•I recently did a workshop for the East Coast Chapter MBSI about automatic musical toys. One of the items demonstrated was the Tuneyville Player Piano. Tomy also made a Tuneyville Choo-Choo and Pipewagon. Here are some details, including US Patent numbers. The patent diagrams may be viewed by going ...

•Probably rare is a programmable music box that I bought for a god-child in about 1972. It consisted a paper strip about 3 inches wide that was fed by a small electric motor through a mechanism that sensed the holes and plucked teeth on a comb. There was about a dozen teeth in the comb. It came with...

•Craig Smith wrote, "... you should be able to buy some carbon brushes for another motor and shape them to fit rather easily." I have cut down larger carbon brushes using a hacksaw and then finish shaping by rubbing on a flat metal file. Also, fine sandpaper, emery cloth, and emery boards all may us...

•-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD -- It has been 60 years since I worked as an electric motor mechanic. I do recall my old boss as a very thrifty old Dutchman, but he would never allow any salvaged carbon, say from a battery, for use to make a motor brush because battery carbon is a...

•The posting yesterday by me entitled "ittyMIDI Palm IIIxe MIDI Player Bundle" should have been titled "PDA remote for Pianodisc". The remote control that I was commenting on is offered by www.maestrorf.com. The MIDI Player Bundle in yesterday's subject line is offered by www.ittymidi.com. [ At http...

•Now that you mention that musical train set, it tickles my memory just a little; I can't remember what the original was called, though. A search on eBay showed a few of "today's" version. Go to eBay and search for "Melody Train Set". Battery-operated, and instead of replacing ties, you adjust littl...

•-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD -- I bought the following disc playing music box at auction and cannot locate another anywhere on the Internet. It is marked FUJI-Japan Pat-P and is a vintage reproduction (1960-70?). It is styled to look like a gramophone, and has a decorative 8" p...

•Hi Group, I have another question. Does anyone have information on where I might obtain a sound modules, for around $5.00 to $7.50, that can store between 30 and 60 seconds of music? Radio Shack has a module that includes a speaker and can record and playback for 20 seconds, at a cost of about $7.9...

•-- non-subscriber, please reply to sender and MMD -- What type of wire, plug, and connection to the piano was used for the line cord on a Seeburg L cabinet piano built about 1918? Also, what is the correct type of wiring, routing, connection method, and battery type and location for remote coin tri...

•Several MMD readers have asked me to write about how to put on a successful organ rally. This is like asking me, who has a half built Castlewood, to advise Don Stinson on how to build a band organ! I will share some ideas, but I hope that others will pick up where I leave off and add what I leave o...

•[ I asked Spencer if he could suggest a really simple method for [ wireless MIDI. -- Robbie Greetings Robbie, In terms of wireless MIDI that would work for a notebook to piano interface, there is only one affordable device: the "MidAir" made by M-Audio. It uses a battery powered transmitter and the...

•Four items were stolen from an MBSGB member here in England last night, 16th April. Please let me know if you are offered anything like this over the next few days or weeks so we can catch the thieves before they strike again. Thanks, Kevin McElhone Membership Secretary, Musical Box Society G.B. ke...

•Hope this helps Vic Searle and others with Ametek Windjammer blowers. I have several of these. There are five wires protruding out of the blower body: Green is the ground wire, to be connected to the metal body. Black and white are connected to mains neutral and live respectively. Red is the DC pos...

•I don't know anything about electroless plating. But any decent chrome plater can do nickel plating. A good chrome plating job (typically called "show" chrome, but also used to restore parts that are pitted), is a three-phase job. After cleaning the part, it is sequentially plated with copper, nick...

•I was sorry to hear of your problem with the Pell busker organ, Beatrice. I respond to all customer enquiries and problems, usually within a day, and this is the first I've heard of this! The problem you describe certainly sounds like low voltage. Even though you bought a new battery, was it fully ...

•Mounted on a cart, next to my street piano, sits an organ grinder monkey doll with one hand on the crank. When children drop a penny in his cup, held in his other hand, he cranks out a tune for them. I'm in the background controlling the piano motor with a wireless remote switch. It beats feeding a...

•Yes, I had the same trouble with live piano sound on YouTube. Digital camera microphones are no good; even the hotshoe mic renders a horrible sounding piano. The best and cheapest camcorder I came up with is the Canon HG10. It makes video at 1080 HD, and you must have an external mic input. So I pl...

•Let's start with "completely silent", which is a relative concept. A generator makes noise although next to a calliope it will be completely unnoticeable. Of utmost importance is the quality of the power. Invest is a quality (industrial) surge suppressor. All generators have a degree of voltage flu...

•Julie Porter wrote: > How many other MMDers will be using their instruments in parades > this year? Or know of a parade that has mechanical music on floats? I have powered my player in a few floats using an inverter (12 VDC to 120 VAC). I have a 1500 watt unit that was able to run the piano for hou...

•For sale: Hofbauer style 40er accordion, like new condition, with four cartridges containing about 60 selections including many Strauss waltzes and other European selections. The operator dons the accordion with shoulder straps, turns on the cartridge, and opens and squeezes the instrument to provi...