Player Piano stack designs.

[Andy&Chris Taylor]

Hi Everyone.
I am seeking a better quality musically solid old regular upright in the
Missouri/Illinois area, maybe a Vose, Baldwin. F Radle or equivalent.
object: marriage with my prototype player action. I would also consider
lesser makes, if the piano has a nice tone. no Kimball's need apply!

I have developed a very compact and responsive player piano stack design. I
have been
quietly working on over the last six months not intending to announce it
until I was sure it would work. I have built several " Four note" test
samples, and it shows great promise.

This is not one of those leaky "kits" designed to fit all piano scales, but
rather the stack must be scaled to the piano it will go in. This stack is
not plastic, but made from sealed and cured popular wood, leather, and the
good stuff.

Every 'conversion" I have ever seen left a whole lot to be desired, and
didn't perform even close to what a original player piano would. I hope to
change that. To my knowledge,  good working replacement stacks are all but
non-existent in the trade.

The reason I am looking for a regular upright, is to make sure that the
stack will fit in the confines of a regular upright case, without butchering
it.  It will take a while to  get the problems worked out, and the
performance to the point that I am satisfied with it. But after wasting a
lot of wood and throwing out a dozen designs, and juggling pouch-valve
diameters. I now have something that seems to work great and simple to build
and service with a few novel features. I will save the details for later
because they might change with refinement.

The next logical step would be to take the perfected "sample" design and
construct a entire prototype stack to set the stage for possible
improvements. The main problem I have run into is  construction costs. you
simply can't make much of a production run using player piano company
prices, especially the
standard valve guides.

I wold be happy to provide details for those interested and will be happy to
take suggestions
Best Regards
Andy & Chris Taylor
"The Lone Arranger"
Tempola Music Rolls
"Taylor Made" Just For You
http://home.swbell.net/tempola/index.html