•I have a reed organ in the shop that the mice have had a good time chewing on. "I hate mieces to pieces!" -- Sylvester J. Pussycat, Warner Bros. cartoons. However they do make a nice "fphweeqquue" sound going up the hose to the shop vac. Two adjacent reed cells were more gone than were there. I got...

•I received an email from the eastern part of North Carolina about some wooden carousel figures that were flooded for several days, causing joint separations. They were not in good shape to begin with. These are old pieces that were glued up with hide glue and also nailed together. They have a hollo...

•It is difficult to give suggestions, having no direct contact with the object. Anyway, this is my contribution. PEG (polyethylene glycol) has been widely used for restoration of wooden waterlogged archeological artifacts; its main scope is to replace the water inside the wood, thus avoiding damages...

•Hello, I have just been sent one of those brass German singing birds that are very common, and the guy wants it repaired. I guess the age to be 1970, give or take 5 years. The bellows are white plastic and covered in what looks like a condom. (Can I use that word here?) Has anyone ever repaired one...

•Hello Brian, The little rubbers are available at the US clock supplier S. La Rose. They sell for $8.50 + postage for the set of three. The stock number is 085133. You can reach them at PO Box 21208, Greensboro, NC 27420 USA. E-mail me if you want some hints. Regards, Moe Goldy

•Dear Brian Chesters, I had one of these to repair, a couple of years ago. I used a condom to replace the bellows rubber but found it difficult to seal the ends and maintain the correct tension. Someone before me had used a contact adhesive which needed cleaning off the sealing rings, and then I use...

•Brian Chesters asked about repair of singing bird cages with the "condom type" bellows. I have repaired perhaps a couple dozen of these, and can attest they are without a doubt the most difficult to repair of all singing bird cages. To answer Brian, no, you can _not_ use a condom to repair them. Th...

•Harvey Roehl wrote: > Help! I'm looking for either (a) a complete roll electric roll motor > for my Ampico 'B' or (b) referral of a good motor shop that can rewind > one. I burned mine, and the armature has to be rewound and the field > probably should be. I have the following comments on the Ampic...

•Harvey Roehl was asking what he should do to get his Ampico B motor armature rewound [991111 MMDigest]. That is a common problem with that motor, by the way. I have a local motor shop here in town that knows of a small motor shop somewhere in California they send them to be rebuilt. You can ohm out...

•QRS Advocates Scotch Tape Repairs? I received my 100th Anniversary Issue QRS catalog in the mail Saturday. On Page 66, "Player Piano Pointers", Q&A No. 5 section answers the question, "How can I repair old rolls," with a response of "All it takes is patience and Scotch Magic Tape!". Indeed, their P...

•I watched Larry Norman demonstrate his archival tape at Charlotte NC and thought that it was a really great product. I'm personally happy to know about it, and would recommend it to all the aficionados of classic players. However, I have to see QRS's point, and don't think that it's irresponsible t...

•Craig Brougher said: > Scotch tape is permanent and has a very good adhesive, and it has > lasted me, in some cases, over 30 years. I can still play the rolls > I fixed in the 1970's. The acid in the roll paper is what causes the > roll to disintegrate in moist climates, by the way. The tape doesn'...

•Hi everybody. I have a number of Polyphon discs that are missing a great many projections due to rust and mishandling. Does anybody have any ideas about how I can go about replacing these without going mad ? I have read about a few methods in various books, such as using cut staples and epoxy (yuck...

•I have been following the discussion about roll repairs. Years ago we spent hours removing old yellow tape and associated residue from precious rolls. At that time, we used the best thing that we were aware of, Scotch Magic Transparent tape (the frosty finished clear tape). Although we now know bet...

•I would suggest you don't bother repairing projections if a lot are missing, but if the discs is a favourite you could send it to Lester Jones in Chichester UK at Renaissance discs and he would copy it for you, =L=1.50 (UK pounds) per inch of diameter. His machine reads the holes, not the projectio...

•The MMD has previously published many discourses concerning which glues or adhesives are suitable for repairing pianos and/or piano rolls. Here's a new twist for you: What method do you recommend for repairing piano roll boxes? How do you repair boxes with the end flaps torn off or sides split open...

•Hi Everybody. Because of Y2K fears, my university shut down everything during the Christmas-New Year break (it's summer holiday time here in Oz anyway), so I've only just read Joyce Brite's query about music roll box repairs in MMD 991229. I do a _lot_ of roll box mending; in fact it almost got me ...

•When I started out in this business I ordered a set of universal replacement strings. They were used so infrequently they discolored and I discarded them for a few reasons. When a bass string breaks, I can usually splice a new piece of wire on it and not have to bother with it again. I've successfu...

•-- forwarded message, please reply to sender and MMD -- Hello, my name is Emma Richard and I live in St. Louis, Missouri. A friend of mine gave me her Euphona piano made by the Cable Piano Company for the price of moving it out of her basement. Questions: 1. Since the piano was in the basement, the...

•[ In 000119 MMDigest Mark Kinsler wrote about fiberglass Sousaphones, [ and I commented that it's easier to have brass horns repaired when [ accidents happen while traveling. -- Robbie Most any decent boat or body shop as well as companies that specialize in home built composite airplanes should be...