•Mechanical music, printers and voting machines Hello MMD readers, With the focus at this time on the State of Florida, and on the subject of voting machines, I couldn't help but draw a parallel between the variables in the Presidential election tallies and what faces one in the sphere of mechanical...

•Dear Robbie, permit me to comment on your observations about Pianocorder System key solenoid electronic parameters. Pianocorder System key solenoids receive a fixed 170 Volts DC. This voltage does not vary. So how does the system create dynamic expression if the key solenoid voltage is constant? Th...

•The first thing I do when arriving to tune a player piano is to put a roll on and try the player, so that I will know how well it works, and therefore how well the customer will have a right to expect it to work when I am finished. I try to foresee any possible damage that the process will do to ro...

•Rick Cooley asks in MMD 010811 for numerous parts for an Aeolian pushup. He doesn't say if this is a 65-note or 65/88-note version. Since he has the tracker-bar and stack, this probably isn't important, except that the latter is vastly more valuable. The 65/88-note, which commenced production in 19...

•Hi all, This may sound really bizarre, but I think it deserves consideration. Down here at the Shore (the New Jersey shore), we have lots of seasonal customers. During the Winter, they typically close and lock the house and turn everything "OFF". This includes the heat! As some of you might know, i...

•Hello Mike, hello all - > ... whereas pipe organ valves of the Peterson type may leak when > exposed to pressure on the "wrong" side. I also wondered whether this might happen. But the valves I have have a closing force of about 0.2 Newtons. With a wind pressure of 0.05 bar (this is more than doubl...

•I have an older stencil upright player, gutted, a sort of Arts and Crafts case, so may be from around that period. Anyway, the action is loose as a goose -- you only have to breathe on the keys to play softly. I find it extremely easy play a large range of 'soft' on this piano. It seems to allow fo...

•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...

•I suspect this topic has been discussed to death, but I need to put in my two cents worth. Over the last couple of years, I've played approximately 2000 different rolls. When I first started, I got into the habit of making an audio recording of every roll, as it seemed there was a very high chance ...

•As I stated before, organ pipes can be made of any material, providing that the walls are sufficiently stiff to contain the air column. I have seen and heard organ flue pipes made of all kinds of natural woods, plywood, organ metal, zinc, copper, brass, concrete basses (!), Bristol board (a complet...

•Well, David Evans mentioned my name as I work in the museum field here in the UK. Metal objects are a big problem in some ways. The main problem is that if you place it in a plastic bag in an uncontrolled atmosphere, then you could get problems with condensation and then rust or discolouring. Plast...

•Some thoughts on Gilmore's self-tuning technology follow. Sorry for the length of this post; the invention fascinates me, and I got on a roll. The moderator is welcome to edit as needed. [ Everyone can talk about it! I'm enjoying reading all the theories. [ Maybe in ten years we'll know the facts. ...

•Norris, These things are so simple and basic that most people just replace or repair what's there. The difficulty arises when something isn't there, and that's when you need individual advice. Often the sustaining pedal "boot" is missing and has to be made from new. Also the "phonograph handle" whi...

•Spencer Chase did stick his neck out with his posting on 030314. But I, for one, believe there is merit to his posting. To digress, the rebuilding of pneumatic instruments has been plagued with experimentation with faulty new materials. The miracle pouch material, Perflex, was tried and seemed to b...

•>> A very abstract thought: Could "binary" be replaced with "discrete"? >> For all I know, "binary" is totally correct -- the Welte concept even >> used 4 binary rows to encode around 12 discrete levels of vacuum. > > [ Don't you mean the 16-level Duo-Art system? -- Robbie ] What I meant (and mixed...

•Seeing the post about recutting "a great 4-hand arrangement" of "Jingle Bells" reminds me of one roll in my collection. It has to be one of the _worst_ Christmas rolls on record! I am generally not one to throw away playable rolls, but honestly, the only things saving this roll from the dumpster is...

•-- forwarded message, please reply to sender and MMD -- [ Ref. 030927 MMDigest. Karl Petersen and I shared some thoughts [ with Dr. Peetz; he asked that this message in reply be published [ in MMDigest. -- Robbie Dear Karl, dear Robbie, thank you very much for your interesting remarks. In the next ...

•In MMD 03.11.10 Damon Atchison wrote: > It would likely sit in a Michigan garage. Hi Damon, Storing a piano in the garage will probably worsen the condition and may cause wood joints to begin separating, including the soundboard, frame posts and case. Cracks in the soundboard will widen and ribs se...

•As a player restorer in the US, I too can be intimidated by player action brands which I am not familiar. Take my word for it, the "Licensee" stack is a heck of a lot better than that awful "Red" Welte double-valve stack. I opened the stack to see what was inside. I didn't have a clue how to get at...

•For sale: 1930 Mason & Hamlin 5' 8" grand; it's _not_ an Ampico, but contains the Hickman grand piano action in all original condition. Mahogany case, good original shape. This piano has the A-9 scale (five wound bichords in tenor, on a separate little "third bridge"); a delightful scale that was u...