The technique of using a 58-note (6/in.) test roll to test a 116-note
(12/in.) Aeolian organ is usable because the two alternate rows of
tracker ports, each themselves spaced at 6 to the inch, are tested
separately, and so the big holes in the 58-note format can be made to
cover either the upper or the lower row of ports by a slight adjustment
of the tracking device.

However, this technique cannot be applied to the Hammond format, or the
Skinner format from which the Hammond format was derived, because all of
the 116 ports are used simultaneously.  Also, the big holes in the
58-note roll are too wide to uncover only one port at a time, even if
testing the Hammond could be theoretically done "every-other-hole".

Commercial supply of a new test roll for the Hammond, or any 12/in.
format system, must await the completion of a 12/in. production punch.
Such an effort is now ongoing, but the operational date cannot yet be
predicted.

Even for the Aeolian Organ, such a test using a 58 note-roll is
functionally incomplete, serving only to check that the system is working
as a whole.  The complete functional test and individual debugging of each
note requires either a proper 12/in. test roll, or the alternate method I
use, described below.  This is because, in any 12/in. system, the tracker
port is very large compared with the tiny hole in the paper and the even
tinier bleed used to read it.  Any test involving uncovering the entire
port might 'pass' even if there were large leaks in parallel with the
bleed.

The way I do this is as follows.  First, tape over the tracker bar; I use
6-line paper correcting tape rather than masking or Scotch tape because
it makes a neater hole.  Select a sewing needle which will just pass
through the punched hole on a roll, and pierce the tape in the center of
a port.  Using the finger, uncover the pinhole for testing.  When one
note is done, cover the hole with a scrap of Scotch tape and move on to
the next.

Although this method seems elaborate, it is actually more quickly done
than described, and leads to a reliable and accurate result.  It has the
additional advantage that it enables the initial debugging to be done at
leisure, allowing one to stop and fix any individual bad note; and
enables one to work hands-free, without having to stop a roll with one
port uncovered and trying to keep the roll tight over the bar while
working.

Richard Vance