Rod Cornelius is wondering how many Hupfeld Vorsetzers there are
around.  Well, I have a 73n Claviola here in Hobart, with a "flat" air
motor with a celluloid dust cover on top of the sliding valves. It also
has a celluloid cover that can be lowered over the tracker bar,
presumably to damp out unwanted noises made by the travelling roll
paper.  The music roll and the take-up spool occupy opposite positions
in the spoolbox compared to most piano roll players; i.e. the roll
travels from bottom to top rather than the usual way.  The whole
machine is beautifully made -- and is very heavy!

For some reason the theme holes in the tracker bar are both close to
the centre instead of at the edges.  I would imagine that this makes it
a bit difficult to anticipate what the music is going to do next, as
one plays a roll.  It's not yet rebuilt so I can't say for sure.

I have sixty or so rolls for it.  They are very scarce in Tasmania, but
then so are decent classical 88n rolls.  Many of the Claviola rolls
have a date rubber stamped on them.  Some dates indicate that these
rolls only just made it into Australia before WW1 broke out.

By the way, Rod, I would love a copy of your paperwork; I'm happy to
pay photocopying costs and postage.

John Phillips in Hobart, Tasmania.