Berry-Wood Rolls
By Rob DeLand
I have one Berry-Wood 6-tune roll. I picked it up because it is very early and has a nice rag on it. The roll is very similar to a standard 65-note roll, but I would guess was issued before the A-roll format was finalized. Off-hand I think it had a lock-and-cancel sustain pedal; I don't remember there being any control tracks for mandolin rail or pipes, but I could be wrong on that.
The roll was an endless loop, but each of the individual tunes was spliced together on the original roll. Each individual tune also had its own roll number, and a tune card with the 6-tune roll listed all six titles along with their respective individual roll numbers! I cut the loop so the rag would play first, then spooled it up on an A roll core and added a leader.
I would guess your 15-1/4" roll is quite rare, and I'd be tempted to convert the piano to play something else if it were mine. Even if it's fully restored it won't do anybody any good if it has only 1 or 2 rolls! I can check to see if there's a Berry-Wood machine at Jasper's if you don't have any luck finding the photos you need, and I could try to pester Reblitz for tracker scale info. (I'm sure he's looking for more non-paying work!). I remember Jasper has a similar Peerless machine with an unusual roll format, but I don't remember seeing a Berry-Wood. Let me know if you don't make any other progress...
Cheers,
Rob DeLand |
(Message sent Mon 3 Mar 1997, 21:44:13 GMT, from time zone GMT-0800.) |
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