•Dear Fellow MMD'ers: I'm a bit behind in my Digests, so some of you may already know that longtime Chicago player restorer, Frank Trotta passed away in February after a long series of illnesses. He was 78. Frank had long been known as a character who loved to wheel and deal in pianos, reproducers a...

•For Sale: Schulmerich Americana 5 Octave Carillon with 30 note roll player. What is it worth? The Motor City Theatre Organ Society (MCTOS) acquired the Schulmerich Americana tower chime carillon unit from the Hudson's Department store with the object of installing it in their 1928 Redford Theatre i...

•I feel I must take issue with Jonathan Holmes' reply concerning the Dampp-Chaser. This is a total humidifier/dehumidifier system which I have seen work miracles in helping to maintain constant temperature and humidity in a piano. What he describes sounds like a heater bar, and in no way describes t...

•I was totally blown away by John Tuttle stringing a piano in a customer's home [020325 MMDigest]. I can only say I would doubt that I would ever be able to do that. It would be the extremely _rare_ piano that is in good enough shape to do so. 99.9% of the players I find to work on not only need new...

•> On an older piano the strings are pretty much stretched so the > only reason for the piano going flat is plate compression and > case deformation. I would like to clarify this statement. I was referring to the piano going flat during a pitch raising, not the loss of tension over a period of time...

•Sam Harris requested information concerning a pneumatic roll reader and its interfacing to a MIDI system where the hole/no-hole information can be recorded into a MIDI file. I've worked on the design of such a system which I feel is perfect for the hobbyist who wants to MIDI-ize a roll. It is very ...

•I was fascinated to learn from Bernt Damm about the American Pedal-Electric Duo-Art 'export' model, and its way of achieving the switching between electric and pedalled states. I have never heard of these machines before. I suppose that with the UK market supplied from the London factory the US mac...

•One reason today's piano quality is deteriorating is the world is lacking in musical education. The second reason is the cost of manufacturing a good piano is beyond the means of an average buyer. Listen to today's popular music and we find that it is loud, louder and deafening! Where are soft and ...

•This subject has been much discussed. Let me introduce the following point: Can a solenoid piano sound like a human performance? You bet! There is certainly no technical reason why a solenoid can't be instructed to mimic keyboard finger pressure and velocity profile. In the simplest case solenoids ...

•I've recently created a Pianocorder Resources web site at http://dp70.dyndns.org/pianocorder/ Suggestions and contributions of additional material for the site are most welcome. There are already several interesting items here for those of us who still mess around with the old Superscope Marantz Pi...

•Hi all MMDer's, Kim Bunker here from http://www.playerpianos.com/ The wonderful inventions of Thomas Edison -- well, I would say building concert pre-fabricated homes was a great idea. Pianos constructed of pre-fabricated chicken wire and cement were not such a great idea. I had one of those once, ...

•[ Ref. 040718 MMDigest, Rebuilding Ampico Symphonique In response to Howard Wyman's missing cut-out block, it is my feeling that it probably was left out intentionally, and he is better off without it. The cut-out block used in the model "A" Ampico can be a source of trouble unless it is in perfect...

•Yes, the Duo-Art fan accordion expression system that Spencer Chase brought to the AMICA convention had some surprising and different stuff in it. I borrowed it, and am on my way to my machinist to have it copied. At this point I've located pieces of over 50 of these. Early serial dates on several ...

•Here is what is shown in the Michel/Pierce "Piano Atlas" regarding Wurlitzer: Wurlitzer, Rudolph, born Saxony, Germany, landed in N.Y. 1854; imported instrument in Cincinnati, Ohio 1856. Wurlitzer, The & Co., 105 W. Adams St., Chicago, Ill., factories at De Kalb, No. Tonawanda, Cornith, Miss., all ...

•Some thirty years ago I was acquainted with several men who had worked at American Piano Co. for many years. As I recall they both stated that all Ampico parts, including the grand drawers, were manufactured, assembled and given bench testing at the Amphion factory at N. Clinton St, Syracuse, New Y...

•The motor governor in a Baldwin is a tricky little devil. Here are a few things to watch out for. If these things get just a tiny bit of dirt in them, it will slow the motor down. The first inclination is to readjust the threaded rod. Don't! It will throw the slow speed off, and the governor will b...

•To Bob Stewart: I have absolutely no idea of how a bit of mercury could find its way into any kind of Ampico pedal regulator. Maybe someone thought the piano was sick, stuck in a thermometer to see if it had a fever, and the thermometer broke :) Whatever, I am reminded of an experience I had many y...

•It appears that your orchestrion plays "O" rolls. It should have a maker's name on it other than the piano maker. The paper should move from the rear of the top spool to the rear of the bottom (take-up) spool. I did encounter an orchestrion of the 1970s or '80s period in a bar in Virginia City, Nev...

•Hi All, Typically, I don't like to disagree with other technicians, and I hope to phrase this posting such that it sounds more like a warning than a disagreement. Recently, it was recommended that an after-market motor speed controller be used in conjunction with a modern Aeolian suction box. (I pr...

•Dear MMDs, The usual autumn auction in Chartres, on Sunday Dec 6th, with 200 lots, went well, especially for mechanical music, phonos and arcade machines. (The auction was announced in MMDigest of Nov. 20th). You will find the complete price list on the MMD web site, and the catalogue in PDF format...