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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I just completed the rebuild of a coinola "Cupid"
model nickelodeon, (Bowers, p. 53). This is a keyboardless 54 note piano
operated by an "A" roll with a coin slot. </FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2>It was a complete basket case when I received it. Someone else some
time ago was going to do the job and then died after taking everything
apart. I had to work from photographs from other collectors to reassemble
it. The pin block was separating from the case and was pretty much
useless. It took 5 or 6 blows with a medium size hammer to get it to fall
out. The glue around the parameter of the soundboard was non-existent so
it pretty much just fell out of the piano once the block was removed.
Bottom line I had to completely rebuild the piano back. The piano action
was an absolute mess. The player was shot including missing
parts. The motor pulley was also missing which had to be an exact
replacement in order to accommodate the leather drive belt. I had to hunt
the world over to find a collector with a spare. Numerous other player
parts were also missing requiring fabrication. The valves were a mess with
missing stems, warped disks, and rotten felt. There were
separating glue joints in the wind chest, etc, etc. Bottom line it was a
big 5 month project, (working evenings and some weekends).</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I started my career rebuilding these but it's been
a long time. I really missed this kind of specialty work and thought I'd
like to do some of it again. Most piano technicians HATE players, I think
largely because they don't understand them. They want to tune, collect the
fee, and get out. Most home players today are a mess. It is hard
tuning many of them too because often portions of the player system have to be
removed. Coin pianos in particular including this
one require substantial disassembly just for tuning. It takes years
to develop the skills to rebuild them correctly but the reward of hearing a
machine that hasn't played in decades roar back to life is a thrill.
Unfortunately the bottom has pretty much fallen out of the market for small coin
pianos. Most collectors are going after the large machines now.
People who used to collect the smaller machines would put them in their
game room along with a juke box, bar, and a pool table. Now
their buying HDTVs and X-Boxes. As a result it is very difficult to make a
living at it. It's pretty much a labor of love and a desire to rescue
these irreplaceable machines. This one belongs to someone and I lost money
on the deal. It's still a thrill for me and I'll keep doing it as long as
I come to terms that there is no money in it. If anyone has any small coin
pianos that are sitting around in there shop gathering inches of dust and are
happy to get them out of their way I may be interested so long as it
doesn't mean traveling across the country to get something that is missing
multiple parts nearly impossible to find, (like the entire wind chest,
piano action, and the spool frame all at the same time!) Anyway
attached are a couple pictures.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Rob Goodale</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Las Vegas, NV</FONT></DIV>
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