MMD > Archives > July 1999 > 1999.07.20 > 07Prev  Next


Beckwith Player Piano
By John A. Tuttle

Hi Dale,  The one 'T' connector you referred to in your article sounds
like the connection from the push button "Loud" control in front of the
keys to the Auto-Sustain device in the lower left hand corner of the
unit.

The other 'mystery' connection goes to the 'On-Off' switch in the
spoolbox, in the upper half of the piano.  That switch is in turn
connected to a hole on the tracker bar which senses the auto-sustain
perforation on the music roll.  This configuration allows the user to
activate the sustain manually or (with the 'on-off' switch in the 'on'
position) automatically (with the music roll).

Beckwith players used a variety of player mechanisms in their player
pianos, so you'll have to identify the exact type before any specific
reference materials can be purchased.

I recently wrote an article for the MMD explaining the four major player
mechanisms and how to identify them. The article is at:

    http://mmd.foxtail.com/archives/Digests/199907/1999.07.03.11.html

Musically,

John A. Tuttle


(Message sent Tue 20 Jul 1999, 14:37:01 GMT, from time zone GMT-0400.)

Key Words in Subject:  Beckwith, Piano, Player
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