In regards to Bill Sharkey's request: I have rebuilt only two of these
Simplex 65-note inner players -- I remember them well.  The four Simplex
push-up players which I have restored have the same type of stack.

The front board of the stack is made of mahogany; the primary, valve
and pouch boards are of pine.  The valve boards are a glued-together
laminate just like Welte and some other German designs.  This makes it
a little tough to remove and replace the valves.

The valve arrangement is crude and not so straight-forward.  The valve
itself is square with a threaded wire stem through the middle.  The
bottom leather facing extends beyond the valve and is glued and tacked
down with a wooden piece to hold it in place.  I have diagram at my
web site:  http://www.shortmountainmusic.com/Stuff/Oldsimplex.gif


Here are a couple of tips that may help in the rebuilding and assure
that it's tight:

1. The stack being made out of pine presents a couple of problems.
Pine becomes more porous age; all the surfaces through which air
passes must be resealed with orange shellac or something comparable.
Pine also has a high acid content which rots screws rots and the holes,
so they need re-enforcing

2. The square valve boards should be replaced with a laminate hardwood
plywood so they will not warp.

3. For valve leather, instead of white alum, I would use the extra
thick Tan Pouch that Leather Supply House sells.

Both the actions I worked on _did_ have airmotors that were integrated
into the foot pump below the keybed.  The airmotor is mounted behind
the pump so it's not easily seen.  Instead of a pneumatic governor, it
uses a flyball type, like is used in spring motors that are used in the
push-up players.

Brian Thornton - Short Mountain Music Works
Woodbury, Tennessee, USA
tel.: 1-615-563-5814
http://www.shortmountainmusic.com/