<HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-= 1"> <META content="IncrediMail 1.0" name=GENERATOR>  </HEAD> <BODY style="BACKGROUND-POSITION: 0px 0px; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; MARGIN: 5px= 10px 10px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial" bgColor=#ffffff background="" scroll== yes ORGYPOS="0"> <TABLE id=INCREDIMAINTABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width="100= %" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD id=INCREDITEXTREGION style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; CURSOR: auto; FONT-F= AMILY: Arial" width="100%"> <DIV> Justin...The Player wants a full overhaul or nothing at all. T= his is a job for a experienced Player mechanic who knows all the pit= falls in jobs like this....DEFINATELY, not a project for a "Newbie"</DIV= > <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>If you want to start with Players, cut your teeth on a couple of "St= andard actions"</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Regards</DIV> <DIV>Robin Stevens</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV id=IncrediOriginalMessage><I>-------Original Message-------</I></D= IV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV id=receivestrings> <DIV dir=ltr style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><I><B>From:</B></I> <A href="m= ailto:jhill@classic-keyboard.com">Justin Hill</A></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><I><B>Date:</B></I> 01/13/06 23:= 43:10</DIV> <DIV dir=ltr style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><I><B>To:</B></I> <A href="mai= lto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><I><B>Subject:</B></I> Player Pi= ano Problems</DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I went to visit a player piano today; I'm not a player piano tech bu= t</DIV> <DIV>the owner couldn't find anyone better to look at it.  I we= nt just to</DIV> <DIV>inspect it and get an idea of the condition, warning the owner that<= /DIV> <DIV>repair work might require a specialist.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Right away, I've got a mystery to solve, and a player-piano-newbie</= DIV> <DIV>question to ask.  I've uploaded some interior shots of the= piano at</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.classic-keyboard.com/pages/playerp/html">http:= //www.classic-keyboard.com/pages/playerp/html</A> to explain my</DIV> <DIV>mystery.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>If you take a look at these pictures, you'll see that there are two<= /DIV> <DIV>pipes exiting at the left of the main chamber in picture 4. &nb= sp;The</DIV> <DIV>upper of these two pipes is disconnected at the other end (picture</= DIV> <DIV>5).  Now, not being prepared to dismantle anything at this= point I</DIV> <DIV>could only try and push my hand up in that corner and 'feel' for the= </DIV> <DIV>place that pipe is supposed to be connected - but I can't find</DIV> <DIV>anything.  The problem is I'm not sure what I should be lo= oking for.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Here's the newbie bit; the set of bellows to the right of the roll</= DIV> <DIV>mechanism (picture 8): do they drive the roll mechanism, or the othe= r</DIV> <DIV>way around?  And if they drive the roll, is it possible th= at the</DIV> <DIV>disconnected pipe is why the roll doesn't move at this time?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Leaving the pipe as is, the pedals have very little resistance.</DIV= > <DIV>Inserting a bung into the pipe, the pedals get up a reasonable-</DIV= > <DIV>feeling resistance - but the roll doesn't move.  I've chec= ked the</DIV> <DIV>obvious things like being in play rather than re-roll etc.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>By the way, the 'control panel' (picture 2) includes two unmarked</D= IV> <DIV>buttons at the far left.  I'd like to know what they're fo= r.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'm assuming this is a 'straight' pianola rather than a reproducing<= /DIV> <DIV>piano and isn't worth a huge amount of money.  Of course I= 'm probably</DIV> <DIV>wrong.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The owner (an old lady) said that the piano was purchased from a</DI= V> <DIV>dealer in the early 1960s along with a huge chest of rolls and</DIV> <DIV>played regularly (as a player piano) up to about 15-20 years ago whe= n</DIV> <DIV>it fell out of use.  It hasn't been moved since and is sti= ll played</DIV> <DIV>occasionally (manually).  The fault as described to me was= 'the roll</DIV> <DIV>doesn't go round any more'.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>How great would it be if the problem was this disconnected pipe and = I</DIV> <DIV>could stick it back in for her?  Obviously the piano is ol= d and</DIV> <DIV>unmaintained and would benefit from a (non-economic) rebuild.</DIV> <DIV>However, she'd be happy if the thing just worked at all.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Can anyone shed any light?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Thanks,</DIV> <DIV>Justin</DIV> <DIV>_______________________________________________</DIV> <DIV>Pianotech list info: <A href="http://www.ptg.org/mailman/listinfo/= pianotech">https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives</A></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></TD></TR> <TR> <TD id=INCREDIFOOTER width="100%"> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"> <TBODY> <TR> <TD width="100%"></TD> <TD id=INCREDISOUND vAlign=bottom align=middle></TD> <TD id=INCREDIANIM vAlign=bottom align=middle></TD></TR></TBODY></T= ABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></BODY></HTML>