<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1528" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Rent-an-elf?</FONT></DIV> <DIV>Joe Goss RPT<BR>Mother Goose Tools<BR><A href="mailto:imatunr@srvinet.com">imatunr@srvinet.com</A><BR><A href="http://www.mothergoosetools.com">www.mothergoosetools.com</A></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=piannaman@aol.com href="mailto:piannaman@aol.com">piannaman@aol.com</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, March 21, 2006 7:49 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> FArrand-Cecilian Player</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Verdana'"> <DIV>The mother of one of my son's classmates called awhile back and said she has a player piano with one key not working that also needs tuning.  Not making any promises, I told her I'd go check it out.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I went out yesterday and looked at the piano.  It's a Farrand-Cecilian player from 1910 or so, a massive fortress of a piano.  The cause of the malfunctioning note is a broken brass flange, the access to which is extremely well guarded by a player mechanism the like of which I've never seen.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I understand that these are reproducing players.  It is quite a nice piano, other than lots of action wear and neglect.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>So how does one get to the action?  I was trying to find a way to get inside to replace the tongue of the flange that broke off, but it looks like a job of at least two people and several hours just to be able to get access to the piano mechanism.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I directed the lady to a player specialist.  Afterward I did some searching on the web and found affirmation that these pianos were solidly built and difficult to work on.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Any of you player specialists have tips for gaining access to the inner sanctum of this piano?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Thanks,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Dave </DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>