Hello.  I am a new subscriber to the MMDigest.  I would like to ask
some simple questions, if I may.  I recently acquired a 1917 Schulz
Walworth player piano.  This piano appears to have been rebuilt
about 15 to 20 years ago as the piano looks beautiful, the piano
action looks new and the player mechanism has new hoses and bellows.

When I first obtained this piano the player mechanism did not work.
I vacuumed out the tracker bar and the player miraculously started
working!

My question relates to the soft bass and treble buttons on the
keyboard.  When I press these buttons the hammer rail lifting
pneumatics do not operate.  I assume I can press these buttons any
time and the lifting pneumatics should operate.  Is this a correct
assumption, or do certain roll punctuations have to be present on the
tracker bar?

If they should operate at any time, would vacuuming the control tubes
be a good first start at attempting to fix these?

I am having a lot of fun with this piano.  I hope to learn more about
it by reading the MMDigest archives.  Any suggestions you may have on
the operation and maintenance of this piano would be greatly
appreciated.

Best regards,

Steve Goode
Coggon, Iowa