Jackpot! Gulbransen Recovered from Attic
By George Bovard
Well, I finally got the "outlaws" to dig a path to their attic so I could recover the player parts for my Gulbransen. I have heard stories for 18 years, but never was able to get in there and see them until now. The player action was removed at least 30 years ago. Well, I couldn't be more pleased. All parts are there, still connected. I expected a glued, three-tiered stack as my serial # is 2478## and Reblitz's book sez they didn't switch to screws 'til about 250,000 (1926). Well, its all screwed individual pneumatics, but I guess 2478## is "about" 250,000. They couldn't be easier to remove (in fact I have one sitting on my desk at work now.) Also, it has the "fishing pole" auto-tracking. I had initially thought I'd farm it out and get it done right by a professional, but now I'm tempted to restore it myself (first-timer). If I did have it done I don't want to move the piano and I'm confident I could re-install the player parts myself. That means I could send it anywhere to have it done. Any recommendations?
Questions: The glued stack gets all the attention. Do these
individual pneumatics need to be broken apart to
get to the valves?
The Player Piano Co. sells a Gulbransen "glued stack"
kit. Will the kit (and instructions) be useful to me
or should I start from scratch? Whats in these $300
kits?
Should I electrify it? Are the electrifying kits quiet?
and would it double as a source for vacuum while testing
the components as I rebuild them?
Sorry to hit you with all this at once. If you have some advice but are concerned it may be too elementary for the list please send it direct to gbb@creighton.edu.
Thanks, George.
BTW, I also "scored" 59 rolls from '17 to '46. I doubt any are rare, but I could post if anyone cares? Oh, it includes rolls 1 thru 4 of the fourth edition of the Gulbransen instruction rolls :-)
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(Message sent Wed 16 Oct 1996, 15:26:51 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.) |
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