•I now have possession of the Franklin upright foot-pumped Marque Ampico piano mentioned in 110831 MMDigest. I can only store it for a short time. I can provide pictures or any technical info as to condition, etc. The player action is complete, and I am sure someone in our community can use it. It i...

•Due to recent bereavement of one of our members, a very rare (in the UK) Marque Ampico player is available in the Nottingham area. As far as we know there is only one other of these smaller Marque-Ampico players in the UK. This one is the very desirable pedal-electric model and, although it will re...

•I have a pedal pumped Franklin Ampico. It didn't normally have crescendo valves and had some extra valves to approximate them. It is missing the primary valves. This makes repetition and the "zero" threshold not as good -- all this to make it use less air. I added an electric pump to mine and added...

•I currently have a foot-pumped Armstrong Marque Ampico upright I'm rebuilding. The expression units are alone, and have no crescendos. The piano has a vacuum gauge next to the Tempo indicator, and it tells you how hard to pump as indicated on some of the older Ampico rolls. That's how the expressio...

•Geoff Ward asks in the 170816 Digest: > Regarding the explanation by Bob Conant (MMD 170813), is the Marque > Ampico inferior in any way (apart from lack of a motor) to the > ordinary powered model A Ampico? Is an upright Ampico inferior > to a grand Ampico? In the same MMD issue Mike Walter tells ...

•Geoff Ward asked, "Is the Marque Ampico inferior in any way (apart from lack of a motor) to the ordinary powered model A Ampico? Is an upright Ampico inferior to a grand Ampico?" Good questions, but difficult answers! The foot pumped model depends on the talents of the pumper to provide appropriate...

•Dear Sirs, I have followed with mild interest the recent thread concerning the pedal-electric Marque Ampico. I happen to own such a piano, which I am led to believe is now the only example here in the UK, as the unrestored instrument to which Julian Dyer made reference in his own recent posting on ...

•Our pedal Ampico expression player ("reproducing" piano) is equally good as a responsive 88-note player. Not all of the Marque series was; they performed expression rolls very well but were often slushy on regular rolls due to large exhausters and design differences. By the late '20s the Marque ser...

•Extending the Marque Ampico player sale! Hello player enthusiasts! I just found out that I need hip replacements and one very soon before it is too late (due to my age) so I am offering the Ampico upright through February 5th at the same $600 price. (I am clearing out my roll storage building in or...

•Hello, player fans -- My pending hip transplant and preparing the house for a visiting therapist sidetracked my Ampico piano sale activity. My apologies to the group of people waiting for a reply. I will get to the messages in a day or two. I am extending this sale to the end of February due to my ...

•My Cremona "G" has six rosettes on the plate. They look as if they were stamped on it with a rubber stamp, as all are exact. Has anyone out there reproduced these? Perhaps a dry transfer? I was able to capture the images with a digital camera and print them out in black and white. Randy Hayno ...

•Music Roll Tune Identification Needed Last week I acquired a number of original A rolls. Many have damaged leaders but six of them are in very good condition. The rolls were sold by the Marquette Piano Company under their Cremona brand name. Only one of the rolls retains its original label, but all...

•It always happens. You write that "so and so never did such a thing" and, sure enough, an example turns up. Some years ago I wrote that I had never seen an original Seeburg nickelodeon piano in a Cremona piano case. Now it turns out that a collector in Iowa (the state where I started working on nic...

•Hi, Does anyone know the whereabouts of any Cremona photoplayers made by Marquette Piano Co. of Chicago? Please email brad@coinpiano.com.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply] Brad McClincy

G'day digesters(?), I would love to tell you that we have mountains of kangaroo pouch leather here (which, BTW, doesn't come from the kangaroo's pouch!), but it seems that we can't get it either! I have a colleague who restores theatre organs and has been trying to get some without success. He think...

•Hi everyone -- Some years ago I got an upright foot-pumped Marque Ampico "semi-reproducing" piano and am about to complete the restoration of it. The only problem is I don't know how the tubing from the expression units is supposed to be connected, since nothing is labeled or connected currently. D...

•Dear MMD'ers, I have recently taken over from Kevin McElhone as Archivist of the MBSGB. My first query was from someone trying to restore a Type 45D 15.75" table Polyphon, as illustrated on Page 154 of Ord-Hume's book "Clockwork Music". The problem he has is that the decorative marquetry panel let ...

•Happy New Year to all. We are old-time piano rebuilders (see our web site, below), and as such we often get anomalies to repair. And we love it!! Recently a client brought in a miniature (toy) barrel piano. It was made by Faventia in Barcelona, Spain. It's 16" wide, 17-3/4" tall, plays 6 selections...

•Ingmar, thanks for the reply. Yes, there is a song selection on the side, covered by Plexiglas. Six songs, all Spanish, none really familiar. So I guess there's an element of rarity anyway. Thanks. I know the owner will be happy to hear your replies. 'Til the next time. Thanks again. Sam Marquez ...

•I just wanted to thank all the respondents regrading the value of the Faventia street piano. As usual I expand my horizons with every question. To share the input: This particular model Faventia was made in Barcelona, Spain, circa late 1950's. It is 6 inches across the front, 17 3/4 inches tall, pl...