Hi everyone,

I just acquired a Wurlitzer player-piano along with about 100 rolls of
music (mostly QRS and Atlas, some International); the number on the back
plate is 106626.  Any information as to how old it is and is it
commonplace/rare, etc. would be greatly appreciated.  The piano needs
some repairs and tuning; some keys are sluggish/stick.  My main concern
is the player mechanism.  Playing a roll of music on it requires more
effort than my Nordic-Trac exercise machine.  Here are some more
specific observations:

   a) Rewinding a roll  seems fine and goes fast- one can feel the back
      pressure building in the bellows- so I guess the air-motor is OK
      (its fascinating to watch)>

   b) When playing a roll, and all the note-holes are covered by paper,
      once again the back pressure in the bellows can be felt- however
      once a few notes are played this back-pressure rapidly disappears
      and one has to pump like mad to try and sustain note playing.

   c) The piano has been worked on several times (dates on back plate).
      Several of the 22 covers which each operate 4 notes have a red
      gasket material showing.  This material crumbles when touched.

I'm hoping to establish a diagnosis of problems before proceeding with
repair/rebuilding.  Are there some more specific tests I should do?
Also, is there a reliable person in the New York City/Long Island area
that that I might contact?  Robbie gave me someone, but he's in New
Jersey.

        An anecdotal side issue:

I notice that in looking at the MMD digest, that a lot of the members
have engineering backgrounds.  You don't want to have too many of these
people around because I was told that ".. they're so logical.."  Heaven
forbid that you should have to deal with logical people!!  What's my
background you ask.  Well..it's engineering (electrical), but don't tell
anyone!

                Vince