Hi All,  While I feel certain that Bob Baker is correct about which
type of player piano sells best today, and which ones get listened to
the most in public, I'm inclined to disagree with him about which type
actually gets listened to more on a daily basis in private homes.
Perhaps some of the other technicians who are members of this group
will chime in on this matter from their own perspective.

In my business, I service both the electronic and the pneumatic
players.  Working out of my home, which is approximately 60 miles south
of NYC and 60 miles north of Atlantic City, I have noticed a slight
increase in the number of privately owned solenoid-operated players
over the past ten years.  However, my numbers indicate that working
pneumatic players outnumber solenoid players by a ratio of 10:1 or
greater.

As for the music rolls, I sold about 9000 rolls last year, and QRS
recently affirmed that they sold about ten times that number last year.
Roll sales at Player-Care have just about doubled every year for the
past four years, and even though the economy was rather flat for the
first quarter of this year, sales are only slightly below last year's
figures.

Based on comments I receive from my customers, the player
restoration/repair businesses around the country must be doing fairly
well.  At least once a week, I get a letter from someone who has either
just gotten their pneumatic player back from a repair facility or they
have just gotten it working again.  While these numbers are far from
stirring, they do indicate movement in a positive direction.  However,
to be fair, I also have to say that I get about an equal number of
emails from people who are either selling, giving away or are going to
dump their non-working player.

My perspective,

John A. Tuttle