I just want to share the great time I'm having getting our Kimball Recordo
baby going again.  I've worked my way thru the stack and was able to clean
up all the stucks and cyphers without any new parts.  Didn't see any of the
pneumatic cloth crystallizing on the valves or anything.  Mostly just
construction debris that moved around when the piano was moved.

While I've only got a couple of Recordo rolls so far the results are really
nice.  With the lid up, the dynamic range is quite good.  I'm not going to
fool an Ampico owner but I'll bet that a well regulated Recordo was a pretty
acceptable alternative in its hey-day.

Say what you will about Kimballs, this piano was built with maintenance in
mind.  Assembly/disassembly is a snap.  The stack splits cleanly into thirds
and, with the removable top valve seats you can work on individual valves,
troubleshooting one at at time. I'd much rather be under it than replacing
the fan belt or spark plugs on my Caravan.  They must think you're never
going under the hood after they leave the factory.

Steve Harder¶
slharder@center.iastate.edu