Question-Pianola Mini-Player &

[Roger Jolly]

Hi Rob,
             Kind of like your bonfire idea, fit's well with my thinking.
Just add a Weiner Roast.
I have rebuilt 2 player uprights. The first, an old Heinzman, where I did
the complete job, and swore it would be the last.  I lost both my shirt and
my mind.  But all turned out well.
  The second, my sister in law's,  Quido,  a no name piano with a bad
reputation here in Canada.
But a good Ampico player mechanism . After 4 years of constant nagging, I
relented,  hearing the family heirloom sob story, and my wife joined in for
support since she learned to play on this PSO.
 Redesigning the bass bridge (scaling problems), re stringing,new
hammers,spring rails, redesigned damper system(Yamaha U3 dampers) new butt
spring rail, and key bed rebuilt.  The piano turned into a pleasant
suprise. Better than new since the bass and dampers would not have been
good from the get go.
This time I was a little smarter, shipped the piano to Ray Hopland, and had
him rebuild the player, and he did a great job.  
The big suprise after about 2 years, is that the piano and player is
constantly being played.
She has some old nursery rhyme player rolls, and it is kind of nice to
listen to the excitement of her young grand children singing around the
piano.  Better than cartoons on TV.
Again I lost my shirt, since I only charged for parts, and out of pocket
expenses.

Now read my lips, I DON"T WORK ON PLAYERS. <g>

Roger




At 11:24 PM 19/08/00 -0700, you wrote:
>Diane Hofstetter wrote:
>
>> What to do with player pianos?  I know less about them than probably
>> _anyone_, but own three.
>
>> The most recent acquisition is a Pianola 64 key two string unison thingee.
>> The player doesn't work. Dates from about 1960.  Gut it? Or?
>
>Burn it.
>
>
>> Another is a Sherman and Clay by Aeolian. Don't know age, has plastic
>> pneumatics, doesn't play.  Gut it? Or?
>
>Burn it.
>
>> Last is old upright, don't need answers  :-o)
>
>Old uprights are often a challenge under any circumstances because of their
>age and the economic liabilities of rebuilding.  Old players from the  early
>1900's through the 1930s in general, however, have the most potential for
>becoming fun and great instruments if rebuilt properly.  This goes doubly so
>for player grands, particularly Ampico, DuoArt, and Welte.  NEVER gut these
>systems from grands.  They are far more rare than upright players and
continue
>to increase in value and desirability among collectors today.  In the coming
>decades expect these to fetch serious money, even in unrestored condition.
 In
>general most old players were well built and lasted for decades before
>requiring rebuilding work.  Any player from this era has far more potential
>for rebuilding than any post WW II built player.
>
>Rob Goodale, RPT
>Las Vegas, NV
> 
Roger Jolly
Saskatoon, Canada.
306-665-0213
Fax 652-0505