Gary Stevenson had this to say, regarding The House on the Rock
'Museum':

> I, for one, know, if wonderfully restored original instruments were
> used, as is, they would be junk in a very short time, with the number
> of plays they would get in just one season.

Rubbish.  Somehow, the instruments at the Musee Mechanique at the Cliff
House in San Francisco manage to soldier on season after season -- as
my eyes and ears tell me.  Although, in fairness, the "somehow" really
amounts to periodic trips to the restorer. (In fairness, it's only the
pneumatic piano-based instruments that get the servicing.  All the
barrel instruments and organettes remain in a persistent state of
sadness.)

At any rate, I find the suggestion that coin-op music machines can't
be expected to stand up to the rigours of performing for the general
public more than a little bizarre.  Um, maybe I've missed something,
but isn't this precisely what these machines were DESIGNED and BUILT
to do?  On the other hand, exposure to the public and the hard, heavy
use that this implies, I'd expect to pound to pieces any half-done
pseudo-"restoration". Maybe that's where people get the notion that
the public and mechanical music cannot mix.

But what the heck do I know?  I'm just a newbie when it comes to the
nuts and guts of these instruments; although, I have been a fan of
mechanical MUSIC for as long as I can remember....

Regards,

- Colin Hinz

    * Colin Hinz * ASFi Music Works * asfi@interlog.com * (416) 516-8686 *