Subscribe; Help Needed with Stoddard Ampico
By Dave Keates
Dear Jody,
I was given your name to join the Mechanical Music Digest. I hope to contact others with player pianos in hope to gain a better understanding of my instrument, and perhaps pass on any information I might have, even though my experience with players is still quite limited.
My story is this....
I have obtained through my family a beautiful upright piano manufactured by Chickering and Sons with a "Stoddard Ampico" expression player within. Unfortunately, I have also found that a previous owner had attempted to "restore" the player, leaving many loose and broken parts behind and perhaps even leaving a few out? From the serial number I estimate the manufacture date to be around 1911 or so (plus or minus a few years?).
What I hope to gain is a better understanding and perhaps some help from someone else who might own the Stoddard Ampico unit. It looks quite different from the model A or B units I have seen in books, but again I am just a novice and could use some help. I have some experience with piano repair as I have replaced the three brass rails in my Chickering action with guidance from a piano technician. I don't take these repairs lightly, and have a great deal of respect for those who work on such instruments. I would rather do the job right the first time, and hence why I am seeking assistance before I do anything.
Can you help? Words of encouragement are always welcome :)
Sincerely,
Dave Keates
David_G_Keates@ccm.fm.intel.com
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(Message sent Thu 24 Oct 1996, 22:26:00 GMT, from time zone GMT-0700.) |
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