tuning player pianos

[Tvak@aol.com]

Steve Borgstrom's question brings to mind a question I've been meaning to ask:

I'm hesitant to remove player actions when I tune them.  I generally tune 
them with the player mechanism in the piano, which needless to say, is a pain 
in the...back.

I do it this way for two reasons, one fairly good reason, and one not-so-good 
reason: 

#1, I understand that the rubber hoses or tubes can be fragile and break 
easily.
#2, I don't really know how to remove the player mechanism.

I guess if this came up more often I would have dealt with it,  but so far 
I've only had to tune maybe 3 or 4 of these monsters.  I don't want to do any 
harm to the client's  piano, so I just suffer through them.

Without writing a treatise on the subject, is there anyone who could direct 
me in the correct way to remove of a player mechanism?  (Perhaps there are 
too many different kinds to answer this question.)

Tom S