•In response to the question about the Capehart switch, it merely was an additional switch position on a later model Ampichron. An additional plug was attached to the back of the piano and was hanging down so that a radio-phonograph could be connected into to the Ampico's "advanced circuitry." Inste...

•Hi folks, Michael Swanson wrote yesterday about the Ampichron and the Capehart Switch. Homer Capehart, during the 1930s, apparently contacted the American Piano Company and talked them into allowing a limited number of Capehart phonographs to be connected to the Ampico via the Ampichron. The switch...

•I subscribe to a similar bulletin board [forum] for devotees of Old Time Radio programming and related subjects. One poster (a prolific author of related books) wrote in to ask, "What is a Capehart?" Another poster responded, "My father only sold Zenith, Crosley in his radio and appliance store, bu...

•When I first acquired (1990) a Mason & Hamlin Ampico B grand (RBB 40084, mahogany finish), the player mechanism had been removed and discarded, most likely before 1955. Nonetheless, the absence of the Ampico B did not dissuade me from pursuing the challenging rebuilding project, because the musical...

•I also collect and restore Capehart record flipping phonographs and I wonder if anyone has detailed information of how the Capehart was controlled by the Ampico B Ampichron clock. Capehart phonographs were available with an optional, elaborate remote control option so they could be controlled throu...

•Thank you, Lee, for that interesting information on Capehart. Co-incidentally a local radio station raised the origins of the name "jukebox". Someone rang in to mention an old film in which the Negro workers in the south of USA went down to the "juke-joint" for a wild night of music, dancing, drink...

•There is a wealth of information out there. Many of the home changers we came to love were invented by J.P. Seeburg, Philco, RCA and Capehart. The changer everyone knows today, if you're over 40, is the central spindle model. The records were stacked on top and held in place by a lip in spindle sha...

•-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD -- For sale: my 5'8" Knabe Ampico B with factory installed Ampichron and Capehart switch, bench, collection of rolls (including chime roll), piano cover and key cover. Option: installed Spencer Chase E-valves and roll database. The piano has been fu...

•I have also been curious about the Ampichron. Does anybody know if production figures exist that show the number of pianos shipped with this device installed? Was the Ampichron designed by Ampico, or the Telechron Clock Co., or a collaborative effort by both? I once heard of another device that was...

•Of interest: The Ampichron clock was a very well built mechanism and contains a Telechron clock powered by a General Electric motor. Another feature I forgot to mention was a provision for the Ampichron mechanism to turn on a radio. I assume there was a separate plug under the piano for a radio pow...

•-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD -- I'm a relatively young piano enthusiast, currently rebuilding a Knabe Ampico B with believed factory installed Ampichron. I'm located in the Netherlands and some months ago I purchased the Knabe in the US, in Florida. I'm desperately looking for ...

•Hello MMD, I'm sad to say my storage unit in Redding (in far Northern California) was stolen during the last two months and the likelihood of catching the thieves is small because the security camera footage is technically unwatchable (as per the locker company). I'm attaching a list of the items I...

•I have two restored art case reproducing grands for sale. One is a 1928 Chickering 5' 9" walnut Louis XV Ampico A with matching bench and 50 Ampico rolls. Asking $9500. The other is a 1922 Welte "Autograph" piano which plays Licensee rolls and has the spoolbox above the keys. It's a 5'6" brown maho...

•Copyright 1998 by Arthur A. Reblitz. All rights reserved for future publication by the author. The first commercially-produced Seeburg jukebox was called the "Autophone," introduced in May 1928, at the same time as the new "Greyhound" piano with "whippet race" mechanism. In July 1928 they changed t...