I am your lone reader from Singapore, a dot of a country at the tip of
the Malaysian Peninsula, population five million (three and a half
million Chinese and one and a half million Malays, Indians, and
others).  The do-it-yourself man is a dying breed and people like me
with the desire to repair and restore musical machines are an
endangered species.

I am a retired school teacher, 80 years old, and am basically a
gramophone man.  I collect and repair rare gramophones.  While looking
for a gramophone club (I wanted to buy Red Raven records and a carousel
for 78 rpm records, both of which I am still looking for), I strayed
into the realms of radio and became a member of Antique Radio
Classified.  I stayed with them for a while, largely taken aback by the
awe and marvel of seeing thousands of radio designs, etc.

Then I did a give-back to society, presenting my version of Walk Down
Memory Lane, particularly for senior citizens, even though there are
only a handful of English-speaking people here.  Through that, I ended
up as a warehouse for broken-down music-making machines.  That is how I
got eight broken-down music boxes.  Then I joined the Musical Box
Society International (MBSI), because no one here knows music box
repair or wants to send music boxes overseas for repairs.

I do not read my email properly and I think I am fairly computer
illiterate.  I have been receiving the MMD since April 1, 2011, and
only today I discovered I can read the contents if I just scroll down.
So today I was able to read MMD 120215, and I saw an avenue to write to
you for help or advice on the following.

I am trying to rebuild the bellows of my pianola.  Also eight of the
piano strings have broken and need to be replaced.  Additionally, I
want to buy a copy of the manual for my Wertheim player piano, made in
Melbourne, Australia.  And last of all, I want to build an electric 220
volt vacuum pump for my Wertheim.

David Row
Singapore