Introduction
By Bruce Clark
I'm Bruce Clark, a retired piano technician and Ampico serviceman.
I encountered my first player piano about 1946, and from then on I wanted a player piano. About three years later I found one in the garage of a former American Piano Co. employee, but it was not a reproducing piano. It was a Cable Nelson with a Simplex action; the price was about $20.00, as I recall. That was a lot of money in the 'forties, especially for a youngster.
I save and saved my money, and worked mowing lawns, and delivering groceries as well as washing dogs and even assisting a woman to do her laundry for a family of 10. When I had saved enough money, I purchased the piano and gathered up my cohorts and we pushed the piano down the street about a block and a half, and into my parents garage where it was played at every available moment by myself and all the youngsters in the neighborhood until the original pneumatics gave out and it fell silent.
The man I bought the piano from had worked at the factory. His name was Mr. Fischer. I did not know too much about him other than he assisted me in recovering of the pneumatics, and he enjoyed drinking; some days he was not able to assist me. The piano went back together in good condition and we youngsters would play it morning to night if we could. One roll was "In a Little Spanish Town." My mother said that if she heard that tune one more time that we would never see the roll again. It disappeared and was found a year later, down the cold air return, when the furnace men came to clean. Later, we moved and brought the old player with us, still going strong.
[ The Ampico factory recollections follow in this Digest. -- Robbie
I'm retired now. I have sold all but the basic tools to keep my little Ampico in top shape, sit by the fire, and enjoy the music. Now I leave my work to the younger set, hoping that they do not distort what was meant to be. Please do your restorations with care so that the Ampico may live on, and play music to the generations, instead of today's cacophony that is barely understandable.
I enjoy hearing from Ampico owners, and enjoy discussing various aspects of Ampico mechanisms. You may E-mail me at <bac4@juno.com>. I am fairly new to computers, and find that they are not at all as reliable as a good old Ampico!
Bruce Clark
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(Message sent Sat 21 Dec 1996, 00:49:35 GMT, from time zone GMT-0500.) |
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