Craig Roothoff mentions having an upright Steinway Duo-Art with the
serial number 148881.  According to the official Steinway list of
serial numbers and dates, this instrument was made just before
mid-1911.  That seems a little early for an original Duo-Art
installation; the piano should be carefully checked for filled screw
holes and other indications of having had the earlier foot-pumped
"Pianola Piano" action, such as a built-up area around the pedals.

There is an appreciable number of Steinway Duo-Arts with serial numbers
going back as far as 1909-issued and containing player actions of most
any vintage.  But by 1912, Steinway was building pianos destined to
contain a Duo-Art player as original equipment.  It was necessary for
these pianos to settle a bit, be completed by Aeolian, a stock built up
and demonstrator instruments shipped to the dealer network in preparation
for the formal introduction of the Duo-Art in late 1913.  All this took
many months.

The earliest Duo-Art actions had no modifying lever, automatic reroll
or tracker ears.  Frequently, some or all of these features were added
later.  Tracker bars, seldom replaced, have two extra ports for automatic
tracking.  These were tubed to a block containing two adjustable valves
identical to theme primary valves.  Lines had no lint screens, allowing
the bleeds, channels and pouch wells to quickly clog.  Since the source
of this lint was the edge trimming of rolls during perforation, the
addition of tracker ear valves greatly improved the situation.

Jeffrey R. Wood