[ At the end of email 060414 MMDigest (not archived):
> At eBay auction: "Auto Electric Piano Co.", 44-note, electric reader
> http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7407165526

Wow -- What a dandy little gem this one is!  I looked at the original
eBay photos but checked again this evening; the seller has added a few
more and mentions a "remnant" of music roll "loop."  The additional
pictures are worth a thousand words but I hoped to see whatever was
left of the roll; whether or not it could've been the intended "software"
or someone's attempt to feed it whatever QRS roll happened to be at the
corner thrift store.

To echo Don Teach, I too hope that the winning bidder will share
further details of this extremely rare piano.  Has anyone else seen
another like it?  And (gasp) what do you do after you tire of what's
left of the roll it came with?  I hope the little device will be
kept original as possible but I could certainly understand why one
would wish to alter it to play a more common/available roll.  Or two.

There seems to be a soft/sustain linkage present in the photos;
one wonders if there is any further elaborate expression capability.
Or mandolin rail?  And since we know it is solenoid (not pneumatically)
operated, what current/voltages/etc. it has; whatever they are.  Could
be a possible explanation of why none (or very few) like this one
survive today considering the variations electricity from place to
place that existed one hundred years ago.  It looks that old to me;
but I'm not getting any younger myself.

I hope the new owner is aware of MMD and will dissect it for us
pianophiles and pneumatic fanatics.  But don't ask me to plug that
thing in or spool up the roll; aha, maybe another reason why so few
if any others exist!

Eric J. Shoemaker
Bellevue, Washington