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Identify Player Action in "Vogel" Player Piano
By Mark Williamson

I recently came across a Vogel player piano, and although I have been
advised not to buy it (as I already have two players needing work and
limited space and spare time and the fact that the piano action needs
considerable work), I am always interested in increasing my knowledge
of player pianos.  With this end in mind, is anyone able to identify
the player action from the following description of the action and the
piano?

The stack consisted of two tiers of pneumatics and there were five
pneumatics on the motor.  The tracker bar has two offset holes at
either end for tracking (like a Standard) and the tracking pneumatics
are vertical with approx. 4" (I think) between them.  The take-up spool
had a large gear or cog on the end, driven by a smaller cog which
slides to the right during rewind.  This was _inside_ the spoolbox.
There were also Themodist holes in the tracker bar.  The tempo
indicator was black print on a white background and (I think) went from
0 to 150.  The pump was smaller than my Standard and Schulz players.

The piano was labelled "VOGAL" but I could not find any brand on the
frame or elsewhere inside the piano so I'm guessing this is a "stencil"
piano.  The case is what really attracted me.  Burred walnut in quite
good condition with fancy carved legs.  The music stand is the type
that folds away under the lid.

The keyslip folds down to reveal levers labelled (left to right):
soft bass/loud pedal (push button)/soft treble/ on solo off/tempo/reroll

Is anyone able to identify the action from my somewhat verbose although
probably inept description?

Many thanks,

Mark Williamson
Woodburn, NSW, Australia


(Message sent Wed 19 Nov 2003, 02:38:33 GMT, from time zone GMT.)

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