Thank you to all the readers who offered advice regarding my Ampico
problem, both via MMD and privately, and particularly to the readers
who followed up with detailed E mails back and forth while I tried
to solve the problem (I haven't asked permission to name names, but
you know who you are).

It turned out that I didn't have a cutout problem (the cutout was
working fine), but rather an initial suction problem.  My 1923 Ampico
has the upside down units and a small number were failing to seat when
the lever was moved to play.  On the pressure gauge, the level was
just under what it should have been so the cause was fairly subtle.

Having searched high and low for leakage, I found a range of potential
culprits: some badly kinked tubes from the units, two dodgy elbows,
some loose original tubing and a small leak in the line to the wind
motor.  My piano is now back to its best.

The lesson is pretty clear -- do your periodic maintenance rather than
waiting for the system to stop!  The other lesson is that MMD and its
readers are a fabulous resource.

Robert Nicol