On several occasions I have had requests to work on an Ampico Spinet
piano.  They are one of the most difficult units to service because
everything is compressed into a very small space.

Were these pianos an afterthought to use up old parts toward the end of
the Ampico era?  They contain many old style Ampico "A" parts, yet they
were manufactured during the era of the Ampico "B".  Is the wooden tray,
that sits in the top, simply an old modified drawer from the very early
Ampico grands?

I have seen different style unit valves in these spinets too, such as
the standard "B" Ball bleed, and also a completely different single
valve modified with a fixed bleed.

The pump is completely different from any standard Ampico pump, and
there is no reservoir. The spill valve is simply a piece of rubber hose
with a wad of felt held in place with an adjustable spring tension.  In
addition one "A" style crescendo unit is connected to both "A" expression
units, instead of two.  As expected, there are many variations among
these late spinet Ampicos.

Bruce Clark