I have a few questions about the player piano I purchased recently.  It
is about thirty years old, according to the fellow I purchased it from.
It is a Hardman, made by Hardman, Peck & Co.  It was refinished prior to
being put up for sale

If I am correct, the first new player marketed in the US after WW II was
the "Hardman Duo" which came along in the mid-1950's.  I have seen a few
of these, and wonder if there are any distinguishing features of the "Duo"
that do not appear on later Hardman players.

The piano has no fallboard, but the decal above the keys reads "Hardman".
There is also a large decal in the spoolbox which reads:  "Master Play",
and a smaller one which reads "Patent Pending"  The spoolbox is made of
wood  (not metal, like the later Aeolian players), and the only control
there is the switch for the suction box, which is an obvious addition to
the original instrument.  Also, unlike the newer Aeolian players, the wind
motor is on the right side of the spoolbox,  and the slider valves are
almost horizontal.  A further difference from the newer players is that
the tracker bar is NOT adjustable.  On the keyslip behind the tempo lever
is an arcing tempo scale.  Otherwise, the keyslip controls are consistent
with the later Aeolian.  The final difference I see between this piano and
the newer Aeolian players is the presence of a key lock, which I don't
recall seeing on the newer ones.

All my comments so far are based on the assumption that this piano was
an Aeolian product.  Am I correct in this?

I'm somewhat concerned about positively dating this piano.  I am familiar
with the Pierce Piano Atlas, but, where there SHOULD be a serial number
on this instrument is only some indecipherable pencil markings.  There
is a space in the plate where I expected to find the serial number, but
there are only the pencil marks.  Has anyone run into this previously?
Any suggestions?

All this is leading to the following question: Do I indeed have a
"Hardman Duo"?  Since the piano was refinished, I'm pretty certain the
current "fallboard" decal (for lack of a better term) is not original.
Was there a special decal for the "Hardman Duo", or any other markings
identifying these instruments?  The reason for all of this is that a good
number of the rolls that came with the piano are stamped with an ad for
the Hardman Duo.

Finally, I seem to recall an article in the AMICA bulletin awhile back
where either Cook or Kortlander stated in an interview or letter or
whatever that QRS built a one-off studio sized player to take to trade
shows in the late 1940's or early 1950's.  This piano caused such a stir
that Aeolian began producing player a few years later, which were somewhat
similar.  Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if this one-off studio
player still exists?  It would be interesting to compare it to mine.

Any advice or help is appreciated.

Bryan Cather¶
BSnakeC@AOL.com