Well it looks like a few people liked the idea. Here is an "ascii-graph" of the results so far. Histogram: • Age Quantity --- -------- 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-25 26-30 31-35 # 36-40 #### 41-45 # 46-50 # 51-55 ## 56-60 61-65 66-70 71-75 76-80 81-85 86-90 Data Points: 9 Average Age: 43.2 Median Age: 40 • ...

•Hi! Just got word from the publisher that the ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS should be available in mid-June. After being out of print for over 2 years it's about time! It is available again in Hardcover and priced at $89.95 + pstg. It's a heavy book, weighing 7 pounds when packaged...

•Reply to Doug Rhodes, re 'condom' bellows for cuckoo movement. Doug, Your description of the bellows for the cuckoo is totally appro- priate!!! There is a guy in California who, once upon a time, had that type of bellow reproduced. My mind is confused (Ha!) between remembering two people's names...

•Hi Everyone! I'm back from the Bilton Phonograph (and mechanical music) Show in Bound Brook NJ. By the way, he says he's looking for a new place (East Coast) to move it for April. Bummer, but it's his choice. The show was a little slower than usual, but I still sold well -- machines sold, but books...

•To Terry Smythe: regarding the spring of any music box. Unless you fully understand the lethal potential of the springs in these mechanisms (even in a small-sized mechanism) and are equipped to do it, I suggest you send the spring out to be pulled and cleaned and checked for tears and re-greased an...

•Quite a few years ago ... had to be at least 10, maybe 12, ... a book company that published a price guide for musical instruments wanted my opinion on such guides. I told them, frankly, that they really weren't worth the paper they were printed on because they had very little, if no, specifics as ...

•To M. Grosser who asked about music box restoration turn-around times. Restorers differ from repairers. Restorers usually have a longer backlog than repairers, because of the obvious: we restore the _whole_ machine, not just fix one or two things to get it going. Hence, it takes longer and we run i...

•To Bill Bones, regarding Stella in Seattle: You have an excellent contact for music box info in Seattle. He can educate you on Stellas. His name is Larry Karp, E-mail . A basic overview of Stellas: Because of their 'different' star wheel mechanism design, they are prone to having MANY broken teeth...

•Reply to Joel Hoshaw about the zinc disk of his Regina: There _should_ be no difference between playing a zinc or a steel disc. It is possible that a lot of the projections on the zinc disc have been pushed down a bit through bad storage over the years, and that would cause them to be an incorrect ...

•Gentlemen: This is not a very important question, but one which has bothered me somewhat for some time. Perhaps someone can set me straight on this. The usual pronunciation of calliope is as it rhymes with "tree". I have been told by people in the business (including my mentor, the late Rice Berksh...

•In the Digest of May 16th Hal Davis gives an explanation for the term "white metal". He states that the correct term should be "Hoyt metal", suspecting a similarity in sound when pronounced quickly. He doesn't say what this "Hoyt metal" actually is. I don't have information at hand on Mr. Hoyt. Whe...

•I recently received my copy of the MBSI Journal and, as I leafed through it, I was rather surprised to see my name in print as the author of a one-column report on the Murphy auction! The report was identical to the report I posted in MMD. I have no idea how this happened. I thought my post was to ...

•Hello MMD, This is Ricky Diggs with Custom Woodworking. Once again I'm writing this request -- I'm trying to locate somebody in the MMD or the MBSI group that has an original Polyphon 15-1/2" Style #65 or #65A (Bowers' Encyclopedia, page 152), and/or a Polyphon 22-1/2" Style #3 (Bowers page 156). I...

•The recent discussion surrounding politically correct songs and evidence of racism in songs from the early part of this century has been very intriguing and educational. However, there is at least one song of that era which promotes anti-racism: "My Sugar-Coated Chocolate Boy." Despite the racist s...

•I had heard that the Baldwin ConcertMaster was in the works. Apparently it is similar to QRS' PianoMation system. The web page shows the controls, and the remote looks quite sharp! BTW, the URL is slightly different from what was on MMD on 980911. The correction is: http://www.baldwinpiano.com/prod...

•Matthew Caulfield asked: > Are these designed solely for use in tuning stringed instruments or > could they equally well tune wind-blown instruments (band organs)? > Or is the nature of the band organ forgiving enough that investment > in such high-tech and capable tuning instruments is a waste of ...

•As I think I have told the group back in my original introduction, I work at Bose Corporation in Framingham, MA. As it so happens, I have worked as part of the team that designed the worlds first active noise canceling headset that we announced in 1989 and the third generation headset (the Bose Avi...

•Dear MMDians, First let me inform everyone that due to printer problems and calculus exams, there has been a slight delay in shipping, but everything has been taken care of now. The mailing list will soon be sent out and will list all three CDs in production (please note that the third is not yet i...

•[ Mark Forer is a self-avowed insomniac, which explains his great [ knowledge about all those old movies which appear on TV in the wee [ hours of the morning! He is also a successful producer of television [ advertisements, and, as becomes evident in his letter following, has [ certain recent exper...

•In the December issue of Fi, The Magazine of Music & Sound, columnist Terry Teachout presents a candid comparison of audio recordings of reproducing pianos, from the first issues of the 1950s up to the new CD by Wayne Stahnke, Telarc CD-80489. [ See also the notice from Jim Edwards in MMDigest 9811...