Stein..Player

[Les Smith]

On Tue, 20 Feb 1996 JIMRPT@aol.com wrote:

> Les;
>  Thanks for the prompt reply.  The fallboard decal was original (or appeared
> to be) and the trap work is different from the Duo-Art, there is no
> connection, and apparently never was any connection, from the shift pedal
> (una-corda) to the trap work on the bass side of the piano; or on the treble
> side for that matter.  As to whether or not there was a mechanism for the
> hammers to be raised, there does not seem to have been any allowances made
> for that and there was no mechanism as such with the piano.  I have called
> Steve at S&S about this and he confirmed that some Stein's had Ampico
> Reproducers, however they were not able to answer my questions. This was a
> strange bird for me too.
>   There is the standard Duo Art hinged box on top of the action cavitybut
> there is where the similarity ends. (no drawer)
>  Les this is a first time for me too !! I've never seen anything like it from
> Steinway.
> I can make a lever arm, push block and groove the backrail--I am just hoping
> that someone will know of a better way
>  Again Les, thanks for such a quick response.
> Jim Bryant (FL)
>
Jim, since my last post I checked with some of my sources, too, and as you
found out a VERY FEW Steinway Ampicos were produced, essentially as custom
installations. Thus your piano is very rare, and thus potentially very
valuable. It was unclear from your original post as to whether you have
all the player parts or not. If you do, it would probably be a good idea
to consider rebuilding the player mechanism as well as the piano itself.
The fact that the piano has no drawer however is REALLY puzzling, if indeed
it is an Ampico. If you don't rebuild players yourself, and you do have the
parts, you might want to find someone who rebuilds both Ampicos and Duo-Arts
and have him take a look at it for you. BTW, if you do have the player parts
the Duo-Art expression box is immediately identifiable by it's two. large,
spring-loaded pneumatics which face foward, each controlled by accordian
pneumatics at the back. If you can respond back as to whether or not you
do have the player mechanism, I can further check my resources. This is
certainly a rare and interesting instrument.

Les Smith
lessmith@buffnet.net