•Here is Peter Phillips' answer to my email. Dear Randolph, What a story! It gets better too. I also need a photo of Herbert Clair, and you've not only sent me a Rybner, but Clair as well. Many, many thanks. I was also sent a photo by another MMDer of Rybner at an old age, which I've attached for yo...

•I have an original copy of the requested roll, although it is not for sale. I happen to be a big fan of Herbert Clair and this roll, recorded with Muriel Pollock, is a good arrangement. My favorite line is "Take a friend's advice; drinking in a cellar isn't nice!" I will be happy to loan this roll ...

•I was talking to Robert Streicher recently (he is a tool-and-die maker who makes player parts such as Ampico A transmissions and switches) and he said he was going to sell a kit to help Model B Ampicos not tear rolls. His phone number is 1-570-559-7403; feel free to ask him about the details. He do...

•Does anyone have outward pressure bellows springs they can sell? The type I need have two long straight arms, about 8 to 10 inches long, and they extend from a coil of 5 or 6 turns. The diameter of the metal rod is 0.175 inches, and the pressure when it is nearly compressed is between 10 and 15 pou...

•Reading about Aaron Copeland's "The Cat and the Mouse" brought back memories of a newspaper article I saw in 1979 saying that Copeland would be making a personal appearance, although I do not remember what the reason was. I took my copy of "The Cat and the Mouse" and I got to meet Mr. Copeland pers...

•Hello and a happy Memorial Day to all of our USA MMDers! I am looking for Duo-Art roll 1812 , "Who'll Take My Place (When I'm Gone)", played by Henry Lange. A recut would be fine. Thank you! Randy Petren

•In response to Don Teach's letter about soaking leather nuts in alcohol to fight verdigris, let me add my two cents. It was explained to me that leather used to be tanned by the "vegetable tanning" method and in the last 50 years or so, leather is usually tanned by the "chrome tanning" methods whic...

•Hello there: About six people have written back to me asking to join in buying the leather nuts. I have written to Laukhuff asking what the prices for the leather nuts are; I assume the price will be in euros. Louis Huivenaar charged me around $20.00 for 100 nuts that are about 3/8 inch in diameter...

•Hello Duaine: Richard Groman, of Keystone Rolls in Pennsylvania, hired a remarkably multi-talented fellow named Larry Doe (no relation to John!) to build a scanner for old delicate rolls, and I had no problem lending him some of my rarest and most valuable rolls so they could be copied. Everything ...

•I just got home from cleaning out the apartment of a roll collector named George Grossman, who is 87 years old. His family is afraid he isn't able to live alone anymore and put him is an assisted care facility. George always told me that in his will, he was leaving his piano and rolls to me. Since ...

•I just remembered something that MMD readers may like. I was reading a biography of Mozart, and it seems that he was friendly with a family named Wendling. I would have guessed that it was an English rather than a German name, if it matters. In any event, Mozart is quoted as saying "All the members...

•[ Ref 100405 MMD, 1920s Piano Roll Catalogues (Randolph Herr) [ This message to MMD was forwarded to Randolph for reply. > I found today's submission by Randolph Herr to be both troubling > and disheartening. First, I find it highly inappropriate that > he listed the name of the person since it lea...

•Hello James: The first thing to do is see if the hammers bobble when you hand-play the notes. Try getting the bobbling on both soft volumes as well as loud volumes. If the problem is there, then it is probably just the piano action: it either needs regulation or new buckskin to catch the butts at t...

•I never put a video on YouTube until six weeks ago, and now I have eighty videos of great piano rolls. My YouTube channel is "AeolianHall1". Sorry if my piano is not in perfect tune, but since I am tone deaf I never noticed it. It was because of YouTube that the following event happened. You can ge...

•[ James Black wrote to Randolph: > I have thought of putting in hinge springs on the pneumatics of > varying strength to compensate, i.e., stronger springs at the treble > end to compensate for a lighter action. My Duo-Art at present has > none although I do know that some early versions did have t...

•I would like to describe the Duo-Art transposers that I have seen. They are different from the ones [in Australia] that Paul Brennan described yesterday. On my transposers, notes 1-4 and 85-88 can never be played because there are no pneumatics for them. There are also no holes in the tracker bar f...

•I recently came across five music rolls that I am not familiar with. They are all Universal rolls, made by The Aeolian Company, 157 E. 32nd St. Since Aeolian moved into its new headquarters on 42nd St. around 1911, these rolls would seem to predate that year. The rolls are 11-3/8-inch wide and are ...

•I invite all readers to submit their opinion on the following question. According to the three-line decal on the fallboard, the piano is a STECK 'PIANOLA'-PIANO 'DUO-ART' Cast into the iron frame is AEOLIAN CO NEW YORK MADE IN USA At the upper right corner, marked with rubber-stamped ink on the sur...

•I've run out of tracker bar tubing, and I am looking for more. In the MMD Archives, there are lots of references to tubing, but it seems that 9/64" is not available. Would 1/8" tubing be good? Where is a good supplier of tracker bar tubing nowadays? Thanks in advance. Randolph Herr

•Here is a treasure trove of pictures related to the Aeolian Company from the early 1900's to the 1930's: http://museumofnyc.doetech.net When you bring up the webpage that this link connects to, just type Aeolian in the search box and you should see 100+ Aeolian Company photos. Randolph Herr ...