•I would disagree with the higher number gauge wire for a barrel piano. I have restored several of these and I always use the original size wire sizes. I had this problem demonstrated dramatically when I got one big hulking Hupfeld barrel piano with the treble strings all replaced with a larger size...

•Points noted from D.L. Bullock. I may not have been entirely clear when I mentioned about piano wire gauge; I meant that apparently one uses a _smaller_ wire gauge than the original, not bigger! I also agree with him that invariably one has to tune to much lower than A=440, and often it is about A=...

•[ Bill Chapman wrote in 050118 MMDigest: >> Several keys are twisted making the instrument unplayable. However, >> when the weather gets good and damp, they improve but not enough to >> make it useful. Bill, From your description, I find it difficult to make suggestions. (Not enough detail) If it i...

•I'm in the process of repairing a barrel piano in which the barrel has some small cracks. They are not bad, but I'd like to fill the cracks and replace a few pins which are loose. I've never done this before, so have a couple of questions: 1. What have others successfully used to fill barrel cracks...

•Hello fellow MMD'ers, I had the extreme joy today of inheriting my great grandmother and grandfather's roll collection. It arrived in a giant box from UPS. The family back East got wind that I owned a couple of players and all a sudden the rolls from a past generation's family player piano surfaced...

•-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD -- Dear MMD Advisors: I recently acquired a Musical Casket organette, with 14 notes, that doesn't play. The machine came with eight rolls but won't play a note. Here's my observations: (1) When a roll is attached, I can crank it accordingly but no s...

•-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD -- We have a small music box that needs help. There is a bent wire that attaches to a pin and stops and starts the regulator. This wire fell out and we don't know which way it goes to replace it. Can anyone help? John Kinberg

•-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD -- I recently repaired a "Farmer in the Dell" Mattel revolving metal toy musical box. I tried the suggestion to use fabric glue on the turning shaft, but was unsuccessful; the glue rubbed off quite quickly. I then cut a piece of double-side adhesive...

•Since it became available, I've always used Scotch Magic Mending Tape, and I use it on the side of the roll away from the tracker bar. I first learned of Scotch Magic Mending Tape from a book restorer who did work for several libraries, so I figured that if it was good enough to use on valuable boo...

•I am concerned when anyone says price is "sometimes an indication of the quality of work." No one should believe this! I have had wonderful work done at less than 10% of what the scalpers charge, and terrible work done by those who charge top dollar and claim to be professional. That also goes for ...

•[ Olie K. Teeter, Jr., wrote in 051007 MMDigest: > I can't find anything that tells me who made it or when. ... Congratulations -- these are fun little instruments. You need Todd Augsburger's book "Roller Organs". It will help you date the organ very closely. All were made by the same company in It...

•-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD -- I am the lucky owner of a family heirloom that I just received this week. The Olympia #5 is in mint condition. It had belonged to my grandparents and was played only at the holidays and when we would visit them in New York. My grandfather probabl...

•Hey all -- I need a little help and figured if anyone could help this would be the place. My piano is an old Aeolian upright (circa 1908, I believe). It has worked perfectly up until a motor crank-arm cracked and broke. So, first-off, I need two crank-arms. However, on top of that, I think one of t...

•-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD -- Mike Morrey wanted to know how to adjust the sliders on a Aeolian wind motor [060112 MMDigest]. When I want to work on my Steck half-Duo-Art, out comes my copy of "Player Piano Servicing and Rebuilding," by Arthur Reblitz. This book has proved to...

•Glenn, This may be a long shot, but have you considered dismantling the piano and taking the plate to a foundry to be recast? The plate itself can be used as a pattern for a new one, although the foundry will have to do some "tricks" to make it work. (E.g., first fix the bowing, and then add materi...

•I have done a small amount of welding cast iron with success. I use an arc welder with a high frequency attachment. I have used a Eutectic Xuper 2240 rod and a Nickel-arc 99 rod I believe was made by Alloy Rods. I had a welder with a lot of cast iron experience tell me his secret was to keep poundi...

•I'm sorry to hear about your problem with the broken Link piano plate. I have a Link E, serial no. 3448, so I know the plate style. Here are a couple of thoughts which may help you find a solution. There is an excellent article on piano plates and repairs on the Piano Technicians web site under Sam...

•Hi all, Kim Bunker here from playerpianos.com. Repairing a cast iron plate is next to impossible. The reason for this statement is cast iron piano plates until the introduction of the V-Pro process injecting plastic into the mold before releasing the iron by Yamaha. All piano manufacturers used wet...

•Hey all! After I sent my last message regarding the crank arms [060112 MMDigest], my computer went south. So, I'm gonna try this again, and apologies for the duplicate! (Note the new email address, in case you did contact me before.) I'm looking for two crank-arms for an old Aeolian wind motor (fro...

•Hi, can anyone recommend a material to use to replace the belt / strap connectors that link the bellows to the crank in the four-lobe Welte Licensee pump? After having many problems with my Licensee, this is now sorted and it is now air tight so to speak; unfortunately this put a strain on the mate...