A friend of mine who just fully restored a Steinway Duo-Art has the
original correspondence concerning the purchase of this Steinway.  It
was bought used in 1942 or '43.  This family could have well afforded
a new Steinway but, evidently, it was not possible to purchase a brand
new one.

The correspondence is quite interesting concerning the eventual
purchase of this particular instrument.  The stationary from Aeolian
has a heading which mentions that the Ampico was available in Weber and
Steck pianos.  I thought that these two brands were exclusively used
for Duo-Art.  I am not an expert but any Weber or Steck reproducing
piano that I have ever seen was Duo-Art.  I know that there were a few
Steinway Ampicos sold at the very end but my guess is that these were
custom order.  I know that they did some odd things after the merger
of Aeolian and American Piano.

I am wondering if Aeolian pushed Ampico harder than they did Duo-Art
in the '30s.  It really would be interesting to know what the sales
ratio was between Ampico vs. Duo-Art once the merger took place.
Did the production of Ampico and Duo-Art rolls stop at the same time,
or was the Duo-Art phased out first?  In the letters that were exchanged
Aeolian supplied a QRS catalog and stated that they still had about
1,000 Duo-Art rolls in stock but they had no lists so they were
requesting information on the kind of music that the family liked.

Anyone have answers to these questions?

Randy Hammond

 [ I own a Weber piano with a late Ampico B player system.  The Weber
 [ eagle design is cast into the plate but the scale actually resembles
 [ a 5'10" Knabe.  The serial number of the piano is of 1932, but the
 [ date pencilled on the keyframe is 1936.  -- Robbie