Dear Jody,

I was given your name to join the Mechanical Music Digest.  I hope to
contact others with player pianos in hope to gain a better understanding
of my instrument, and perhaps pass on any information I might have, even
though my experience with players is still quite limited.

My story is this....

I have obtained through my family a beautiful upright piano manufactured
by Chickering and Sons with a "Stoddard Ampico" expression player
within.  Unfortunately, I have also found that a previous owner had
attempted to "restore" the player, leaving many loose and broken parts
behind and perhaps even leaving a few out?  From the serial number I
estimate the manufacture date to be around 1911 or so (plus or minus a
few years?).

What I hope to gain is a better understanding and perhaps some help from
someone else who might own the Stoddard Ampico unit.  It looks quite
different from the model A or B units I have seen in books, but again I
am just a novice and could use some help.  I have some experience with
piano repair as I have replaced the three brass rails in my Chickering
action with guidance from a piano technician.  I don't take these
repairs lightly, and have a great deal of respect for those who work on
such instruments.  I would rather do the job right the first time, and
hence why I am seeking assistance before I do anything.

Can you help?  Words of encouragement are always welcome :)

Sincerely,

Dave Keates

David_G_Keates@ccm.fm.intel.com