•Normally the actuator for a lift rail is at the bass end. This means that the rail will always start lifting from that end onwards towards the treble. I have seen on some pianos that a lot of free play exists in some of the bushings that guide the rail. This can be the problem. If the new hammers i...

•If it is determined that the hammers are too heavy they do not need to be replaced. They can be planed on a table saw and sanded with a belt sander while still on the shanks to achieve the desired weight. I do this all the time. Jon Page Harwich Port, Cape Cod, Mass. (jpage@capecod.net) ...

•On January 24, Dean Randall wrote, "... I find now that the hammer-rail will not lift evenly." I have one possible answer. The hammer rail rotates around a center that is not in line with the hammer flange centers. As the rail lifts up, it can actually catch on the inside of the hammer tails. To te...

•Jim Edwards was asking whether the Boesendorfer used in a TV programme on Rachmaninoff was a proper Ampico. The brief answer is yes, as Dan Wilson said yesterday. Until recently I couldn't have given you much more information than this. However, when loaned a pile of papers recently, there was quit...

•[ Jim Edwards and Dan Wilson wrote recently on this topic. ] Hello Dan, hello Jim, I own an Ampico Boesendorfer Grand and since more than ten years I give concerts with this instrument all over Europe -- from Sweden to Italy and from Poland to Paris. This wonderful instrument has two different hamm...

•A top-notch restorer in the Washington D.C. area would be Durward Center in Maryland. His phone number is 410-752-4771. There are also several other restorers in the East coast area but he is a really good restorer. You can also check with John Tuttle . Don Teach, Shreveport Music Co 1610 E. Bert K...

•I know very little about the arranging or editing of rolls. I have seen rolls "recorded" electronically, watched them being perforated, and have been mesmerized by several hundred thousand feet of perforated paper passing over a tracker bar, but when I comes to actually putting it all together on p...

•Ed Gaida has inquired about the Ampico Trial Rolls that come around every once in awhile. From my understanding (and Bruce Clarke may be able to shed more light on the subject) the process went like this. A master recording was made on the recording machine, next the appropriate coding was added. O...

•Ed, what you have is an "edit-master", something like the 1929 British roll I took to my presentation at the Piano Technicians Guild in Hartford CT on 3-18-98. Electrical tape, gummed labels, cellophane library tape and other things were used for fixing up the rolls. Usually, a factory ran a handfu...

•I was flattered that Mike Walter wrote in MMD, that I might shed some light on Ampico recording techniques. I am afraid that I cannot be very helpful. The person who knows most on this subject is Larry Givens. Although Larry is not feeling up to par and has been battling Parkinson's disease, I am c...

•While digging through a filing cabinet of automatic musical instrument materials, I came across an eighteen-page booklet entitled, "The Ampico Reproducing Piano Salesman's Manual". Packed into that eighteen pages is more hype for the Ampico than I have ever read anywhere. It is far too long to quot...

•Hi Richard, Craig Brougher has written an excellent article explaining the differences between the Ampico A & B systems. The article is at my web site at: http://www.player-care.com/a_b_ampi.html Musically, John A. Tuttle (john@player-care.com)

•There are few people that have worked on Ampico Reproducing Pianos that have not run into the problem of the cracked, warped, or almost non-existent roll frame casting. Very few, in this part of the country, are still usable in instruments that have not been restored. I have asked some of the old t...

•Hello all. Well, 'hats off' to Julian Dyer! I never cease to be amazed by the knowledge that turns up in this digest. It seems that every few days I learn something I didn't know -- which makes me feel a bit inferior since I have not considered myself to be at all ignorant about player and reproduc...

•Just a note to say thank you. Some time ago there was a note by Peter Coggins with reference to two book search engines on the Internet. In the 1970s I had "A Catalog of Music for the Ampico", 1925. More plentiful in the States but not common in the UK. A member of the North West Player Piano Assoc...

•A few days back there was some discussion about Ampico B Jumbo rolls etc. I meant to jump in but figured someone else would mention this. The jumbo rolls were made to fit the B Ampico spool box. However, not all "jumbo" rolls were that big and Klavier Music Rolls, when owned by the Powells, offered...

•The May/June 1996 AMICA Bulletin has several articles on how Ampico recorded the velocity (and therefore the note's dynamics) of the hammer. Ampico's recording device contained two recorders: one was used to record the notes played by the pianists on paper, similar to a standard marking piano of th...

•For John Tuttle: In answer to your request for Ampico controls. I have a ton of parts for Ampico and Duo-Art systems and I would be happy to give your customer these items. However, I would have to spend at least 2 hours going through all my stuff finding the parts and mailing these to you. If you ...

•I am pleased to announce two new Live Performance products, CD-ROMs for Ampico and Welte-Mignon instruments. These CD-ROMs contain music roll images and the programs required for using them. You can now play your Ampico or Welte-Mignon instrument from your computer, in addition to playing it using ...

•Regarding Wayne Stahnke's announcement of the Ampico and Welte-Mignon CD-ROMs for sale: Purchasers of the PowerRoll(tm) can still obtain the Stahnke CD-ROMs for only $59.50 (regular price, $89.50). The PowerRoll electrical music roll is the only "plug-and-play" solution to converting from paper rol...