•Hi! Well...I'll answer one of those non-music box queries that are so prevalent on MMD! At a recent East Coast Chapter Meeting in Binghamton (NY) the MBSI East Coast Chapter members were treated to a tour of Harvey Roehl's collection (in Vestal, NY). In that collection is a player harp. It was demo...

•D. L. Bullock remarked of Louise Schott: > She was probably the finest worker there ever was in rebuilding > player stuff. She just sat at her table each day, all day, > watching her soap operas on TV and rebuilding thousands of valves, > pouches and pneumatics. She did not dismantle the piano, but...

•I found a very interesting article today on the 'Net, entitled "Violin Varnish Experiment # 58, And a method for making a Waterproof Hot Hide Glue", by Keith Hill, copyright 1990. Author Hill seems to be both an avid researcher as well as an accomplished Luthier. He writes: "The foundation for my v...

•Hello MMD'ers, Ordering parts from suppliers and supposedly defraud- ing them with phony letterheads is kind of a silly description. I remember years ago, I was seriously interested in becoming a 'Tube Bender', which is a person who makes neon signs. This at one time, was a sacred, protected profes...

•I performed recently at the annual reunion festivities at Princeton University, New Jersey, and while awaiting the start of the big parade I heard the unmistakable sound of a locomotive chime whistle, followed by a few single notes of the chromatic scale. A steam calliope !! Mere seconds later I wa...

•I just heard from his son Dan that Lou Pike of Bristol, Pennsylvania, passed away on February 18th. Collectors may remember Lou as an avid dealer (read "picker") with a keen interest in automatic music. I first met Lou about 25 years ago when he found my phone number in the MBS Member Directory. Lo...

•I'm still cleaning up and have come across a few books that may interest readers. The last time I offered books for a fixed price, there were several disappointed readers -- especially ones whose email was slower than others. So, I have been struggling with the fairest method of offering the books ...

•Re: Musical Arranging Standards, 990818 MMDigest Dear Robbie, I respectfully submit that in all cases where you have noticed mediocre musical results coming forth from an automatic instrument made during the "Golden Age" (circa late 1890s-1930), it is the fault of mediocre restoration or regulation...

•I have recently procured a small Dutch Street Organ from Alan Pell of Links, England, which I believe to be an outstanding product. It has several unique features which I believe are very innovative and which I will talk about in following paragraphs. It uses a MIDI Playback System with the music r...

•Hi Everybody. Because of Y2K fears, my university shut down everything during the Christmas-New Year break (it's summer holiday time here in Oz anyway), so I've only just read Joyce Brite's query about music roll box repairs in MMD 991229. I do a _lot_ of roll box mending; in fact it almost got me ...

•The 1971 Sylmar, California earthquake was mostly a vertical jolt. Rocks in the front yard, two cars, and my upright piano went airborne! The piano came down on the wedding cake that had been on top, and wedged itself in the 5-foot-wide entry way at a 45-degree angle. Cosmetic damage only, and of c...

•Hi Robbie, A few things about the Welte recording system we aren't taking into account yet is this: The best 90-ohm pipe magnet available won't lift off the end of a 5/32" nipple with 90" of vacuum in it. But suppose it did. A colloidal ink trace is probably going to measure a maximum of 1000 ohms ...

•Hi All, Several weeks ago, someone wrote in that they had seen or bought an Avon Musical Carousel that was the 1999 Christmas item from Avon. It sounded interesting but it was just after Christmas and I couldn't find one. (I was lucky enough to get one of the Mr. Christmas music boxes, however.) An...

•[ Noteur Tom Meijer wrote on this subject in 001001 MMDigest ] Hello! I know it is a complete no-no to do so, but actually I would have to send all of Tom's posting back with something like "Me too!" or "Right so!" or "Hear hear!" underneath. As someone who also is interested in electronics, it is ...

•In regard to the discussions on lead tubing, I would suggest that interested MMDers take a look at the following link: http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_99/29cfr1910a_99.html This link will display a series of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Standards. Select the file ...

•The concept of storing energy for later use has been around for centuries. The practical applications of stored energy range from simple machines to complex high-tech ones. Mechanical music instruments such as small music boxes, and some larger instruments as well, normally include a device such as...

•Dear MMDs, A very interesting engraving of the very beginning of the XIXth century appeared in a Christie's auction in Amsterdam, on Sept. 24th, as advertised and illustrated in the Christie's preview magazine of Sept./Oct. 2002, page 128. According to this publication, it is a work by Jan Anthonie...

•An inexpert opinion on storing things Greetings, Storing coated cloth might not be a great idea. It would be better to buy only what you need, which is not usually difficult since you would only buy it by the yard retail anyway. Heat and ozone can deteriorate rubber, as can time alone if the compou...

•[ I asked Devon for more details about the toy musical box [ and inquired if a blind man would recognise it as an organ. [ I wondered if the reason that it plays only one note is simply [ that it is under-winded. -- Robbie I just took one of mine apart again. You can only see two pipe mouths on the...

•In the 040708 MMD James asked the value of a 1908 Tel-Electric piano. That depends on knowing a number of things. First, a little history to put it all in context. In 1905 the newly formed Telelectric company bought an existing all electric player company and probably sold a few players over the ne...