Player pianos

[Rob & Helen Goodale]

----- Original Message ----- 
Subject: Player pianos
>
> Help? Anyone?
>
> Melissa Q.

Melissa,

Much of the relevant information regarding your inquiry has already been 
posted, but here is my 2 cents worth.  Player pianos can be a lot of fun and 
are a worthy hobby.  There are few "properly" restored players to be found 
today so it is rare to come across a good example of what one should be. 
Most have been tinkered with by amateurs or technicians who didn't give a 
damn.  Often this results in detrimental damage and it would have been 
better off if they had left it alone.  The only players worth restoring are 
from the true golden era of their day, the years of and surrounding the 
1920s.  Anything built post war is not much more then junk and were very 
cheap when they were new.

Unfortunately the bottom has completely fallen out of the vintage player 
piano market for the foreseeable future and few piano technicians have 
interest.  Simply put player restoration is a specialty and is outside the 
scope of most traditional piano work.  Because there isn't much demand for 
them right now few techs want to bother for economic reasons.  There just 
isn't much money in it and rebuilding players properly is a lot of work. 
Any vintage player piano is old which means that the piano itself needs to 
be restored first before even thinking about restoring the player unit.  To 
completely rebuild an 80+ year old upright piano correctly to "like-new" 
condition you can count on spending somewhere in the area of +/- $12K by the 
time you factor in the refinishing costs.  Piano technicians need to make a 
living too and there are hundreds of hours of labor involved beyond the 
expense of parts and materials.  After all of that, THEN you can look into 
rebuilding the player part of it.

As far as rebuilding the player unit there were many different brands and 
variations.  Although some did, most pianos companies did not make the 
player units, they purchased them from a 3rd party manufacturer and 
installed them.  This is a major factor in choosing what player piano to 
rebuild.  For example,  "H.C. Bay" was a very low-end player that was 
installed in dozens of pianos.  It was relatively weak, cheaply made, and 
very generic at best.  The "Schultz" player in contrast was very deluxe and 
played exceptionally well.  Unfortunately they are also one of the most 
difficult to rebuild.  The "Standard", made by the Standard Pneumatic Action 
Company, was by far the most popular in terms of the total number of units 
built.  They were well designed and relatively easy to rebuild.  There is a 
long list of others but you get the idea.

My recommendation is to first educate yourself so that you will be able to 
identify the quality of the piano, the manufacturer of the player it has 
inside, and what will be involved in rebuilding it like new.  Don't trust 
anyone's erroneous word that "it's a good one" and "it only needs new hoses 
and a patch job".  There are still thousands of old players around so take 
your time and choose something nice.  It takes as much money and effort to 
rebuild a cheap one as it does a really good one.  Find something with a 
nice quartered tiger oak cabinet with a few carved details and with a good 
reputable brand player inside.  Have a technician examine it under the 
assumption that it is "unrestored", (without regard of what the seller may 
say or if it plays a single note or not), and be prepared to spend a small 
fortune.  That isn't a discouragement, on the contrary it will be a lot of 
fun and rewarding when it is returned back to it's original days of glory. 
Just don't underestimate what you are getting into.

I highly recommend you purchase the book "Player Piano Servicing and 
Rebuilding" by Art Reblitz.  You can find it on amazon.com.  It is the most 
comprehensive book on the subject, it is easy to read and understand, and 
goes through the step by step paces of what is involved in rebuilding a 
player.  It covers the brand by brand differences and how to recognize them. 
In a couple of evenings you will know more about player pianos then most 
regular piano technicians.  Then you can start making decisions on what to 
do next.  You also might want to consider joining AMICA, (Automatic Musical 
Instrument Collectors Association), and MBSI, (Music Box Society 
International).  These are the main groups for the enthusiasts and 
collectors of player pianos and other self playing music machines. 
Membership is relatively cheep and you will receive their regular 
publications containing additional historical and technical information.

Good luck,

Rob Goodale, RPT
Las Vegas, NV