Years ago, when I had my retail store, I used to bring player pianos
to shopping malls during antique shows.  I heard all kinds of stories
from the old timers.  There were a lot of old men hanging around while
their wives shopped.  One old fellow who worked at a player piano
factory (I can't remember which one) told me about how they attached
the lead tubing to the tracker bar.  I don't know if I can explain this
in words but here it goes.

He described the lead tubing coming off a large roll.  A jig was all
set up in a preformed shape with a groove for each tube.  The tubing
was wrapped around this jig, then the ends were cut off and this shape
was simply slipped onto the nipples of the tracker bar.  He described
it as taking only minutes to install the lead tubing.

I remember thinking something like, "Wow!  That explains a lot."
Up until then I could not understand how the factories could take
the time to hire people to install the lead.

Paul Manganaro