Please don't ask me to "slow the rate of reiteration of that xylophone
down", or "Is there anyway to make it play just a single tap instead of
repeating?"

The one that takes the cake is having a client say to me, after
hearing his newly rebuilt Ampico play for the first time to his ears:

  "Is there any way to adjust it so it plays loudly all the time?
  I don't like the way it goes from extremely soft to extremely loud."

(I had to explain to him that this was the way the artist recorded it,
this was "expression".)

The point is that automatic music machines, when restored properly,
have their own unique characteristics that are to be enjoyed for what
they are.  We are all just stewards or caretakers of them; they must be
preserved with integrity and authenticity so that future generations
have the benefit of enjoying them as they were originally intended.

Having a personal musical preference is not license to mangle and
cobble up an instrument simply because its sound doesn't fit your
particular aesthetic.  The same philosophy holds true with their
finishes.

Cheers,

Stephen Kent Goodman