Hi all,  In MMDigest 010826, Craig Brougher mentions having received a
small 1927 Chickering Ampico console, and had some questions about it.

Firstly, these are not even remotely scarce.  This was the first
instrument marketed by Ampico as "The Baby Ampico", and they sold by
the 6-pack.  If properly restored, they play extremely well.

They exist in a couple of configurations, one with "A" stack valves,
one with "B" and seem to have been built from about 1926 through 1929.
The expression mechanisms and pump are pretty straightforward Ampico
"A" except that there is no provision for finger-button control, no
expression cut-out, and the stack equalizers are mounted at the pump.
The stack is very nicely designed.

They were manufactured in two different scale configurations: (1) the
Chickering, which is the larger, and (2) in one about an inch and a
half shorter bearing a Marshall & Wendell, Fischer, or Haines decal.
(There was no difference between these three except the decal.)

Those with plain finished cases usually were furnished with a back,
similar in style to the grille on an Orthophonic Credenza phonograph,
and were marketed mainly to schools.  The theory was that the teacher
could position the piano with its back to the class, and teach over the
top of it.  I believe there's a picture of one of these in the book,
"Player Piano Treasury" (Vestal Press).

Those with the pattern-painted Chinese designs usually had no back and
were marketed mainly to individuals.  The base color could be black,
(there's one on e-Bay right now), ivory, green, red, orange, and
apparently turquoise, which is the color of the one that Bruce Clark
owns.  There may be other colors as well which aren't coming to mind.

> There may be something missing that I haven't seen, but from what
> I can see, there is no way to tune this piano because the tray
> containing the top action and spool box completely covers the top
> of the piano action, and fills the rest of the piano flush with the
> underside of the lid.  That puts it smack against the ends of the
> tuning pins.  It then is tubed into the stack and expressions the
> usual way.

The "drawer frame" or "spool box frame" sits on two wooden brackets.
If you look, you'll notice two sets of screw holes in these
(perpendicular to the floor).  You remove the screws, pull the frame
forward about three inches, and stick the screws in the second set of
holes to secure the frame in order to tune the piano.

Yes, it's a pain in the neck, and you will want to tie a string to your
mutes.  There isn't a lot of room, but there is enough.  Getting the
wind-motor hose on and off is also fun, and fighting with the bowden
cable that's used for the tempo control is similarly amusing.

> There are two swivel brackets at each end of this top action frame,
> but they only position it in relation to the tuning pins.  They
> cannot allow it to rotate out of the case.

Unless yours is constructed differently, they're not supposed to
rotate.  If they do, there's probably a screw missing.

> And of course, if it were designed to rotate upward, then all the
> tubing would be stretched taut in front of the tuning pins like
> spaghetti.

Yup.  It isn't.  I always considered the possibility of making a
manifold (sort of the Duo-Art grand theory) but in a straight line,
so that the tubing could be then separated at that point and the
"drawer" removed by removing a few screws, but have never done it.
There's a fair amount of space between the "drawer" frame and the top
of the stack for such a manifold.

> And if anyone can shed some light on this piano or this type of
> player, I would appreciate it too.  I don't think there are too many
> of them (Thank goodness).

Sorry, but I'm sure there will be many replies to your post, Craig,
since there _are_ a lot of them!

> Perhaps certain stores in a few large cities even had some of these
> made to order for their own apartment dwelling clientele.  So it may
> be an experimental reproducing piano idea indigenous mainly to a
> certain test sector of the country.

Nope.  They were marketed on both coasts and in the Midwest.  Perhaps
not many made it to Missouri, but they're really not at all uncommon.
By the way, I've seen the identical piano (Chickering version), with a
1931 serial number, in which an Ampico mechanism was never installed,
so apparently at least some were sold "playerless" during the
depression.  Deep case, but no player and no sign of one ever having
been installed.

At any rate, these little Baby Ampicos, especially the Chickering, have
a really good scale -- and a much bigger sound and dynamic range than
would seem likely -- and they can be exceptionally satisfactory
reproducing pianos.  It really does deserve your best work.

Dean Randall,  by sunny Puget Sound