•Hello MMD'ers! It's been a while since I have written, and while I have a cold, I am otherwise doing well. I just got my Gulbransen player going (boy is that fun!) and now I am looking at buying a Duo-Art. What I would like to know is a rough idea of what such things go for. This one is an Aeolian ...

•Regarding Andy Taylor's question about the production costs of tall vs. short pianos: the fact is that every additional inch or two in height adds hundreds of dollars to the cost of the piano. It is hard to believe, I know, but there is a lot more involved than leaving some spruce boards a few inch...

•Mike Knudsen writes: > It may be easier to transplant a whole set of rods from another toy > piano, and you will get a much better tone quality in the bargain! This might sound a bit odd, but, if you're going to "improve" a small toy piano, why not design a small strung back for it similar to a sma...

•I have a circa 1920's Fischer Ampico 5'8" reproducing "parlor " grand piano for sale. It was rebuilt in the late 60's under the supervision of Nestor Dragelin, a career Aeolian factory service representative. Other work on re-gilding the plate, re-stringing, and case refinishing was done by Walter ...

•Two cents worth... I agree totally with D. L. Bullock [000209 MMD]. I've been doing the loose pin shuffle for quite awhile now. Most customers can't see putting the bucks in for re-stringing and pinblock repairs. I do a lot of either pin shimming (using those metal sleeves from Schaff: they _do_ wo...

•Hello again, Well, I thought life was rolling along fine until yesterday. I had subcontracted with a piano tech to restore the player mechanism of an Autopiano while he restored the piano. I rarely do this. Well, he called yesterday and said the plate cracked a few days after re-stringing. He had a...

•> In a pinch you can use heavy duty cotton thread, but the best > material is the woven type of cord that is used in the tuning dial > apparatus of older radios. That's called "dial cord" and I believe it still can be obtained from Antique Electronic Supply in Arizona. Another thing I sometimes use...

•I've recently become involved in the restringing of a Seeburg L. This is the truncated compass small nickelodeon with only piano and mandolin rail. There are eleven wrapped (bass) strings, and the rest are plain wire. Shortly the actual stringing will be complete and it will be time to chip it up t...

•The Seeburg Style "L", known today as the Junior or Lilliputian, was known as the "Cabinet Model" on the Seeburg price sheet. There are at least five variations of the Junior case and glass. All the different "cabinet model" pianos, except the Coinola SO, used a smaller scale than the 88-note piano...

•The widow of well known UK restorer and collector, the late Norman Evans, has decided to part with his impressive Kranich & Bach Telektra Grand. The piano is approximately 6 feet long and has an attractive Queen Anne style case which has been fully re-polished to a high standard. Norman restored th...

•Mike Concordia wrote: > My tuner/technician says it is risky to re-string since there is no > way to know for sure if cracking has occurred in some layers of the > pin block and putting in a new pin block is very expensive. Is it > simply a gamble to re-string or are there some ways to tell if a pi...

•[ Paul Murphy wrote in 040215 MMDigest: > I'm venting, I realize. I don't expect anybody to straighten this > out for me, and I know I was a babe in the woods. But damn, when I'm > pretty sure that another action is "out there" for my instrument, and > when I can only hope that the re-stringing was...

•Hello all, I closed my player shop a few years ago and now that I am having health issues I realize I will never be able to do anything with either the pianos or the parts. These were bought with the intention of a complete rebuilding and refinishing, as was my custom to do: stringing, action work ...

•[ John Farmer wrote in 060116 MMDigest: > I am trying to lighten an early 65-note Steck upright which needs > to be stood on end to get out of its present location. ... I have > found the fixings for the stack, but I can't drop it far because of > the exhausters and reservoir. I can't slide it stra...

•A few thoughts on replacing key bushings: first off, I would never glue in one piece of bushing cloth of a set without having been satisfied with a dry fitting of a test key on the rail with bushing cloth not glued in. It is surely a rude awakening to glue in a whole set, only to find out that the ...

•Good morning from Florida: I have had a call from the owner of a late Ampico B, 1937, in a Mason & Hamlin 'B', 5'4" grand. He wants to sell the instrument as he is downsizing to move. I went and inspected and got many pictures for anyone interested. First we must come up with an expected minimum pr...

•Hi All, I've heard of only one instance where, after the instrument was strung, the plate cracked in an area other than near the tuning pins. And, I had one instance where the plate cracked in the area of the tuning pins _while_ the instrument was being strung. In the second case, I took the plate ...

•I had a plate heli-arc welded one time by someone who advertised that service in the Piano Technicians Guild Journal, who has a good reputa- tion throughout the trade, and who had the credentials for that job. After the plate was returned to me, I thought that I very gradually brought the pitch up...

•Hi all, I have an older (about 6 years old) Ragtime nickelodeon with piano, snare and bass drums, tambourine, and accordion. It needs the pinboard replaced and restrung and pinned. It won't hold a tune -- some pins snap back after being tightened (tuned). It will cost around $2000 to $3000 to fix. ...

•About fifteen years ago I restored a Triola and found a local bespoke guitar string maker who was interested in producing a full set of strings for me. He is able to make all the wound strings, including the double wound ones. He has probably still got the original stringing plan I gave him with my...