Robbie,  you mentioned a Seeburg mandolin attachment that used copper
cylinders suspended on stiff fabric.  This is one I haven't seen.  How
does it work?   Do the copper cylinders have to drop below the hammers
every time or does it somehow come up from underneath?

Brian Smith

 [ Like most of the mandolin attachments installed in vertical pianos,
 [ the assembly is a long rod ("rail") of wood or metal located just
 [ above the hammers.  When the device is switched "on" (by a hand-
 [ lever or a small pneumatic bellows) the rod drops so that the
 [ dangling metal pieces are struck by the hammer (not a good idea!)
 [ or are otherwise moved by the hammer.
 [
 [ The best designs minimize the added thickness between the hammer
 [ and string, so that the jack can let off normally.  Otherwise the
 [ hammer and the action really get a beating!
 [
 [ In the Seeburg piano the total thickness of the two fabric supporting
 [ strips which the hammer strikes is 0.030".  Since it wrinkles
 [ slightly it actually diminishes the hammer throw by about 0.050".
 [ The letoff of the piano action has been adjusted accordingly.  The
 [ copper cylinder is attached by a loop of thin copper wire to the
 [ loop of supporting fabric.  Dangling below the hammer strike line,
 [ it hits the strings only once, so the sound is not really like a
 [ reiterating mandolin.  (Maybe it should be called the "banjo
 [ effect".)  It's much like the common assembly with metal tabs,
 [ except it's much heavier, and hence louder.
 [
 [ I'll photograph the Seeburg assembly and place a description at the
 [ MMD Tech site, http://mmd.foxtail.com/Tech/  Send your photos, folks!
 [
 [ -- Robbie