•Todd Augsburger's Roller Organ Web Site is moving to a new address (below). Please update any links you may have to my site, and note my new preferred e-mail address as well. Thanks for your support! Todd Augsburger Roller Organs http://www.rollerorgans.com/

•"Roller Organs: The Autophone Company's 'Ingenious Mechanism'" by Todd Augsburger The definitive book on roller organs is now available! This large format, 8.75 x 10.75 inch, softcover volume contains nearly 150 pages of history, design, advertising, and reference material, including over 200 illus...

•Roller organs -- the type that play pinned wooden cobs -- never really interested me very much. However, I was always eager to see them operate in other collections. And, I do value them as a part of mechanical music. When I was shopping for Christmas gifts, I visited several antique stores. In one...

•Yes, indeed, we lost a gentleman that truly loved mechanical music machines this past year. Even in the last months of life on this Earth, when he knew that he could no longer take care of his collection and his web site, he reached out to the group he was a charter member of, the Organettes & Play...

•I am writing in response to your call for updates to the MMD's links pages: https://www.mmdigest.com/Archives/Digests/202402/2024.02.07.01.html When I reviewed these pages I found that even just within my own very narrow interest in the mechanical music world -- cob roller organs and the rollers or...

•MMDer Todd Augsburger died Saturday, May 7, 2011, at his home in Kenton, Ohio. According to the brief obituary posted at http://www.limaohio.com/articles/kenton-65248-augsberger-russell.html He was an active collector of organettes and roller organs. His final blog can be read at http://www.rollero...

•I was shocked at the news of Todd's death. He was an enthusiastic collector whose web site was among my favorites. In particular, his "mart" page, for which he never charged, was the best listing of mechanical music for sale worldwide. I was proud that he included a weight-driven barrel orchestrion...

•To the MMD. I was shocked at the news of Todd's death and had no idea he was sick. His contributions to the world of automatic musical instruments will greatly missed. His passing gives me pause to reflect since he was a year younger than me. I got to know Todd several years ago when we were making...

•The title of "legend" is rarely applied to a member of the mechanical music community. Few members of our hobby have contributed more and asked for less. Todd was a giant of a man, not in stature, but in his faith and his contributions. He focused on one of the lesser of the instruments that we all...

•"Roller Organs: The Autophone Company's 'Ingenious Mechanism'" by Todd Augsburger If you bought 'The Organette Book' last year and thought it was lacking in detail about the most popular and widely encountered organette made in U.S.A., the Gem and Concert Roller Organs, then this is the book for yo...

•I would like to buy, or have donated, a copy of the book on Roller Organs by Todd Augsburger. We have a new member who just joined Musical Box Society International (MBSI) and the Mid-America Chapter this year. He is 17 years old and has a Grand Roller Organ and a Concert Roller Organ. We want to h...

Hello all! I've been reading the digest for several weeks, and figured that it was about time to jump in with both feet. I'm Todd Augsburger, a (small town) central Ohio resident, and am interested primarily in smaller mechanical musical instruments and reed instruments. Current collection consists ...

In reading the rather lengthy discussion on Paper Roll Perforators, in which all but a few have, like me, wonderful ideas but no solid achievements, I ask the following: Has anyone considered, or tried, actually cutting, instead of punching, the rolls? I am thinking of something akin to the vinyl cu...

A dealer near me has a cylinder music box for sale that I'd like some advice on. It has been obviously repaired once (teeth replaced), it appears unprofessionally (scuff marks around adjustments, etc.), but I played it and noticed the following problems. It would not correctly shift between selectio...

> "Right around 1940, I believe, a new jukebox name appeared: Rock-o-la. I beg to differ: I don't know the derivation of Mr. Rockola's name, but I understand the correct spelling for the jukebox is hyphenated, as in "Rock-ola", and the pronunciation is with an accented 1st syllable, as in "ROCK-o-la...

Can someone please help me identify a large cob/roller that I picked up at a central Ohio dealer? My guess would be for some mechanical musical instrument such as an organ, but I don't have a clue beyond that! Here's a description: Large, heavy, hollow wooden spindle 21.5 inches long, 3.75 inches ou...

Spencer Chase, I was rereading your advice of about a month ago, and thought I'd comment on my experiences: Recently, I overhauled a Rolmonica and found exactly the things you commented about, with the addition of a warped wood core. I filed the "high" side and filled the low side with a sealer in o...

•I recently began cataloging the Gem Roller Organ Cobs I have, and am having difficulty reading the names and numbers on some of the poorer labels. Are there any kind persons who would help me identify these, or is there a list available anywhere on the net? Here are the ones where I can't identify ...

•[ On 970421 Mike Knudsen asked about adjusting his "Gem" Roller Organ Mike Knudsen, I'm not an expert, but I'll share my experiences: You are correct in assessing that there is no intended adjustment on the Gem. The worm gear is crimped onto the shaft, the trip pin is forced through a hole, and the...

•I recently purchased a QRS Playasax (reeds and rolls like a Rolmonica, but based on a saxaphone theme) from a dealer, and am beginning to do restoration. Although I'm familiar with Rolmonicas, and therefore the general concepts involved, I have a couple of questions: The gearbox cover (which holds ...