•I had a problem where my piano was dropped off the truck. It was in a protective case but there was still crush damage to the corner. The first "professional" that repaired it basically filled it with colored epoxy, and it looked as bad as that sounds. When I had the piano restored, the technician ...

•Was hoping that some one may be able to help me find a plastic slide valve for the wind motor on my Aeolian "The Sting". Have already made one that works very well, my first repair to a player piano. If anyone has one of these pieces I would gladly pay a fair price for one. Please contact me at Tha...

•Noel Butler asks about roll repair tape. The industry standard bible on pianola repairs refers to the use of a 3M's plastic tape (page 205/206). My advice differs from that in the good book. Paper, as a material, is characterised by having a low elongation (up to about 4 percent maximum) and is hyg...

•Hello -- Regarding the repair of rolls I have long used 3M (or even generic brands) Magic Mending Tape, or also called frosted tape. I have rolls that I repaired 40 years ago with this tape and all is fine other than the tape darkening a bit. Also, it is very inexpensive. Best, Marc Goodman Clevela...

•A brave reader wrote in suggesting 3M Magic Mending Tape to repair music rolls. I now join him so he will not be lonely. I have repaired a number of fragile rolls with very narrow strips of this tape, and the rolls have performed perfectly for years since then. Anything can be done badly, and I hav...

•I have been using Scotch Magic Tape since at least 1969. I do also use the document tape since it is now suggested. However, since my player has the "fingers" for mechanical tracking I need a firm tape, not the paper tape. Besides, way back long ago QRS itself suggested Scotch Magic tape. I think t...

•Within the recent discussion about repairing music rolls, there may be interest in a low-cost roll repair table I recently built, using salvaged player piano spool box parts. See http://members.shaw.ca/paud122/repair.htm Regards, Terry Smythe Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada http://members.shaw.ca/smythe...

•This is an interesting subject. I have been buying player piano rolls since 1970. Like most of us who are middle-aged collectors, I have more than an ample supply of 88-note, Ampico and Duo-Art rolls. If there is one lesson that I have learned about old rolls, it is to buy a recut if possible, espe...

•In the 090204 MMD Randy Hammond made many valid observations. I agree with most. What I would like to do is offer alternate opinions on old rolls. First, I have been collecting and repairing old rolls for close to thirty years and have an abundance of most roll types that are out there. For example...

•-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD -- For starters, I have restored many pumper player pianos. I now have a customer who has asked me to repair a Seeburg so it plays like it is supposed to play. In addition to the player piano it has a set of violin pipes, with the valve/controls loo...

•-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD -- Hello to you all! I have a Dynavoice Piano Player which I bought several years ago that was not well packed for shipping, and arrived broken in many ways. I recently bought a Yamaha Clavinova (recording electronic piano), and am now determined to...

•-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD -- Hi. I am recovering a little bellows from a whistler. I have done them before, but this time the bottom bellows will not hold air. I replaced the pieces over the paper flap valves and made sure they were not too tight. I then used zephyr skin to ...

•Well my first topic is the building of a player reed organ. I tried to use Hohner reeds but they were out of tune and take too much air. My plans were to make a pressure box and the control the reeds directly but I don't think this will work well enough to get the reiteration of notes from music ro...

•[ In 090713 MMDigest, Edward Baylis asked about a source for the [ Ampico wire-reinforced 3/8" ID supply hoses. I am assuming that you are referring to the 3/8-inch hoses on the right end of the Ampico drawer. In the old days, we did not have wire-reinforced 3/8" supply hoses. Instead, we noted whe...

•I recently brought a 25-year-old Universal player piano into my shop for repairs. It was playing weak and missing many notes. John Omiatek over at QRS warned me I might encounter bad Perflex pouches. To my surprise when I opened the valve assembly and inspected things it wasn't the pouches. In fact...

•Hi All, Bill Maguire's posting [091107 MMDigest] about the Universal pneumatics stimulated me to ask the question; 'Are the pneumatics made out of wood or plastic?' The unit I'm currently working on has wooden pneumatics and the cloth is a blue color. It feels like Nylon and it's in great shape; ni...

•Hello all, A while back I had a ciphering note and decided to investigate. I traced the problem back to the tracker bar, where two nipples were improperly soldered. I tried filling the spot with a bit of solder, but this only made matters worse. After playing a game of "Whack-a-Mole" with some nipp...

•[ Penn Jacobs wrote in 091204 MMDigest: > Should I try to get it repaired or just look for a replacement > mechanism or whole new unit? Please see page 247 of "Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments" by Q. David Bowers. Helvetia, like Thorens, operated from Sainte-Croix, Switzerland, and mad...

•I have been asked to "fix" a Kimball Electramatic Consolette player piano. I plan to fix only the part that doesn't work -- no taking everything apart and putting it back together. The first apparent thing wrong is the motor is dried out and almost froze up. It will try to run. If I could get it ap...

•Hello MMD -- I have received requests about my roll repair method. I must say this is not a fast job. I tried different types of glue, but the best I came up with is Testor's Extra Fast Drying Cement for Wood Model Planes in the brown tube. I started doing this about 1990, and the first roll still ...