Hi gang.  I am seeking a better-quality musically-solid old
regular upright in the Missouri/Illinois area, maybe a Vose, Baldwin,
F. Radle or equivalent.  Object: marriage with my prototype player
action.  I would also consider lesser makes, if the piano has a nice
tone.  No Kimball's need apply!

I have developed a very compact and responsive stack design.
I have been quietly working on over the last six months not intending
to announce it until I was sure it would work.  I have built several
"four-note" test samples, and it shows great promise.

This is not one of those leaky kits designed to fit all piano scales,
but rather the stack must be scaled to the piano it will go in.  This
stack is not plastic, but made from sealed and cured popular wood,
leather, and the good stuff.

Every 'conversion' I have ever seen left a whole lot to be desired,
and didn't perform even close to what a original player piano would.
I hope to change that.  To my knowledge, good working replacement
stacks are all but non-existent in the trade.

The reason I am looking for a regular upright is to make sure that
the stack will fit in the confines of a regular upright case, without
butchering it.  It will take a while to  get the problems worked out,
and the performance to the point that I am satisfied with it.  But
after wasting a lot of wood and throwing out a dozen designs, and
juggling pouch-valve diameters.  I now have something that seems to
work great and simple to build and service with a few novel features.
I will save the details for later because they might change with
refinement.

The next logical step would be to take the perfected sample design
and construct a entire prototype stack to set the stage for possible
improvements.  The main problem I have run into is  construction costs:
you simply can't make much of a production run using PPCo prices,
especially the standard valve guides.

I would be happy to provide details for those interested and will be
happy to take suggestions

Best Regards
Andy Taylor
Tempola Music Rolls