•I received an offering of rolls from a friend of a friend in England who didn't know that I've sold my Aeolian player reed organ, so I no longer have need of the rolls. He also has _lots_ of 58- and 116-note organ rolls, plus 65-, 73- and 88-note player piano rolls for sale. He's looking to buy or ...

•A couple of weeks ago there was discussion about the fact that too many folks will never get the chance to see the neat music machines we enthusiasts enjoy so much. Here's how we solved this to our own satisfaction some years ago. Our collection is not large, but it's representative of just about e...

•As I guessed when I first read Jonathan Holmes' first posting on this subject, it has aroused much interest. In my opinion, Eliyahu Shahar has hit the nail right on the head when he says "I personally believe that the goal should not be to oppose restoration but redesign." I am not sure that John A...

•Seeburg E #155,827 was made in the Seeburg factory, probably in 1922. If the original piano hammers are still present, there is probably a date rubber-stamped on the bottom of the wood molding, somewhere in the mid-range of the piano. The piano was probably sold within a few months of that date. Th...

•Colin MacKinnon and Kevin McElhone have raised some valid points about liquidating a collection or estate. Selling a person's lifetime accumulation can be a daunting task and most of us are inexperienced in this area. The two most common methods used are auction and estate sale. There are advantage...

•In response to Eliyahu Shahar's inquiry, graining has been popular for centuries and described as false graining, faux graining, or by the formal (French) term, faux bois. In theory it is simple to do. Practice and experimentation makes faux bois a bit time consuming until you get results to your s...

•This is a response to Shahar Eliyahu's inquiry about the flogging step in the graining process. Perhaps it may be of interest to those who have an interest in this art form... Hi, Shahar, I'm happy to learn you are interested in graining. It's fun, and once you get started you see many possibilitie...

•I see three possibilities - first, there are instructions for making an 18-note movement in the MMD archives from a friend of mine who actually did it. If that's all you are looking for, that's your easiest and cheapest way. Second, the Porter Music Box company can punch new disks for the 15" Regin...

•Enjoy and Respect all Mechanical Music Forms Kevin Kline's comments about the many areas of mechanical music brought back memories to me. Ruth Bornand was responsible for the establishment in 1949 of the Musical Box Society (MBS, now MBSI). The founding members were her friends and customers. Ruth ...

•Mechanical music terminology and standard usage is an interesting subject! A photoplayer is by definition an instrument that was made to accompany silent movies. Although it might sound something like an orchestrion, the photoplayer is not included in that category because of - its intended use, - ...

•As most of you will know, it is a number of years since I produced my first set of instructions to build a small organ. Ten years ago I was just one of a handful of people who played about in their workshops building organs as a hobby. A lot has changed since then, as like myself many more new buil...

•Hi all; firstly, an introduction. I have found this Digest through a web search, and I am seeking information on making mechanical music boxes. I believe that cylinders don't pose much of a problem, as I have a comprehensive workshop and a background in watchmaking/clock making, and engineering. Li...

•Hi All, Below is a list of the player piano technicians who have a free player technician listing at Player-Care. If your name is on the list, I would appreciate it if you would go to the link below, access your listing, and check it for accuracy: http://www.player-care.com/playtech.html I'm especi...

•Hello everyone! I'd like to put my two cents in about this. The generation that saw these instruments new, would be in their 90's now, if they are still alive. The next generation (which would be my parents) saw these in the 1940's, when most of them were on their last gasp. They may have remembere...

•During the past 35 years I've come across many uprights in which the keys do or don't move when a roll is played, and, except in the rare cases where a piano was so damp nothing moved freely or it had been got at by an ignoramus, this was entirely by design. Remember that in a normal upright action...

•I'm sorry to hear about your problem with the broken Link piano plate. I have a Link E, serial no. 3448, so I know the plate style. Here are a couple of thoughts which may help you find a solution. There is an excellent article on piano plates and repairs on the Piano Technicians web site under Sam...

•Bruce Brockett asks about using a single center board for the bellows in the Busker organ. It would be difficult to construct the bellows and get the cloth in place at the center. I know of people who have made the two bellows and then fixed them to a wide board and then attached the reservoir. Obv...

•Edward Franklyn Schmidt, 74, of McFarland, Kansas, died Friday, August 24, 2007, at Stormont-Vail Regional Health Center in Topeka. He had been a member of the community since 1976. Ed was born May 17, 1933, in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Edward and Mildred Birth Schmidt. He attended local schools ...

•I must congratulate Wagner Mello on the quality of his engineering; the Universal Organ photos on the web link are brilliant. [ http://members.cox.net/wmbusker/Busker.shtml ] I have been amazed at the way my plans have been interpreted in particular by model engineers; in fact, amateur organ buildi...

•When my shop restored the Berry-Wood A.O.H.R. for the Sanfilippo Collection in 1988, I had the opportunity to examine a number of early and late rolls, dating from the early 'teens through the mid-1920s. I was also familiar with the music arranging on Berry-Wood rolls, having copies in my collectio...