Ref. "Market Value of a Piano Roll Collection"

Someone recently said, in this thread, that if you don't see titles you
recognize in a collection, don't bother buying.  I have another method.

I recently visited some folks with a collection of a couple hundred
rolls for sale.  They were mostly older rolls (1930s and earlier),
and hardly any titles I knew.  They hadn't been properly stored and
many were mouse-eaten or otherwise damaged.  While it is painstaking,
I roll them out and see what the words and the music are like.

Any experienced player piano tinkerer can kind of "read the melody"
from the holes in the paper.  When the price is right, I will usually
take everything that has "marimba" effect passages.  I think I came away
with about 20 rolls and left $25 behind.

Also, if the words are snappy, we aren't too fussy about the melody.
I generally avoid the ones that start out with very long holes -- too
Drowsy and slowsy.  Using these methods, I hardly ever bring anything
home I'm displeased with.

Lee Rothrock