Steinway Duo-Art

[Les Smith]

Thanks for the additional info, Dave. I know the instrument well, because
I'm working on an identical one right now. The difference is that years
ago some bozo technician removed the player action because it was no longer
working and supposed threw it out. Most likely he sold the player parts to
someone who rebuilds players. Nice ethics, huh? Two questions that I do have:
Where is the player located, and have you established an asking price?

Although the Duo-Art reproducer was the only player installed in domestic
Steinways and is identifiable by the fact that the spoolbox lies under a
hinged door under the music desk, I actually once saw a Steinway player
with a drawer under the keybed and an Ampico mechanism instead. About ten
years ago I had a call from a lady who had just bought a "beautiful Steinway
player grand". She wanted me to tune the piano and give her an estimate as
to what it would take to rebuild the non-working player. When I got to her
house and walked into the living room and saw the piano, three things were
immediately apparent: One, the piano DID HAVE a drawer under the keybed;
two, the pedal lyre was definitely NOT Steinway; and three, the Steinway
decal on the fallboard was put on crookedly and running downhill. Smelling
a rat, I went over to the piano, raised the lid and there on the plate was
the name LINDEMEN!!!!!!! I thought the lady was going to have a heart attack
on the spot. She obviously had thought that she had bought a Steinway. She
didn't even let me tune it. She just paid me for my time for coming out
and told me that she was going to contact the seller immediately. I never
heard from her again. And all these years I've always wondered: Did she
return it to the seller? Or, did she, perhaps, keep it and even today still
tells people, "Oh, yes, that's a Steinway. You know, they don't build
them like that anymore!".

Les Smith
lessmith@buffnet.net