One of the most important collections of player piano rolls and
instruments passed over the auction block on February 16 and 17 at
the Butterfield & Butterfield auction house in Hollywood, California.

Approximately 9,500 piano rolls, consisting of 3,600 Ampicos, 3,000
Duo-Arts, and 2,700 Red Label Welte rolls, plus several hundred
miscellaneous rolls were sold.  The piano rolls were all sold in lots
of 100 each.

There were also some rare instruments sold including a Bluthner grand
piano with Red Label Welte built in, a 1973 (non-player) Boesendorfer
Imperial Concert grand, a 1924 Steinway Duo-Art grand with French case
and legs, and a unique 1972 custom-built Vorsetzer (a cabinet push-up
piano player) that performs Ampico, Duo-Art, Welte Red Label and Welte
Licensee rolls on any piano.

All of these had been owned by the late Joseph Tushinsky, former
chairman of Superscope Inc. and its Pianocorder Division.  The huge roll
collection and the four-system Vorsetzer had been used by Tushinsky for
his "Keyboard Immortal" radio shows and LP recordings, and the roll
collection was also the basis of the Pianocorder library.

After Tushinsky's death the collection went to a Japanese buyer who
purportedly paid a "fabled fortune" for the collection.  The Japanese
owner recently brought back the collection to the U.S. and ordered it
sold through Butterfield & Butterfield.

Most of the rolls were encased and sealed in tin boxes as well as
corrugated shipping containers, and only a few buyers were able to check
the contents prior to purchase.  Upon opening the contents, buyers found
that virtually all of the rolls were in excellent operational condition.

Tom Steuer