Introduction
By Richard Kemp
As a new member to the group can I introduce myself.
I am a lecturer in Psychology at the University of Westminster (London, UK). I have joined the group because I recently purchased a player piano at an auction. I was at the auction to buy something else, but when I saw this proud machine about to be sold for #45 (sterling) I could not resist joining the bidding. So I am now the proud owner of a Munt (London) 65 note player piano. Unfortunately, I did not bid for an earlier lot of about 50 rolls, so I only possess the one roll that was on the machine when I bought it.
At present the action is not working, but initial inspection suggests that everything is in fairly good order. However, all of the bellows are cracked where the fabric has perished, so I will certainly be busy for a few months. The piano action looks very sound.
I have not been able to find out any details of the instrument or its makers, but I suspect it was a fairly early machine designed for the bottom end of the market. I would certainly welcome any advice on how to find out more.
I am no musician, but enjoy restoring old machinery, so am looking forward to getting started on this project once I have located suppliers of the various leathers and cloths that I will need - any advice on UK suppliers?
I have managed to get hold of three books on player pianos by Ord-Hume - can anyone advise me on other references I should consult?
If there any members of the group in the UK who have undertaken a similar restoration I would love to hear from them.
I found out about the group after spending a frustrating few hours searching on the internet. I think you were mentioned on the BAM BAM pages.
Richard Kemp
email: kempr@westminster.ac.uk
[ Editor's Note: Welcome to the group. We're getting lots of
[ subscriptions from the various Web Pages that reference us, with
[ none of the "Spamming" (broadcast junk e-mail) that we'd be getting
[ if we were listed in the "list of Internet lists".
[
[ Since you obviously have a Web browser, you might want check through
[ the back issues of the digest for URL's (Universal Resource Locators --
[ the things that start with "http://" for pointers to places other
[ subscribers found interesting. You might also want to try to
[ Digital Equipment Corporation's "Alta Vista" search engine. Its the
[ best one in my opinion. Its URL is:
[
[ http://www.altavista.digital.com
[
[ Once again, welcome to the group.
[ Jody |
(Message sent Fri 21 Jun 1996, 12:02:23 GMT, from time zone GMT.) |
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