Hello John Rhodes (and list readers), I need to clear up a slight misconception about my theory on the design goal(s) of the Ampico B variable play brake: On Mon, 29 Jan 96 John Rhodes wrote in Automatic Music List Digest (96.01.28): •> > From: "John D. Rhodes" > To: automatic-music@foxtail.com > Da...

Jim Heyworth worries whether the disks used for archiving paper roll data will last any longer than the rolls themselves. Conservationists have to start with the premise that no medium of data recordation (whether paper, film, magnetic coating, or stone) lasts forever, but some last longer than othe...

•John Tuttle asks about correcting a warped keybed on a piano. The classic way to correct a warp is by hammering numerous thin veneer wedges into saw cuts you have made with glue to hold them in. The keybed however is a structure which is made kind of like a door and would be difficult to fix comple...

In reply to Pete Docter's mail about the Mills Violano, the inventor was Henry K. Sandell, a Swedish immigrant. Contrary to rumor, Sandell didn't go insane and lived on to a good old age in Chicago. Much has been written about the Violano in mechanical music books and Mike Kitner and Art Reblitz "Th...

> Subject: Introduction & Novice Player Piano questions-help! > I'm Rick Inzero from Rochester, NY. I just found/joined the Mechanical > Music Digest this week while searching the WWW for player piano info. > > *** Question #1a: Assuming I get lucky, how much would a > functional-but-needing-attenti...

Nancy Fratti mentioned a box shipped to her with a one year old lacquer finish which had crazed during the shipment. This is more apt to happen to the two-part lacquer finishes, like as used on the bright finished pianos. I knew of a concert grand being shipped by truck. It was caught in a frigid sn...

Some readers have had some nice things to say about their own glues, and fully endorse the white and yellow carpenter glues for player piano work. While nothing I can say here will, by itself, change their mind, to those who are still on the fence about it, I would like to say this; A player restore...

My interest in roll punch advance is mainly along the lines of practicality. I am interested in the historical aspect, to the extent that it provides useful information. I would like to scan rolls with a degree of precision that captures the information as accurately as it was punched. If it is poss...

In a recent e-mail note, Robbie asked me to explain how I concluded that the step advance of Ampico rolls corresponds to 356 steps per foot. This note is in response to that request. We have to make a clear distinction between the "intended" step advance -- the value that the designers had in mind a...

A few days before Christmas I described my new roll-repair table. I didn't mention a disastrous discovery I made just before it was completed. The disaster involved the take-up spool, which came out of an old spool- box salvaged by a friend from our local garbage tip. I was very pleased to have acqu...

"Repairing Wrinkled Rolls" -- what a fine example of alliteration that is, Jim Canavan; it rolls off the tongue beautifully! And I'm pleased that someone has brought the problem up. It's really disappointing to acquire a desirable roll in apparently excellent condition but which plays a few unwanted...

Hi John, see if this gives you a visual concept. The spring should lift at a slow and steady pace. An easy flow, as opposed to a jumping motion. (More like the rise of one's head when you comprehend something saying: "Oh, I see"; not the jerking motion as when being pushed from behind). Depress a ke...

Craig Brougher writes: > The worst thing that can be done to a grand is to pound the pins down > into an old, dry plank when they start getting loose. Unless the piano > action is removed and the old plank supported very well, this will > destroy the plank every single time by cracking it through it...

•This email was prompted by a question in one of last week's Digests concerning early types of music rolls, and by private correspondence with a friend who recently located a very early Clark Apollo player roll catalog from 1907. The former questioned why various formats less than 88n were used, and...

•Hello, MMD. I have been at my house in East Grand Forks since last Tuesday, and have been working like mad to get the place cleaned up. I got my phone service back today and I know that my brother updated you somewhat on the conditions of my house following the flood, but here's a current update. I...

•Damon Atchison writes about traveling to hear a Violano Virtuoso's song only to be sadly disappointed by a poorly maintained instrument. In many ways the Violano can be more closely compared to old time vending and amusement machines than to the typical pneumatic musical instrument. It operates ent...

•Can I offer a few notes about the Mastertouch record/editor system as it uses a player piano to MIDI conversion as a vital component. Please excuse any of my loose terms or descriptions as I came into this field from the computer and animatronics world, not the player piano world. Switches under a ...

•Twisting bass strings is an absolute necessity when replacing them. It isn't something one does to "add another foot of length" exactly, but what one does to prevent the strings from rattling and buzzing, eventually. It also allows the string to develop all its partials. I don't like to get into th...

•I was glad to see Phil Dayson's objective measurements of bump in the curve for air flow vs. valve gaps. Is that measurement of .035" for cross valves or round valves? I would be interested to know at what value the restriction becomes a problem for both types of valves. From what Phil and Craig Br...

•Although a Bechstein grand piano does not come precisely under the heading of mechanical (automatic) musical instrument, I have some questions for the engineers out there. I am researching repair feasibility for an 1891 Bechstein 6' 8" grand that has three cracks in the plate. It is one of at least...