I am really interested in the failure rate of solenoids on players built within the past 10 years? Have our techs out there found any pattern of reliability? I always enjoy reading the MMDigest. Y'all are great. John Preble [ I remember when the greatest aggravation was with the tape cassettes [ and...

Unfortunately the auction of the Tuschinsky-collection at Butterfield & Butterfield went without our participation, simply because we didn't know about it. Does somebody know what happened there? Kind regards, Gerhard Dangel-Reese¶ Augustinermuseum¶ Salzstr.32, D-79098 Freiburg¶ fon *49-761-201-2528...

May I respectfully join in the solenoid fray? I own a Disklavier that is installed in a two-year old Yamaha 6'7" grand. It plays on and on, endlessly and effortlessly, without error, without need for repair, and without overheating. It has provided me, my family, and friends a great deal of joy. It ...

I have a question for MMD readers with experience in music licensing. (This is a little off the topic of mechanical music, but it is kind of peripherally related, as you'll see below.) As a graduate student at Ohio State, I have been working with some friends on a short film in which a computer-anim...

•Hi All, Twice in the past six months, I have been told by electronics technicians that spiders (their webs) can cause a myriad of problems in electronic equipment. While I do not doubt their words, I am interested to know if their explanations are accurate. Their explanation is that the spiders wea...

•Hi Andy, For years I have dreamed of a vorsester, ie a unit that can be placed onto a keyboard, and with its fingers plays that keyboard. Of course this was one of the earliest player piano developments. When Marantz Pianocorder came out in the seventies, there was a vorsester model. I almost ended...

•Who has the largest roll collections around the world? Do you know of any large repository of music rolls of any kind? My guesses would include: Chicago Public Library, who has complete collections of literature on rolls. Do they also have rolls? The Piano Archive -- Somewhere. Where are they, anyw...

•Hi, I have been a reader for over a year, but have never introduced myself. I am a retired communications engineer and collect and restore crank phonographs, tube radios and player pianos. My Chickering Ampico led me to Jeff Davis and a restoration. Then I added 5 more players and got Jeff to take ...

•For Sale Or Trade: If the same 4-in-1 pot-metal valves used by Wurlitzer were in their pianos as well as their band organs and orchestrions, then -- I have 21 (twenty-one) 4-in-1 pot-metal valve assemblies in original mint condition, with no evidence of swelling or cracking. They are currently stil...

•I was offered a very nice 1938 Mason and Hamlin Grand. It never had a player unit of any kind. The piano seems to be in very good condition, has been regularly tuned, cleaned, and well kept. Since many of you have installed MIDI units, I was wondering how much of a task it would be to install some ...

•The Pianomation reproducing piano system was designed to play all available software, including PianoDisc, Disklavier, Internet MIDI files, analog or digital storage media. It was designed to install into any piano with as little bother as possible-- to be installed by the normal piano tuner techni...

•During the summer of 1982 I was playing the piano at the Blue Angel Cafe in Charleston, S.C. At that time I met a local piano tuner named Walter Mudgett. I visited his home where he displayed a rebuilt Hardman & Peck upright which had a very ornate cabinet which he had painted black. It was complet...

•Hi All, As I said I would, here's what I found out about the Kimball Model F problems I encountered. In both instruments, the problems were in the relays which are attached to the power supply circuit board. In one unit, the problem turned out to be a spider's web which was built around the moving ...

•By now you may have read my Microtonal Carillon introduction. I am looking for a source for cheap surplus solenoids, so that I do not have use the solenoids from the original Schulmerich Carillons bell instrument. I need about 110 identical push solenoids, 12-17 volt DC, no more than 3/4" in diamet...

•I'm a new subscriber and I've rebuilt many grand players. We put the electric pumps in now. My favorite Amphion some had upside down valves. These regulators had a little disc on a stem, held in place firmly by another stem with a hole in it, tension adjusted by a spring. Now we throw guts out of o...

•Hello, I have been lurking on the list for some time now. My original post regarding the Microtonal Carillon (nearly complete) I am building is found in MMD 990721. My next project will be a solenoid driven miniature piano (25 to 50 strings) with moveable bridges to allow for flexible tuning. Could...

•Piano means soft. The full word is Pianoforte, which means Soft-Loud. What we need are player systems that have the capacity for full expression, ranging from 'barely audible' to 'soft'. The modern Pianomation and PianoDisc systems are getting better in that respect. The late Joe Tushinsky, of Mara...

•Dear Fellow MMDers: A friend of mine here in the Seattle area asked me to indicate that he wants to sell his Model T two manual and pedal Estey reed organ. This organ is in golden brown oak and has 10 sets of reeds with a remote suction blower. It has been fitted with Pianocorder solenoids and play...

•I have a chance to pick up a Newman Bros. Co. Piano from Chicago, Overstrung Grand. It is a very ornate upright piano, in excellent condition. Could anyone help me date it? Its serial no. is 1548. Does anyone have any input as to the quality of this brand of piano? The piano has a Telelectric solen...

•Hello Everyone, and Merry Christmas to all of you! I enjoy reading these postings every day. I was wondering if anyone knew an internet MIDI site that has piano or player piano MIDI files with Christmas music. I have been having trouble locating a site that is just for piano; most of it is instrume...