re: Steve Harris watching several rolls self-destruct on his Steinway

Duo-Art.......
      Sounds more like a piano problem than a roll problem.  Is your tracker
aligned properly?  Is your automatic tracker pneumatic AIR TIGHT?  Are your
brakes too tight?  Is your transmission binding?  Old rolls tend to warp due
to poor storage conditions by previous owners, do you store your rolls
horizontally with an elastic (rubber) band around them to "re-train" them to
their "normal" shape?  Many Duo-Art spool ends are rusty due to Moisture in
the paper and acid, have you replaced these and the cores?  Do you pull out
the left (unslotted) spool end before you play the music roll thereby
allowing for the possibly warped roll to wander and fluff itself onto the
core?  If the left spool end won't stay out, simply put a small tab of tape
on the inserting end and it will give you some resistance and it will stay
out about 1/8 of an inch.
      As a long time roll collector and Publisher of the AMICA Bulletin, I
have had many people ask me about rolls and tearing (mostly on REWIND!).
 Without fail all have thanked me and said by using these simple techniques
(now habits), they have reduced roll damage to ZERO!  It seems to me that
although I agree that the rolls NEED to be preserved and through midi is the
best and most obvious choice (I use it myself for my ARTISTS' CHOICE recuts),
the cost of altering an original art object to off set faulty restoration
techniques is, well it speaks for itself.   Wouldn't the cost of the midi
installation be more than the cost of a service call?
      As far as space for storage, I can't help you there, except, who needs
a sofa anyway when you can have music?

Robin Pratt

P.S.  If the piano and reproducing mechanism are not Impeccably retored to
original factory specs, NO OTHER player (including a disc/midi player) is
going to make it operate correctly anyway.  (These are just the voices of
experience haunting me and not meant as personal attacks on anyone in
particular or their instruments, I hope you understand.)