Re: Spring Wound Melville Clark Player Piano
By Karl Ellison
Troy Taylor wrote:
> Specifically I am trying to get more information about a Melville
> Clark player piano that my father restored that has an unusual dual
> tracker-bar that enables it to play 58, 65, and 88 note rolls, with
> a lever to control which set of holes are in use.
The Apollo Grand player played 58, 65, 70, 82 and 88 notes, and featured the spring-wound spoolbox motor. According to the ads, the device "saves you work". See? There is such a thing as a free lunch!
They also mention in their ads of a "... telescopic arrangement whereby 65 note rolls may be played ...". I bet this is the same setup you're piano has, Troy.
According to Reblitz (Piano Player Servicing and Rebuilding, 1985), "Melville Clark ... was a great experimenter and innovator, and it is unusual to find any two Melville Clark Apollo player pianos which have the same exact features. All varieties of unusual expression mechanisms, pumps, stacks, tracker bars and spool boxes which play odd music rolls, spring-wound roll motors, and other curiosities are the norm rather than the exception in these early players.
So I wonder how difficult it will be to get specific technical information on these units.
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I have an unrelated question about the DeLUXE Reproducing Roll Corp. I have rolls under this name and they seem to be priced around $1.25, and Welte rolls that are also produced by them and retailed for about $2.00. Were Welte rolls exclusively made by DeLUXE, or were there other manufacturers producing them as well?
- K a r l B. E l l i s o n
Ashland, Massachusetts U.S.A.
KBEllison@aol.com
http://members.aol.com/kbellison/kbe.html
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(Message sent Sat 12 Oct 1996, 13:40:04 GMT, from time zone GMT-0400.) |
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