An answer to Todd Augsburger who inquired about causes of damages he
saw on a cylinder box he was thinking of purchasing.  Letter of
11/18/96 to MMD

Hi!

Nancy Fratti here....to try to answer your questions
about the box you saw.

1) you say that it has "teeth replaced".  This is OK if the teeth are
   replaced properly.  The teeth might be out of tune, which could
   definitely make it sound dissonant.

2) trouble shifting is USUALLY connected with sagging cylinder pitch
   inside the cylinder.  It literally rubs against the cylinder axle
   and impedes movement.  Enough pitch on the axle and the cylinder can
   'freeze' in place and not move at all!

3) the replaced teeth might not have their tooth tips 'on center' and
   thus be might be plucked by the pins in the adjacent tune...making
   them sound out of tune (even if they WERE tuned properly).

4) The non-sensical sound could also be caused by the cylinder being
   out of register with the tooth tips.....playing 2 tunes at once
   because the pins hit on the sides of the tooth tips, pins from two
   tunes could be plucking any given tooth.

5) Pins can be straightened, but sometimes they break.  If you try to
   straighten them and they consistently break, then it's time to have
   the cylinder repinned.  Repinning, thru me, costs $52/inch for a
   standard diameter (up to 2 1/4") cylinder.  Newly pinned cylinders
   can also have their pins raked (slanted towards the back of the box)
   for an additional surcharge.

6) Who knows if you can repair them!? Are you better than the guy who
   did it the first time? Have you had any experience?? If you don't
   know the basic causes of the problems you've explained, I sincerely
   doubt that you could cure them. Since the box has been butchered
   once, it is better to have an experienced restoration person undo
   the damages.

7) Cost of restoration depends upon extent of damages. The box would
   have to be personally examined by a professional to determine the
   cost estimate.

I've been restoring boxes for 28 years... if you need any other
advice, I'd be happy to 'talk' to you! You can e-mail me at:

    MusicBoxLady@Juno.com

or call at

    518-282-9770 (9am-7pm, M-F).