•I recently came across a 1960's era electrically amplified carillon. This is the type with tuned metal rods struck by solenoids. The vibrations from the rods are electronically amplified and sent to loudspeakers. There was no automatic player mechanism with this unit; so I've converted it to play s...

•In 140807 MMD I talked about 3-D printers and laser cutters in manufacturing hard-to-find and low-quantity items we use in our restoration activities. I thought I would report on a recently completed task, cutting valve gasket rings from blotter paper using a laser cutter. I was approached by an in...

•I'm working with a player piano. I've got it running but the roll drive (five-banger) wind motor is uneven -- it gallumphs along. Any suggestions where I should start looking to smooth it out? Extra vacuum makes it run more powerfully, but it still stutters. Dennis Pelton

•-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD -- Hello, I have a number of rolls from The Pianotist Co Ltd., 56 Regent St. The rolls are of red cardboard and are also marked "The Improved Self Playing Attachment (TM)". They were supplied with Steinway upright which had a mechanical player attac...

•-- forwarded message, please reply to sender and MMD -- Dear sirs, We have found your references (as well as Don Teach's) several times on the Web and we are wondering if you could help us to find a roll changer for the repairing of a piano Wurlitzer (or a spare example that could be copied). Would...

•DeBence Museum has about twelve unboxed music rolls that we cannot identify. They are 10 inches wide, have a hole spacing of about 0.17 inches [6/inch] (the holes are 0.10 inches wide), have a cardboard tube inside diameter of 2.5 inches with a drive key 0.4 inches wide. They were made by Pianotist...

•Greetings all, Scotty Greene's inquiry about the Pianotist reminded me of having one of those very early players sometime in the 1980's. It was a very tall mahogany upright, with a pullout drawer, exactly like the photo at http://www.mmdigest.com/Gallery/Pictures/PwrRoller/ It was a very interestin...

•In MMD 19.12.02, Ken Snowden inquires about most responsive pumpers. A _lot_ depends on the quality of the restoration, but assuming an optimum rebuild, I think it's a toss-up between the Aeolians that have the very small reservoir and the double valve Standards that have the so-called "crash valve...

I have noticed over the years that Violanos will stay in tune better when their light is left on and things are kept at a relatively constant temperature. Humidity changes in a room is also moderated somewhat by the higher (maybe 2 degrees max) temperature inside the case. Keeping another small 40 w...

Craig Brougher said: > There was two ways a DR model Steinway could be fully utilized > by the Duo-Art. First, as long as there were not huge chords > played at crash levels in the music, the standard Duo-Art > mechanism could handle it on a concert grand as long as the roll > was coded differently ...

•Ken Vinen was kind enough to carbon copy his post on the above. I am doing him the same favor on this post. I pulled out the 1905-1907 Nyles Bryant (there was no hyphen as I originally typed) and read it. I am going to list the lessons, and make a few comments as I go. Then you can decided for your...

•This roll-playing device was made by the Smith Lyraphone Company of Baltimore, Maryland, USA. The interesting thing is how it plays by a spinning power roller. The surface of the cylinder (the power roller) is lined with cork and is approximately 5 inches [12.7 cm] in diameter and about 3 feet [91 ...

•Hello! Ray Fairfield wrote about the Smith Lyraphone Pneumatic Power Roller Push-Up Player (MMD 031204): "The interesting thing about this tracker bar is that there are four distinct (and different) hole widths. The width of the holes that play the notes does not vary throughout the scale. " Same t...

•Sometime back I reported on my Smith Lyraphone pushup piano play of circa 1900, and I was wondering about the reason behind the varying spacing and width of the tracker bar slots. This is a 65-note unit, and the roll width is 13-1/4 inches. There are four different hole widths (rectangular slots), ...

•In the 170220 MMDigest, Kelly Goodman asks for information on an early hand-cranked Blasius player piano. Years ago the late Marion Frazier of New York City had an ornate Blasius upright in his workshop. The roll was positioned horizontally in a drawer under the keybed and the paper traveled sidewa...

•I do not install Pianomation players, but a few things that D. L. Bullock mentioned were of interest, and I'd like to ask these questions in regard to what he has already said about them, hoping to clarify more in regard to their "ease" of installation and accessibility. While I have never had my "...

•I don't mind an animated technical discussion in which two rebuilders chat about their different viewpoints of a particular system. It's good and healthy. The problem comes in when one or both are not reading what the other says, but launches off on a tangent, refuting nothing and tilting windmills...