuilt in 1980 by Tom Ahearn in Massachusetts,
found its way out to the Seattle area, and for the last 10 years was
being used a practice piano by the daughter of the buyer.  They knew it
was a player piano but since the cord had disappeared after the owner's
death and subsequent move, they used it for a kids practice piano for
over a decade.

I noticed the piano for sale on the local Craig's List.  By that time
they had jury-rigged a cord to it and discovered it was still playing,
sort of.  They were looking for a local person to bring it back to life
and after a modest amount of money changed hands, the piano was ours.
Tom Binnall of Auburn, Washington, determined that a new bass bridge
was needed plus refurbishing of some of the Ampico components.  But the
piano had been restrung, rehammered and repined, the pump was tight,
the stack was strong, and with some good work by Tom the piano was
returned to its former glory.

The fun part about these short studio uprights is the finished back
of the piano.  Sprayed with a lacquer shadowing effect not unlike the
Victor Orthophonic phonographs, the wood and fabric grillwork is quite
presentable.  And having the sound board face into the room as opposed
to facing the wall makes a huge difference in the sound volume, quality
and clarity.  A bunch of these Ampico top loaders are floating around
and I highly recommend them to anyone who wants the fun of an Ampico
but doesn't have the room for a grand.

And now I'm on the hunt for "new" Ampico music: compositions from the
1940s to the present that enterprising folks have coded for the Ampico,
like Bill Flynt's work in the 1970s.  Please let me know if you have
extras around for sale or trade.  Warmly,

Marc J. Sachnoff
tel.: 1-310-291-3645
marc@exclusivewireless.com.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]