MMD > Archives > December 1999 > 1999.12.02 > 23Prev  Next


Autopiano with 178-hole Tracker Bar is Kastonome
By Dan Wilson, London

From your description I suspect this is a Kastonome player piano,
made by Kastner & Co in London.  (I can't view your picture as
I have text-only access to the Internet.)

Kastner first made a dual-scale 65-note and 88-note pianola, distinc-
tive in having two horizontal rows of holes in the tracker bar (the
harmonica-like brass bar over which the roll passes).  They then made
their own pattern of 88-note pianola, with the additional blocks of
holes in the tracker bar.  This was the Kastonome.

I can find four significant articles about the Kastonome in my archive
of Mechanical Music Digest (MMD).  [Included in list below.  -- Robbie ]

I have since spoken to a British restorer who has repaired a Kastonome,
so they are not impossible to restore !

Good luck with your project.

Dan Wilson

 - - -

  Articles in MMD Archives about Kastner & Kastonome:

Kastner Autopiano with 178-hole Tracker Bar, from Inigo Perez-Espana
http://mmd.foxtail.com/Archives/Digests/199912/1999.12.01.15.html

Unusual Piano Roll Format: Kastonome Rolls, from Douglas Bush
http://mmd.foxtail.com/Archives/Digests/199909/1999.09.20.05.html

Kastner Autopiano, from Dan Wilson, London
http://mmd.foxtail.com/Archives/Digests/199811/1998.11.02.12.html

Kastner Autopiano, from Howard Leibowitz
http://mmd.foxtail.com/Archives/Digests/199810/1998.10.29.08.html

65/88-Note Kastner "Kastonome" Accenting Piano, from Douglas Bush
http://mmd.foxtail.com/Archives/Digests/199809/1998.09.04.11.html

Kastonome Player Piano and Rolls, from Dan Wilson, London
http://mmd.foxtail.com/Archives/Digests/199805/1998.05.10.09.html

Kastanome Music Rolls, from Walt Carroll
http://mmd.foxtail.com/Archives/Digests/199805/1998.05.06.09.html



(Message sent Thu, 2 Dec 1999 22:15 +0000 (GMT) , from time zone +0000.)

Key Words in Subject:  178-hole, Autopiano, Bar, is, Kastonome, Tracker

Related by Subject:
1999.12.02.23 (This article) - Autopiano with 178-hole Tracker Bar is Kastonome
2025.09.18.01 - Seek Action Stack for Autopiano in Vietnam
from Huynh Anh
2025.09.15.01 - Autopiano Action Pneumatic Span
from Ben Gottfried
2025.09.13.02 - Autopiano Action Pneumatic Span
from Paul Rumpf
2025.08.06.01 - Autopiano Action Pneumatic Span
from David Dewey
2025.08.04.03 - Autopiano Action Pneumatic Span
from Howard Kohlbrenner
2024.06.13.02 - FS Free: Standard Autopiano in Detroit Area
from Mark Pleatman
2024.06.08.03 - FS Free: Player Mechanism from Boyd Autopiano
from Tony Storey
2024.03.30.01 - Seek Wire Valve Stems for Autopiano Action
from Floyd Chamberlain
2022.10.22.01 - FS Free: Bechstein Autopiano Upright Player
from Mike Boyd
2018.05.29.03 - Autopiano Reostyle Expression System
from John A. Tuttle
2018.04.03.10 - FS Free: Autopiano & Rolls in Central California
from Steve Mann